What is a domain name and how do they work?
So you’ve decided that you want to create a website. Maybe you’re starting your own business as a service provider, maybe you want to start a blog, or you’re starting a Ministry, Church or Online Coaching business.
Whatever your reason is for starting a website, one of the first things you’ll need is a domain name.
If you’re like me when I first heard “Domain Name” it sounds weird and more complicated than it really is. So let’s start there and talk about what a domain name is, how it works, why you need one and important things to consider when choosing one.
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is essentially the unique name of your website, but more than that, it is how people on the internet can view your website.
Let me explain; your website is made of files; files of data, pieces of design elements, photos, videos and of course your text describing who you are, what you do (or what your business / ministry does).
The files that your website consists of are stored on a server. This is called hosting which is another key element of having a website. I’ll make another video that talks about hosting and details around that. But for the purpose of this video, just know that your website files are stored in a server.
Your domain name is how you tell the browser you are using to surf the Internet (like Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari) to go and look at those files of your website on that server.
So, every domain name is unique because you have to have a unique domain name that no one else owns in order to have a path for people on the internet to see your website files on the server you have them on.
So, a domain name is the name of your website. But it’s also the unique identification of your website, so that people and online systems or search engines like Google have a path to go and look at your website on the server where your files are stored.
That is a basic description of what a domain name is and really why you need one to have a website in the first place.
Important Things to Consider when choosing a domain name:
So what you choose as your domain name is important on a number of different levels.
Professionalism and Brand identity.
Some website builders like Wix or Squarespace provide free domain names that are not a custom or branded domain name for you. You’ll see something like mybusiness.wix.com. instead of something like www.mybusinessinmt.com having a custom domain name will look more professional as well as improve brand identity. Plus, you can use your custom domain to make professional email addresses like myself@mhybusiness.com or info@mybusiness.com
Usually the company you buy your domain name from like Godaddy.com or Namecheap.com can provide professional email address services also. Or, you’ll have the ability to use your custom domain to make email addresses with a business suite like Microsoft 365 (if you like outlook) or Google Workspace (if you like Gmail).
You’ll want to choose a domain name that is easy to remember, but also relative to who you are or what you do. For example, if I am starting a fitness coaching business in my local area Missoula Montana. I’ll want a domain name that implies I am a fitness coach and also local to their area. Something like www.hammerfitnessmt.com Hopefully the name of your business also follows those principles. But I should say, your domain name does not have to match your exact business name. This is different in some situations then others. Let’s say I was starting a gym instead of a fitness coaching business, I’ll probably want the domain to be more business name focused in that situation; more like www.hammergymmt.com since the name of my gym is Hammer’s Gym. If I’m a Ministry or church, for brand identity purposes, we probably want the domain to be as close to the name of the church or ministry as possible like www.gracebaptistchurchmt.com also, it depends on whether or not you want to be perceived as a local business or if you’re planning on reaching a national or International audience. you don’t have to put you know your state acronym in the domain name. It’s all about how you want to be perceived when someone sees or types in your domain name.
Now, without going to deep into the weeds on this, and also don’t Sidetrack yourself too far here. But you can own multiple domain names and point them all to the same website. But, at the end of the day there is still only one default domain name that will be tied to your website files on the server. So you can have a domain name like www.hammersfitnessmt.com as your default domain name, but you could also have www.hammershealthandfitness.com point to the same website files and load the same site. I don’t recommend buying more than a couple, maybe three different domain names for the same website. There’s really no benefit behind owning multiple domain names except for Branding purposes. There’s no search engine optimization benefits, it doesn’t help make your site more visible online, and if anything you’re just going to be paying for a bunch of domains that no one uses and that you get confused with as well. So if you really need to have one, two maybe three different domain names for different branding purposes that’s okay. Just try not to get sucked into buying 10-15 different ones.
Control & Ownership
This is an important subject for me personally, and also at my company CI Design LLC, we prefer that all of our clients own everything that is related to their website, a domain name is no exception. It’s important that you own your own domain name so that you can always point that domain to any website files on any server. This way you’re not tied down to a specific website builder software like Wix or Squarespace or even a website design company or freelancer. So make sure you buy the domain in your name and in your own account and save your login for that account.
Search Results on Google
For a while, in the early 2000s a lot of people figured out that they could buy domain names that were keyword related or keyword focused rather than brand or name focused. So they would buy a domain name like www.fitnesscoachmissoulamt.com and Google would rank that website higher with that domain name. But that was never the intent for domain names, so Google stopped giving weight or attributing authority to a website just because it’s domain name had keywords in it. So these days, you cannot just buy a bunch of domains made up of different keywords or key searches and expect it to rank high for that keyphrase. Search results are based on the content of your website, not the domain name of your website.
You need to buy a domain name that’s relative to what you do and the area you’re in from a brand identity standpoint, not a keyphrase standpoint. Because, while the phrasing of your domain name does not have a literal or technical impact on the Google search results. What does have an impact is your click-through rate. So if you want to be perceived as a local provider, when you put your business name or church name and then use your state acronym in the domain name, it will look more official to someone viewing a list of results that Google has given them when they search for your type of business or Ministry on Google. So, in turn more people will click through to your site and that is one metric Google uses to move a website up higher in the search results. I’ll make another video that talks more about how your business name and domain name can affect Google search results, because there’s more to unpack there. But for the purposes of this video, this is another thing to consider when choosing your domain name for the first time. You want it to be brand focused, but depending on your goals whether you are a local provider or a national and even International provider. Think about how your domain name will stand out when people are looking at a list of websites Google gives them in the search results.
Alright, we’ve covered what a domain name is, how it works, why you need one and some important things to consider when choosing one. My favorite place to buy domain names from is godaddy.com, because they make it easy to search for domains and manage them down the road. So let me show you how you can use GoDaddy to buy a domain name.
Wrapping Up:
A domain name is more than just an address; it’s an investment in your online identity. It’s the cornerstone of your website, influencing your brand’s professionalism, credibility, and visibility. By choosing the right domain name, you set the foundation for a successful online presence.