10 reasons why having your own domain name is a must

Are you a happy website owner but still hesitating whether to buy your own domain? Well, the answer is fairly simple – just get it, and do so as fast as possible. This article will show you why you need a domain name – and it’s not only if you want to start a successful website.

So, what is a domain name?

Simply put, a domain is a human-friendly address of a website. For instance, Webnode’s domain name is webnode.com, while Facebook’s is facebook.com.

Why human-friendly? Because the actual address looks like this: 142.250.98.138 – which is not exactly easy to memorize. You’d rather type google.com to your browser, right?

You’ve probably seen a lot of domains that end in .com. There are also other generic domains like .org or .net, or country-based domains like .cz, .de, .fr. We mortals call this part an extension, but the official name is a top-level domain (TLD).

The second-level domain is the name to the left of the dot. In yourdomain.com it is the yourdomain part.

10 reasons that will make you buy your domain right now

In the online world, your domain name is not just the address of your website, it is your unique identity. In this day and age, there can be no argument: you need an online identity.

1. It gives your online presence an instant credibility boost

You might agree that if you continue using your free domain such as my-business1298.webnode.com, it doesn’t look professional despite you being serious about your business.

Moreover, it’s not easy for your clients to remember and won’t look great on your business cards.

Registering a domain also affects the credibility of your email addresses. For example, you can use jane@doe.com instead of janedoe@freemail.com. We’ll get to this later.

Investing in your own domain will instantly make you look more professional and trustworthy in the online world.

This applies not only to your business and professional creative portfolio, but also to your online curriculum vitae. You don’t need a dedicated website for your online CV. Simply forward your domain, for example, janedoe.com to your LinkedIn profile or Twitter, and impress the recruiter right away by showing your competency and seriousness.

2. It increases your (personal) brand visibility

Having your own domain is a perfect way to maintain brand consistency in the offline and online worlds.

For your business or personal brand, use a single identity offline, online and throughout all your online profiles.

Don’t lose your customers over different platforms. Make it easy for them to cross this offline/online border and look you up online instantly.

3. Owning a domain presents your business as progressive

Let’s face it, in this day and age it is crucial to claim your online territory. Your customers expect you to have an online presence – even if you don’t run an online store, but only an offline corner shop.

Imagine their surprise when they type the name of your shop into the browser and end up on a webpage run by your competitors!

Don’t let them or other speculators seize your perfect domain – you might regret it sooner or later.

4. Having a domain helps you increase your search engine ranking

The process that Google and other search engines apply for organizing search results is voodoo for most of us earthlings.

Although there is no direct proof that the domain name itself is a definite ranking factor, parts of it might be.

For instance, myonlinestore.com would rank better than my-online-store.webnode.com, as it is shorter and looks more trustworthy.

Also, it would look much more legitimate for actual human beings too. As Google highlights the domain name in the search results, they might click on your competition with a more professional-looking domain instead of you.

Pick a domain that is memorable, uses great keywords, or has strong branding potential. Opt for a shorter one, 8 characters being a sweet spot. You can’t go wrong here.

5. It helps you protect your copyrights and trademarks

Branding is not an easy process. To be truly effective, once you settle on the name of your business, buy the most applicable domain name as a first step.

Do not give speculators the chance to buy the perfect domain first and exploit it. Claim it as soon as you can. To retrieve your domain from them later might be expensive and complicated, if at all possible.

6. Go global – with your domain

You can choose to build your market just in your home country or take it around the globe.

Depending on which you want, you can opt for a generic TLD (.com, .net) or country code TLD (.us, .pl, .hu).

Of course, the more the merrier. You can choose a specific TLD for each country you wish to conquer.

7. It makes your online presence flexible

When you need to change your Webnode project, web hosting services, servers, country, or planetary system, it will move with you.

In any case, you wouldn’t need to use a brand new domain and build your online presence around it all over again just because you decided to change the website. Having your domain gives you the necessary mobility to move around online space as you need.

In addition to a domain, you’ll need a web hosting account. There are many options to choose from, but a recent trend has singled out managed VPS hosting as the most popular service on the market. It provides an excellent launchpad and a reliable, easily scalable environment for budding online businesses.

8. Create custom email addresses

Did you know you can also use your domain name for your email?

Without question, it looks much more professional when you send messages to your customers from info@yourbusiness.com than from mybusiness@freemail.com.

Apart from branding, you can also provide your employees with their dedicated work addresses that you can control yourself. This also gives your whole business a more professional appearance. In addition to branding, you can also offer your employees dedicated work addresses that you can control yourself, alongside their employee headshots.

9. It gives you email provider independence

It is a truth universally acknowledged that changing the provider of email services is a painful process.

But, by having your own domain you can also change mailbox providers (for instance from Gmail.com to Outlook.com) without needing to create new email addresses. You can get a new mailbox with the same address effortlessly.

Also, there is no consequent informing customers about the new address every time you move the mailbox, or changing login details into various online services. Isn’t that nice?

10. It isn’t expensive

A good domain name is one of the most affordable branding tools. You can have your .com TLD for a 15 USD yearly fee. That is a fair price for all the above-mentioned benefits, isn’t it? It doesn’t cost a lot, but it makes an instant difference.

Of course, depending on the chosen TLD the prices might vary. We recommend checking out the price list and seeing all the options before the actual registration and purchase.

How to choose your domain name?

Now that you are aware of all the advantages of owning your own domain, let’s pick the right one for you.

Make it relatively short and easy to remember. The longer the domain name, the bigger chance for typos or generally messing it up. The ideal length is between 6 and 10 characters.

Make it easy to pronounce. Imagine telling your website address to your customer over the phone. Is there any chance he might mix up some characters and end up on a completely different website?

If so, you should think of something else. That also takes us to our last tip:

Make it specific for you. Does this domain help to build your brand and make you stand out in the vast ocean of competitors? It does? In that case,

Buy your own domain name