Clover

We understand that a lot of organizations who are getting ready to create their first website haven't even thought through the need to actually purchase a web address. The process is very easy to do, and is an essential part of your branding.

We thought it would be helpful for us to give you some tips for choosing a web address. We've seen too many people make mistakes when choosing their domain name. Here are some tips:


1. Keep it short:

Sometimes people want to put their whole name in their address such as www.themanagementcenterofthegreaterlosangelesarea.com. Although that address is probably available, it's probably not a great fit for a couple of reasons. 1) The longer your domain name is, the higher the chance of people misspelling it. 2) The longer your domain name is, the higher the chance of people forgetting it. Plus, think of having an email address with that tacked on the end... Your friends and clients won't want to email you anymore. On the other hand, abbreviations can be just as bad, so you'll still want to choose something that clearly spells out who you are.


2. Hyphens are not a great solution:

If your restaurant is named Main Street Diner, you will probably find that www.mainstreetdiner.com was taken 10 years ago. A common tendency is to add a hyphen, and make it www.main-street-diner.com. Although it might seem like an easy solution, don't do it. First of all, most people will type your address in without a hyphen the first time. This is not ideal on any sort of marketing level. Secondly, whenever you tell someone your web address or email address, you'll have to say "www dot main hyphen street hyphen diner dot com". If you can help it, try not to use a hyphen.


3. Choose a name people can spell:

When you started your business, deciding on the name was probably one of the hardest decisions you had to make. I'm sure at one point in the decision making process, a name came to mind that you thought was cool, but you threw it out because it felt like a stretch - either conceptually or alphabetically. You didn't feel like explaining the abstract meaning of your name to everyone you did business with, or having to spell it every time you said it. For example, let's say you're a financial advisor, who's decided to use the Latin word for "security" for your comany name and website. Having the URL as "www.praemunio.com" would be obnoxious both to your clients and to you. It would require them to ask you how to spell it for them every time. So, try to choose a name for your site that everyone can spell. If for some reason your company is already named something like Praemunio, just make sure you have business cards with you to give to people so you're not stuck spelling it out every time.


4. .net, .biz, .info, are not great solutions:

Again, if your business is named Main Street Diner, it will probably be hard to find a short website address with Main Street Diner in it. Resist the temptation of choosing a catchier name with anything other than .com, .net, or .org after it. Most people will go to the .com version of your name automatically, and they may not even realized that it's your competitor.


5. If you find a name you like, snatch up the .com and .org versions:

This is just a good rule of thumb. You can have your preferred address as your main site, and have the other address(es) point to your site. It's probably around an additional $10 a year, but this ensures that no one else takes a similar domain and potentially confuses your audience. It's probably good to grab .net also if it is available. If you're curious how to bounce the names to the address you want, give us a call and we'll walk you through it. It's really easy.



Purchasing your website address:

This process is very easy, and most companies will have an obvious way to purchase your domain. One of the most common places to get a domain is Go Daddy (www.godaddy.com). On Go Daddy's website, you'll see an easy search box in the middle of the screen. Start there to find which addresses are available.

As you go through this process, here are some things to remember:

1. Don't buy anything else: They are going to offer you tons of different things before you finally check out. Just stay strong- although it might sound cool to get a domain with .mobi or .info at the end, you don't need it.


2. Make sure you choose "Private Registration": This simply ensures that you don't get a bunch of spam at your email address.


3. Save all of your info (Username, Password, etc): You will need to be able to sign back into your Go Daddy account so you can point this website address to your Clover website.


4. Once you have your address, enter it in Clover's system. You'll either enter it in when you purchase your Clover website, or you'll put it in Step 1 of the Launch process on your dashboard. If you need any help along the way, feel free to call or email us!


Now that you have your web address, you're ready to set up your email. If you'd like a walkthrough on that, read our help article on Setting Up Your Email.

If you don't need to set up new email, you can skip straight to Launching Your New Site.