What a Domain Is and Helpful Tips for Choosing the Best One

A domain is the URL that is used to identify a website. For example, my domain is sagedigitalco.com.

You’re also probably familiar with other domains that contain .org, .gov, .net, and .edu. You can even find domains that end with .design, .consulting, .press, and .io, to name a few.

Before we create your Squarespace or Shopify website accounts, you will need to select and purchase a domain. You can either do this through Squarespace, Shopify or a company such as Godaddy and Namecheap. I recommend using Godaddy or Namecheap since they are usually cheaper.

Once you provide me with your domain, I will connect it to your Squarespace or Shopify account when I start on your website design.

Here are some common questions—and answers—that I hear from many people:

Can I add numbers or other characters in my domain name?

Yes you can add a dash or numbers. For example, homemade-bracelets.com and route22bakery.com are completely acceptable. Though, be weary of using numbers and dashes as they could come off as spammy unless those are included in your business name. For example I would avoid homemadebracelets20284.com.

What if a domain that I want isn’t available?

One option is you can offer to buy it from the owner. Godaddy, for example, has a service that contacts the owner of that domain and presents an offer. Also, when domains expire, it's possible the owner may not renew, leaving it up for grabs. In most cases, you'll need to select a different domain.

Who do I buy a domain from?

I recommend GoDaddy or Namecheap. Shop around and look for a company that offers a decent price. The most common URL ending—and usually most expensive—is .com. If possible, try to find an affordable URL with .com since that’s the most recognized.  

How do I make sure I keep my same domain name every year?

You can set up an automatic renewal so that each year on the date of your URL expiration, your domain service will stay up and running for another year.

Do you have any other tips?

Tip #1: Think about looking for your domain name before you name your business. The last thing you want is to have a situation like Frontier Airlines where frontier.com is taken, and you’re left with flyfrontier.com, which is confusing (and unfortunate for Frontier Airlines).

Tip #2: Consider buying the plural version of your domain, or singular version if your domain is already plural. For example, if you have a unique business name like Fancy Friends, and your domain—or website URL—is fancyfriends.com, there’s a chance people may forget or unintentionally omit the ‘s’ at the end of 'friends' when typing it in a browser. Depending on the name, domains can be relatively inexpensive, so it might be worth buying both fancyfriends.com and fancyfriend.com. You could then redirect the singular URL to your business domain so if there’s ever a human error in typing your URL, they’ll end up where you want them to. Also, you don’t want someone else taking that domain and building a brand with a similarly named company.

I hope you find this article helpful and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to email me. Happy domain buying!