Getting found on Google
Which Domain to Buy If You Don't Have One Yet
You'll know which extension to pick, what name to type, and whose name the domain is registered under, bought today even if the site takes weeks.
You open a domain search tool, type in your business name, and the screen hands you a long list: the .com is already taken, the .co is open, and below that there's a dozen variations with hyphens, with "shop" tacked on the front, with extensions you've never seen in your life. That's where a lot of people freeze for half an hour, or end up buying three different domains just in case.
Only two decisions actually matter: which extension and which exact name. Everything else, grabbing the.net "just in case," agonizing over ten odd endings, buying variations you'll never use, is time you don't get back and money you don't need to spend yet.
The extension: it matters less than you think
.com is the option nobody has to think about. If someone hears your business name over the phone and you don't say anything else, they'll type ".com" from memory because that's what they've typed their whole life. So if the exact name of your business is open as a .com, lock it in and stop looking at other extensions.
But if you only sell in your own town, a hair salon, a dental office, an auto repair shop, a.co works just as well and almost always costs less. Nobody stops trusting a neighborhood barbershop because its website ends in.co instead of.com. For a small, clearly local business.co also reads as clean and modern rather than makeshift.
- Anyone types it from memory without you having to spell it out
- Works the same if you ever sell outside your area or open in another city
- The option that raises the fewest questions when you say it out loud
- Almost always open even when the .com of the same name is long gone
- Usually costs less at most registrars
- Reads as short and legitimate, not like a workaround
Which one to pick: If the name you want is open as a .com, grab it without a second thought. If it isn't, and changing the name means inventing something worse, get the .co of the real name before you get the .com with a word stuffed in front of or behind it.
The name: the phone test
Before you even look at the extension, test the name. Say it out loud to someone without spelling it, and have them type it into their phone. If they hesitate over a hyphen, a number versus the word that sounds the same, or how a word is spelled, that name is going to cost you customers for years, not just today while you're registering the domain.
The rule is simple: the domain name is your business name, no dressing it up. If your business is called "Laura's Bakery," the domain you're after is laurasbakery, not laura-s-bakery, not laurasbakery2024, not getlaurasbakery. The fewer decisions whoever's typing it has to make, the fewer people get lost on the way to your site.
Whose name the domain is under
If whoever's building your website tells you "don't worry about it, I'll register it," ask which email and whose name it's going under. The domain needs to be registered with your email and your information, even if someone else pays for the first year or handles the purchase. If you ever switch providers, designers, or platforms, the domain only comes with you if the account is yours.
It's the same underlying logic as emailing your customers from your own domain instead of a Gmail account: the domain is your business's permanent address, and the tools that use it, the website, the email, the booking system, can change without you having to change your name every time you switch providers.
- 1Write down the real name
Your business name exactly as you say it out loud, no "shop," no "online," no hyphens. - 2Look up the exact .com
If it's open, buy it today, even if the website is still weeks away. A domain that's open today might not be next week. - 3If it's not open, try .co
Same name, without changing a letter. It's almost always open even when the .com no longer is. - 4Only if neither is open, change the name
A different word, never a hyphen or a number tacked onto the end. - 5Register it with your own email
Even if someone else pays for it or handles the purchase, the account and contact info need to be yours.
Still looking for a name? Check which ones are free with the Yodai domain search. It costs nothing.
- The .com if the exact name is open; the .co if it isn't and you don't want to touch the name.
- The business name exactly as you say it out loud, no hyphens, no filler words.
- The domain registered under your own email and information, even if someone else buys it.
- A domain bought today, even if the website is still weeks from ready.
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