Starting an online shop? Then you’re a busy person with a lot of decisions to make. One of these is choosing a domain name for your new website. Here are simple steps to get you from ‘blank page’ to ‘brilliant domain name’ in no time at all:
1: Understand what domain names are
A domain name is a website’s unique address on the internet (a bit like a postal address - just online). There are two main parts to a web address: the main domain (i.e. ‘yourbrandname’) and the top-level domain (TLD), also known as an extension. The TLD sits to the right of the domain and includes the terms .com and .shop.
2: Create a shortlist of domain names
A domain name is often a customer’s first impression of your brand, so it’s important to choose a name that sends a clear signal about what you offer. Already chosen a name for your brand? Use this as the basis of your domain, but remember these three tips when creating a shortlist of names:
- Make your domain as short as possible. For example, if your business is called ‘The Best Sandwich Company In The Whole World’, think about a domain like ‘bestsandwiches’ - keeping only the important ‘keywords’ - i.e. the words that customers are likely to search for when they look for your shop or offerings in your category.
- Add a descriptor. If your brand name isn’t self-explanatory, try adding a descriptor term in your domain name, telling people exactly what you offer. For example, if you were going to start a protein powder company called ‘Big And Strong’, your domain could add the descriptor word ‘protein’, making your domain: ‘bigandstrongprotein’.
- Check for unintentional meanings: Before you commit to a name, check your choice for ‘slurls’ - these are unintentional meanings created when you put words together without spaces. If in doubt, show your shortlisted names to a few friends and ask them for feedback.
3: Choose your top-level domain
Top-level domain extensions help people understand a brand’s purpose. You might think of dot-com as the obvious choice but there are in fact hundreds of extensions you can choose from. The new generation of TLDs were introduced to help organizations and individuals create unique, memorable and user-friendly domain names. Did you know that some of the world’s most popular websites are not .com addresses? (Want to know more? Check out our blog post Why you don’t need a dot-com address).
4: Learn about .shop domains
For an online shop there is no better choice than a .shop domain. The .shop domain helps online shops stand out online, telling the world that you are ready to welcome them. And if you have ambitions to grow your brand, .shop will position you for long-term expansion, because ‘Shop’ is a universally-understood word. But don’t take our word for it: check out these inspiring examples of.shop websites operating in various sectors; from food and fashion to gifts and wellbeing.
5: Check availability and register your domain
It takes seconds to find out if your ideal .shop domain is available - just use our search page. We partner with the world’s leading registrar companies to offer you a wide range of options and prices. Once you’ve found a registrar and price you are happy with, click through to the registrar’s site to take the next steps towards owning your dream domain.
What about premium domains?
Our search page will tell you if your preferred name is a premium domain. These are website names that are likely to attract significant online traffic because they contain popular search terms, industry-specific words, or generic words - hence their premium status and pricing.
Buying a premium domain is an opportunity to invest in valuable online real estate that you can use for your current business, or for a business you plan to open in the future.
Our search page will also tell you if your dream .shop domain is already taken. In this instance, you can use our WHOIS service to search for the registered owner of the domain name.
Enjoy creating your domain name, and if you have any questions for the get.shop team, please get in touch.
