Choosing the right domain name for your consulting business can be tough. The audience you want to build, your potential clients, and your network will be typing this into their address bar to get to your website. Or, they will search for you on Google and it will show up in the search results.
[thrive_leads id=’1873′]Before you hire a designer or developer to build your website, you need to purchase a domain name. Everything starts from there.
This is an important decision to make – and it’s best to get it right the first time. Here are 2 options that you can use to come up with the perfect domain name for your consulting business.
Option 1: Use your name
Using your name is the easiest option for your consulting website. It’s simple, effective, and straightforward. Take this website for example – I’m a consultant named Tsavo Neal, and thus my domain name is tsavoneal.com.
This is an excellent option for any independent consultant. Since we run businesses of one, it makes sense to use our name.
In an ideal world, everybody would own their firstnamelastname.com. But that’s not the case. Many of you reading this were excited about the prospect of owning a domain name consisting of just your name, only to find out that it has been taken.
This isn’t a big deal. There are many other ways you can use your name for your consulting website.
You could try adding your middle initial – johnrdoe.com. You can add consulting at the end – johnconsulting.com or janedoeconsulting.com.
Example: AngelaBrittonConsulting.com
You could add the type of service you provide – janedoefinance.com or janedoehr.com. If you are in a more creative field, you could use something like hellojane.com.
Example: HelloBrady.com
If you are outside of the United States, you can add your country’s domain extension to your name.
Example: TroyDean.com.au
There are hundreds of ways you could use your own name to come up with a domain name for your website. You may not be able to just use your name – and that’s OK. Use one of the options above and you’ll have a perfect domain name for your consulting business.
Option 2: Come up with a branded name
If you have a very common name and you can’t find an available domain name consisting of your name, you can go with option 2. You can come up with a branded name.
This is more challenging, but just as viable.
Find a combination of words that is memorable and accurately represents you and your business. Branded domain names can be just as effective if not more for your consulting website. You can use a service like Namechk to see if the name is available across the platforms you want to use.
The perfect example of an effective branded domain name is Noah Kagan’s okdork.com.
Noah is one of the world’s top internet marketers and founder of AppSumo. His domain name, OkDork, is lighthearted and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Just like Noah.
And if you type “Noah Kagan” on Google, you’ll find that OkDork.com is the first search result. It’s one of the most popular marketing blogs on the internet.
This shows that it is your content that is the most important aspect of your website – not the domain name. If your domain name fits your personality and your service, you’ve got the perfect domain name.
A quick note on domain name extensions
Every year there are new domain name extensions available. You’ll see extensions like .xyz, .design, or even .consulting.
If you can, get a .com domain name. It’s the most common and most recognized. If you can’t get .com, you can go with something like .net or .co.
Stay away from new, longer domain name extensions because they aren’t as recognized as .com. But – if fits your business and it would resonate with your target audience, go ahead and purchase one of these more original extensions.
Conclusion
I hope that you’ve been able to come up with some ideas for your consulting businesses domain name. I believe that everybody, especially consultants, should own a domain name for their business.
Think about it for a few days, then go and purchase one. Any domain name registrar will do – I use Namecheap. Go to their website, type in the domain name you want to buy, and purchase it. Now you own that domain name. That’s all it takes.
Remember – it’s your content that will count the most, both with your audience and search results.
Don’t fret about your domain name for months. Make the decision and then move on to whats important – how you can provide value to potential clients, new connections, and existing contacts.
“The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.” – Maimonides