How to Choose a Domain Name for Your Small Business

A domain name is one of the few things about your website that is genuinely hard to change later, so it is worth getting right from the start. The good news is that the rules are simple: keep it short, make it easy to spell out loud, stick with .com if at all possible, and avoid hyphens and numbers. For local businesses, including your city or neighborhood can help with local SEO -- 'capitolhillplumbing.com' tells Google exactly who you serve. We also cover what to do when your first-choice domain is taken (it almost always is), when to use your own name versus a business name, and why buying a domain through your hosting provider is usually a mistake. Ten minutes of thinking here saves a major headache down the road.