When preparing to launch your brand new website, one of the first things you have to consider is your website's domain name. What's a domain name? Glad you asked.

Your website's domain name is the sequence of words that you type into your browser's URL to navigate to a desired web address.

As easy as it might sound to select a domain that reflects your business's name, it's not always as simple as that. With the thousands of website that have popped up over the last decade or so since the '90s Internet boom, unique domain names are becoming more and more scarce.

To make the job of selecting that all-important domain name, check out these handy tips!

Keep It Short

You don't want to overwhelm your customers right off the bat with a long and confusing domain name. Make sure to keep it short, but concise, and use abbreviations where appropriate. For example, www.pscnewyork.com looks much better than www.petsupplycompanynewyork.com.

Customers are also more likely to remember your website domain if it's short. Long domain names mean more words for customers to remember, and more chances that they'll navigate somewhere else out of frustration when trying to find your site.

You also have to consider your brand when constructing a domain name. Are you going to have your logo abbreviated on all of your branding material? If not, shortening your domain name might not be the best option.

Keep in mind that your domain name is what people are going to associate with your brand, so make it something relevant!

Use Keywords

Keywords can be utilized in your domain name as well. By using keywords, you'll clue your customers in on your website's purpose, and also what kinds of services you offer.

Using keywords also helps your rankings in search engines. For example, if you use the domain name www.glassrepairnow.com, people who are searching “glass repair" in Google are more likely to find your website because of your keywords. Always keep your keywords relevant to your business.

Make It Easy To Type

Along with keeping your domain name short, you also need to make it easy to type. Avoid using strange symbols or numbers in your domain name, as these can confuse customers and prevent them from successfully visiting your site. If you tell a customer your website is “five crazy sisters dot com," they have no way of knowing if the five should be spelled out, or if the number symbol for five needs to be used.

Also avoid using hyphens to separate words in your domain. Even though this might make your domain easier to read, it's also an unnecessary option, and should only be used as a last resort.

Helpful Tools

If you're having trouble deciding on the proper domain name, there are a couple of helpful tools available that make it easy to grab a relevant name. Check out these two sites:

• Domainr.com - This is a very simple tool that lets you search a domain name to make sure it's available and not already registered by another company. Simply type in a domain name, such as www.johndoe.com, and Domainr will tell you if that name is available. If it's not, then you can choose to “make an offer" to the owner of that name if you wish to purchase it from them. It will also give you options for domain names related to your search that are available. For example, when I typed in www.johndoe.com, Domainr gave me www.johndoe.org and www.johndoe.net as available names.
• Panabee.com - Panabee is a great looking and easy to use website that helps to decide a domain name based on keywords entered in its search bar. For example, when I typed in “pet store" in the search bar, Panabee gave me names like petstorify.com and petbox.com as suggested names.

Remember these simple tips, and you'll be on your way to managing the perfect website for your business in no time!