Choosing a URL for your Business

When creating a custom small business website, choosing a URL is one of the first steps. Of course, it isn’t like choosing a car: you see five just like it on your way home, but your key only fits in yours. URLs have to be unique. They also have to be relatively short and easy to spell, descriptive, and memorable. With so many businesses like yours, an idea you have for a URL may already be taken.  How can you start your website off on the right foot with a successful Uniform Resource Locator?

First, the URL you choose for your custom website should be short and simple. It makes it easier for visitors to remember and avoids frustration of typing errors and mistaking your site for a broken link.  You should aim to use the minimum number of letters necessary. Acronyms and initials are a great strategy for simplifying your web address.  It also needs to be descriptive. The first thought that comes to mind is to name the site after the company name. This may or may not be the best choice. For example, if the business name is hard to spell or really long, you might want to try part of your name or something that describes your services. For example, American Auto Transportation called their site “shipcar.com”. You don’t want to make your URL too general.  A generic URL such as “purses.com” or “burgers.com” won’t build association with your brand and will have a tough time showing up in search engines. (If someone searches for “burgers in Boston”, company names are going to come up long before your burgers.com site, which means people aren’t going to find you). Finally, a URL needs to be memorable. Chances are, people won’t remember a person’s name or a very long company name after one visit. They will remember distinctive, humorous, and unique URLs: “businesscity.com” and “mrmagnolia.com” are a couple examples.

One thing to be careful not to do is create a URL that inadvertently creates words within words. Since there are no spaces in website addresses, letters run together and people automatically read these words. This can result in phrases that sound suggestive, don’t make sense, or simply don’t sound professional. The use of dashes can avoid this, but use them sparingly.

Beyond Custom Websites will help you choose a URL that gets your customer’s attention, fits your business, and is search engine friendly. We can also find out if the URL you would like for your custom small business website is available—if not, we’ll create one close to it that will work. Once we have a promising URL ready for you, we’ll get started on building your custom website. Our team of developers, graphic designers, copywriters, and marketing experts will work together to deliver a unique website for your company.