Choose the best domain for your SME or business is essential for the visibility and development of your project. It must be an easily recognizable name that identifies with your activity and that can be remembered without any problem. But, in addition to the selection of the name, there are many other things to take into account.
There are many doubts that users have when choosing the domain: is it better to choose a .es or a .com extension? are there others that I should hire? how many would be advisable? how does the choice of my domain affect the SEO?…
These are just some of the frequently asked questions that are asked by those who are going to contract a domain name. If you find yourself in this situation, you will benefit from the review we are going to make of the most important questions when choosing a domain, trying to solve all the doubts that you may have with the help of Víctor Baños, head of Dinahosting’s Commercial Department..
Is a .com domain better or a .es domain?
Surely you have asked yourself this question -we asked it ourselves at the time when choosing the TreceBits domain- and it is possible that you have not found an accurate answer.
The .com extension is the most used worldwide.. If your audience is only in one country, it may be a good idea to use the .es domain, since it corresponds to the geographic space of Spain. In addition, this is positive for Google, as it will offer local results to searchers. For example, if they search for “hairdresser”, your business will appear better positioned if its domain is .es when Spanish users search for that word.
However, if your business has a worldwide reach, and you are not targeting people from a single country, it would be best to use .com. Possibly many people will also search by your .com name if they do not know what your web page is.
Anyway, if you can, it is best to register more than one extension. The more you have, the better, so it is less likely that someone will launch a business with your web name. Having a main domain, and other territorial or secondary domains would be ideal.
What other domains should you reserve?
There are many more domains than .com or .es, but the problem is ignorance. Many people do not know that there are others that could be very useful for your business. “We would say that the lack of knowledge of the new TLDs is one of the most common obstacles. Customers contact us asking for their domain under the traditional TLDs, such as .COM, and when they see that they are taken, they do not know where to turn. For years, ICANN, which is the body in charge of domain management worldwide, has been working on the launch of new extensions that allow greater personalization in the domains to be contracted. For example, the .SHOP for online stores, or the .TECH for businesses linked to technology, are two extensions that are growing”, says Víctor Baños, head of Dinahosting’s Commercial Department.
If you have a hairdressing salon in Barcelona, it is highly recommended that you register the local domain .barcelona, because you will be differentiating your brand from others that have a similar name and are located in other cities. “The domain is telling browsers like Google that when users search for “hairdresser in Barcelona” that is an option close to them. Undoubtedly, local extensions such as .barcelona, .madrid, .cat, .gal, .eus… are a very good option for businesses or individuals who want to target their projects to a very specific geographic territory. The domain will help them gain visibility in their area”, states the expert.
Tips for choosing a good domain name
It is important to make sure that the name is sufficiently differentiated, not similar to that of the competition and, as we have seen, hire as many domain extensions as possible, to ensure the unique presence of our business on the Internet and that potential customers find us.
In the same way, the name has to be short and easy to write, so that when a potential customer searches for it, he will have no doubts about what is the correct form and will find the brand page without problems.
Choosing a good domain name and not changing it, keeping it over time, is also fundamental to improve SEO positioning and the recognition of our business. “The older the domain the better, because the longer the domain the more authority it has in the sector. Domains that have been around for years with a good track record will transmit more reliability to browsers such as Google than others that have just been registered,” acknowledges Victor Baños.
The name chosen has a great influence on the reputation of a website. For example, if it contains a relevant word, it is much better, since it is a factor that favors positioning in the results of search engines such as Google. For example, if you have a hairdressing salon, instead of registering the domain with just the name, register it as hairdressing salon + name and the extension of your choice. Without going any further, Dinahosting’s domain includes the keyword “hosting”, which is its business area. See how easy it is?
But be careful with the words you choose. “Another bad practice that is tempting to fall into is to enter the word offer or discount in the domain name, which would automatically be identified as spam by both many users and service providers (for example, mail managers),” says the Dinahosting expert.
