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Have you ever noticed that some businesses have these epic names that make it easy for them to market and go viral? You can’t choose a name at random and hope for that kind of success. You need to be careful about the selection process. By generating ideas that give you a competitive edge, the name does the marketing for you.

So, how do you come up with business domain name ideas that help you compete? It’s all about knowing what to look for in a name. These tips will help you separate the good ideas from the bad ones.

Don’t Spell Words Wrong

You might be desperate to find a domain name that isn’t already taken. In your desperation, you may decide to spell a word wrong. It looks cute, right? There are a few big problems with spelling words wrong:

1. People may not realize that you did it on purpose.
2. People will try to spell the word correctly.
3. Your domain name will auto-correct in various places when you type it out.
4. You’ll always have to spell it out so that it isn’t typed wrong.

With so many problems, there is no situation where it makes sense for you to spell a word wrong. If you choose to spell it wrong anyway, you may find that search engine optimization becomes a nightmare – and you may end up sending a significant amount of business to the competition. This alone should scare you straight. There’s no reason why you have to spell words wrong just to nab a great domain.

Don’t Limit Yourself

Sure, you might be small now. What about in a year or five years? You don’t want to choose a business domain name that limits you from growing. This means that you have to be cautious with using specific products or services in the name – or even cities. If you expand, you don’t want to have to go through a rebranding. You also don’t want to confuse your audience.

If you’re going to put what it is that you do in the business name, think big. Why limit yourself to cupcakes when you offer other baked goods, too? Why limit yourself to repairs when you do renovations and new builds, too? Regardless of the industry that you’re in, you will offer more than one product or service – and if you limit yourself in your name, you’ll limit yourself in your client base at the same time.

Explore Domain Extensions

Why should the early adopters of the .com extension get all the fun? Too many people want to claim that you need that extension in a domain name. Why? 100 million websites are already using it, so it’s going to be hard to find a winning name if you stay committed to a .com website. Go with something new and memorable, like .ONLINE. It allows you to find a domain that fits your brand. Plus, the word ‘online’ is easy to spell and recognizable in a wide array of languages.

I created two for clients which are unique and match their business

Tax Consultancy uses .tax (www.baucher.tax)

Podcast uses .chat (www.rowing.chat)

Brainstorm Some Keywords

It’s important to get some ideas onto a piece of paper or a dry erase board. By brainstorming, you can be more fluid about the ideas that pop up. This is not the time to censor your thoughts. No idea is a bad idea…at least not yet.

Think about breaking out the thesaurus. Throw in an adjective. See what the competition is doing. Remember, there are no hard and fast rules about business domain name ideas. When you can do some brainstorming, you can contribute to a list of possibilities.

Don’t be afraid to involve others in the brainstorming, too. What do your friends have to say? Take it to social media and let others weigh in on the ideas. You may even want to make it a contest. Ask for people to throw out some ideas – and if you use one of their ideas, reward them with what it is that your brand has to offer.

Generate Something Unique

When it comes down to your business domain name, you need something unique. If it sounds like every other business in town (or within your industry), it’s going to be hard for you to stand out. Take a look at some of the most successful businesses out there – they have a name that allows them to hold their own. People remember it because it’s a great name.

While you may have to do some marketing to gain your competitive edge, you don’t want to have to work harder than necessary. If a name has nothing to do with what you sell or you have chosen to make the words hard to spell (or hard to say or hard to write out), it’s going to be a constant effort to market yourself.

The best business domain name ideas are ones that are instantly memorable. Once you happen upon a winner, you’ll know it.

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