What’s in a name

What is the name of your website, your domain name? Just a .nl with your company name? Or did you go for a .eu or even a .com for some more international allure (or because the .nl was already taken)? Do you have any other domain names? Maybe of your brand/product or service?

Why not be more creative! A domain name that stands out, is special or even funny. A name that is curious and fun or easier to communicate. There are plenty of options these days.

As a business, you cannot do without a website and therefore not without a domain name. In fact, many startups assume the availability of the domain name* when coming up with a business name. Therefore, with the current amount of websites/domain names, there is not much originality left to come up with. Everything has already been thought of and registered once. At least, if you go for a .nl. But why not think differently? Currently there are hundreds of different extensions (the part after the dot) available, allowing you to attach a truly original, creative domain name to your website. One that suits you and makes you stand out.

Nationwide or international

Until recently, it was common to register your domain name with an extension appropriate to the country in which you operate. So in our case, .nl and our neighbors have .be, for Belgium, and .de, for Germany. If you feel a bit more international, you can go for .eu, for Europe, or .com. The latter was originally intended for commercial purposes, along with .org for non-profit organizations. Now that the Internet is starting to get pretty “full,” numerous new extensions have been added, bringing with them many creative possibilities.

.coach or .accountant

Want to make it immediately clear what your field/expertise is without immediately registering a long domain name? Then you can choose a professional/industrial extension. Then www.jansenendegrootaccountants.nl suddenly becomes very simple www.jansenendegroot.accountants

Clear, concise and easy to remember. The, mostly English-language, extensions are available for many fields, so there is always something that fits your business. For example, .healthcare, .restaurant, .fashion, .shop, .training, .events, .finance, and so on.

It can also be done differently

What if instead of (just) registering your company name as a domain name, you registered a name, word or phrase that fits your vision and your promise? Then your domain name is instantly a beautiful, distinctive marketing message. The extension can then become part of that message. Like a painter who advertises his website www.danishetpasecht.af or an online dating agency that can be found at www.maakde.click or, more internationally, www.makethe.connection. Just look through the list of extensions, there are over 900 (!), you’re bound to come up with some great ideas: www.yourfuturestarts.today or www.morethan.fashion or www.wetake.care

By the way, a country extension is not reserved for websites from those countries. You can be creative with that, too. Would multinational 3M have considered the domain name www.post.it ?! And how nice would it be if a real estate agent for a housing project in the Weel neighborhood communicated via www.woneninweel.de. Or paver Robert with www.allewegenleidennaarRo.me 😉

N.B. Make sure you register this creative domain name(s) alongside your company name/domain name, that way no one else can take advantage of it. You can easily have the creative domain name linked to your website, this is very easy to do at SQR.NL! But you can also create a special landing page for this purpose. This allows you to register a creative domain name for specific services or promotions.

Brainstorming together?

Want to have a brainstorm about creative domain names for your business and services?
Call me for an appointment.

* NOTE: Registering your domain name is not the same and does not provide the same protection as a trademark or name registration. For this you need to go to a trademark registration agency or lawyer, or, simpler but less foolproof, to the Chamber of Commerce. Also read Martijn Wokke’ s blog on the subject.