Shopify Domain: Tips for a Great Domain

When looking to start a new business, you’ll need a website. To set up a new website, you need a domain. This may or may not be the same as your business name, as this doesn’t affect your SEO (search engine optimization). You should consider that it could be challenging for new customers to find you if your domain and store name doesn’t match until you become well-established on Google and other search engines.

The first aspect to decide on is a name for your new business. This involves several stages. You’ll need to decide what type of business you want. Are you designing and manufacturing a new product? Going to do affiliate marketing? Or do you have a skill and require a website to advertise your services? You’ll also need to decide on a USP (unique selling point); this is what makes your store stand out from others.

You’ll need to choose a good name for your store, which needs to be unique and not already registered as a business. Likewise, you can use a keyword generator, which is free online, to come up with good keywords for your business name. Then you can use a business name generator to help you come up with lots of potential name ideas for your new business.

You can check for domain availability for free to make sure that the name you have chosen is available as a domain. Most domain providers also offer hosting, which is the place where your website is stored. Shopify stores are hosted on Shopify, so this is taken care of for you.

In this article, we go through some tips to help you choose a great domain for your new Shopify e-commerce store.

Why Does a Domain Matter?

Your domain is important because it’s the address for your website, so it needs to be memorable. Some brands have a different name for their store to their domain, such as CEX whose domain is webuy.com, but they’re a well-known brand. When you search for CEX, the right domain is bought up. This will not happen for your new brand until you are well established, so a safer option is to choose a domain that is the same or similar to your brand name to give your e-commerce store the best chance of success.

The domain is what the searcher enters into their search browser, so you will want it to be memorable, easy to spell, and not use words with alternate spellings.

Your domain is what is entered when other brands link to your website. This is important for backlinking, which is a way to build social proof and authority. When you are a well-established brand that other brands want to mention, you will be referenced in their articles by a link to your domain. This supports your SEO (search engine optimization) and is considered an important aspect of growing your brand and reaching a wider audience.

Users will also reference your website, and so will you. So, for example, imagine you have gone to a local farmers market to generate some business for your new e-commerce store, perhaps you are selling a new range of condiments. When customers purchase from your store, you can write your email down on a personalized card or leaflet to encourage them to make future purchases on your online store. You’re going to want to be able to write down a professional-looking domain, fairly quickly, without any mistakes, and it needs to look relevant to your brand name.

Tips for a Great Shopify Domain

So if you want to have more information about choosing a Shopify domain and how to get the best option, here are some tips for you to consider.

Easy to Remember

Your domain name should be easy to remember, so it needs to be quite catchy and related to your store. If you plan to set up a dropshipping store selling bathroom supplies, it’s not a great idea to name your store after your pet cat, as this is not likely to be memorable to anyone. So Twinkle’s Supplies, for example, might be sentimental to you, but have no relevance to what you’re selling and be a challenge for your existing and potential customers to remember.

However, if you choose the name Mallard Online Bathroom Supplies, this is the most common type of duck. This offers association, named after a duck and ducks like water and the bathroom is wet, rubber ducks, etc. Then your domain could be mallardbathrooms.com or mallardonlinebathrooms.com.

So, think about how memorable your name choices are. Ensure you have several name options when checking for business name availability, as very memorable names are often popular and may already be taken.

Keep the Domain Short

You will also want your domain anime to be relatively short. In the example above, the domain is as short as possible while retaining the keywords associated with your brand. If you have a particularly long name, you might want to shorten it to just initials. Many iconic brands use initials, but this could take time for you to become a household-name whereby your initials are well known.

Easy to Spell

It is much better if the domain you choose is easy to spell, so try to avoid keywords in your name that are not easy to spell. This includes words spelled very differently from how they sound and that can have alternate spellings. You should also avoid using words in your name that have more than one meaning, as potential customers will instantly judge your brand by your name and logo.

Make sure that the spelling is reasonable when your name is translated into other languages of countries you wish to sell in.

Unique - Nothing Is Similar

When you choose your business name, you will need to make sure it is unique and there is not a business name that is the same or similar to the one you wish to use. You don’t want to have a similar domain name to another brand, as this could cause confusion.

You can ensure your business name is unique by checking on state business registers. You should do so for every state you wish to operate in. You can check for domain name availability by using a domain name checker. Likewise, you can also check for domain name availability on names generated on a business name generator.

Multiple Top Level Domains Are Available

There are lots of domain extensions available including: .com, .co.uk, .org, .net, among others. A good idea is to choose all the extensions that match your name and secure them. You can then use a 404 redirect to make sure all the well-known extensions lead to your store. This can be a bit of work, and you might need to seek help from a web developer, but it can be a good way to protect your name and prevent copycat stores from opening.

You can choose which domain you use for a Shopify store. Don’t be tempted to select an obscure extension because other extensions are in use. Discount this name and select another, no matter how much you like the name. Your business name needs to be unique and not the same or similar to another brand to ensure a clear and profitable payday.

Keywords Are Included

You can use an online keyword checker to help you choose words for your name that are frequently searched for by your audience. So if you sell reptiles online, you might search for reptiles on a keyword checker. It will tell you which words are frequently entered into search bars when people are searching for reptiles.

You will need to look at these keywords carefully, as some might not be relevant to your store or not going to be what your audience is searching for. When looking for good keywords, you will need to choose words with high search volume but low competition. This means that when people search for that keyword or phrase, they are more likely to see your brand in their search term. This will also rely on you having a good SEO (search engine optimization) strategy.

Internationally Acceptable

Make sure that the words you are using in your domain are internationally acceptable. Make sure that they don’t have alternate meanings in other cultures and that it works when translated. This is especially important if you plan to run an international e-commerce business.

Related to the Business

You will want to make sure the domain you choose is related to your business. We used the example for CEX with their domain of webuy.com. Although the domain isn’t the same as the brand name, it does relate directly to the style of the store in that they purchase used games and gaming equipment.

Fits onto Marketing Materials

If you plan to also produce some traditional marketing materials like flyers and business cards, then you will need to make sure the domain you choose fits onto these. Many providers of these offer free templates online so you could see how your domain will look on marketing material and make sure it fits on a business card for example.

You might want to make sure it’s going to look good in magazine adverts and also on a pop-up gazebo in case you wish to market at local markets or fairs.

Looks Professional

A professional-looking domain will help you with investment, suppliers, and other businesses you may wish to work with, so make sure your domain looks good enough for other professionals you might wish to work with. Consider how your brand color can influence perceptions and enhance recognition when designing your website and marketing materials.

Easy to Pronounce

Ensure that the keywords you choose for your domain are easy to pronounce. This is important for word-of-mouth marketing. You want people to share the news about your brand with their friends, family, and colleagues. This is one of the most cost-effective marketing techniques.

Cost-Effective

A domain should only really cost $10 to $15 depending on its popularity. Some businesses purchase popular domains to sell for a profit. You can find that some schemes price domains as high as$2000 to $3000! Avoid this, no matter how much you like a domain, there are always plenty of other great name options for you to consider. A business name generator can help you think of potential name ideas that you would not have thought of before.

Start-up funds can be limited until your store becomes established. Consider that there’s a six-month penalty for all new websites by Google, so you just have to get past this period. You will also have lots of other expenses involved in setting up a new store. For example, you might want to hire a graphic designer to produce a great logo for you or consider how to price products effectively or grow business with zero budget.

Not Been Used by Another Brand

You should do a final check on Google to make sure that the name you have chosen for your domain is not associated with another brand with the same or a similar name before going ahead with registering everything and purchasing your domain.