How to choose a domain for an online shop

Types of domains
All first (top) level domains can be divided into two groups - generic and national. Generic domains (gTLDs - generic top-level domains) include COM, NET, ORG, etc. And national two-letter domains (ccTLDs - country code top-level domains) are allocated for a specific country or region (DE, EU, UK, etc.).

New international top-level domains (new gTLDs) or thematic domain zones are domain extensions that indicate a site's affiliation with a particular subject or activity. Top-level domain zones (TLDs) with a thematic focus can add uniqueness and thematic relevance to your website.

Here are some examples of popular themed domain zones and how you can use them:

• .store or .shop - suitable for commercial Internet projects representing retail stores and chains or online shops;
• .services - for sites offering various services, from technical support and consulting to customer service and other types of services;
• .health - for information on healthy living and fitness;
• .tech - news and reviews of the latest technological achievements or information on start-ups and innovative projects;
• .design - portfolios and services for interior design or the creation of graphics and design for websites;
• .gallery - a virtual gallery for displaying artwork or a personal blog with travel photos;
• .media - suitable for sites related to media content such as news, photos, video, audio and other multimedia material.
• .photo - suitable for sites dedicated to photography, photo galleries and professional photographers.
• .education - Used for educational purposes for websites of educational institutions, online courses, learning platforms and others.

Domains with history
If the owner of a domain name does not renew the right to use it, it becomes free and available to others. You can buy a domain that was used by another owner some time ago. The website hosted on that domain may have a positive or negative reputation. This will affect your site in the future. For example, bad reviews of the old site could affect sales. Technical parameters of the domain can be inherited: for example, the quality index of the site. To check the history of the domain, you can use special services. Check the domain name before buying it is necessary to avoid encountering a domain that has been occupied by a poor quality site.

Don't skimp on the name
When creating a website, it can be tempting to save money on the domain name. This is a flawed strategy that can alienate your customers and cost you sales. A free domain does not inspire confidence in users. Often, such sites have advertisements that you will not be able to remove. Free domains should only be used for website development and testing.

How to choose a domain

1. Determine the potential audience for the site and its geographical location. If you plan to work for different countries, choose an international domain. If you are targeting a specific theme, it is worth choosing a thematic domain, for example .travel. Don't forget that domains can be combined: .shop.uk, .travel.de, .services.pl, etc.
2. When choosing a domain for your website, you should focus on the scope of your business. You can use words in the domain that reflect the essence of your business. For large and well-promoted companies, you should use the name of the brand. The main advantage of such a name is the uniqueness of the name and a clear understanding of what the company belongs to the site.
3. Do not choose domains with ambiguous and complex transcription. Avoid long names as they are less memorable.
4. You can use letters, hyphens and numbers in the name. A name cannot begin and end with a hyphen.
5. Before buying a domain, compare prices from different providers. The difference in price can be considerable. At the same time, the domains will be the same. Do not be afraid to buy a domain at a low price because you are buying the same thing regardless of the cost.

A few more tips from Google:

• Use a short, easy to read name for your site, such as "Google" instead of "Google Inc.". This is to ensure that the name doesn't get cut off on some devices.
• Use this short name online, such as on social media, profile pages and directories.
• Consumers remember brand names, which improves direct traffic, cross-channel interaction and more. A recognisable domain also reduces reliance on organic search.
• Over time, brands become entities, increasing Google's trust.
• Domain names appear at the top of organic search results. The number of clicks will increase as the brand name becomes more recognisable.

These tips will help you choose the right domain zone and domain name to ensure your website's reputation and performance.

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