Fair warning: buying your first domain is a rush! For many entrepreneurs, it’s the first tangible step in bringing a business idea to life. Once you own your domain, things start to feel real.

Many of our clients come to us before they’ve made that purchase, asking for guidance on the process. While every brand is different, here are our high-level recommendations to help you start strong.

First, avoid these common mistakes

Before we dive in, let’s cover the pitfalls we see most often:

1. Falling in love too fast. Don’t buy the first idea you type in without checking trademarks, business name availability, and SEO considerations.
   
   
2. Getting too clever. “Creative” spellings might look cool but can be impossible for customers to remember or type.
   
   
3. Ignoring extensions. If you secure only .com, someone could grab .co or .org and cause confusion later.
   
   
4. Buying all the domains. Yes, domain FOMO is real, but you don’t need to spend hundreds (or thousands) locking down every possible variation. Be strategic.
   
   
5. Waiting too long. The best names go fast. If you find a great option and it clears the legal checks, grab it.

What to consider when buying a domain

Brand considerations
It’s worth noting that your domain doesn’t have to exactly match the legal name of your business – but it should be intuitive and easy to remember.

For example, I own a Shopify store under the brand name RIAD, but the exact domain match wasn’t available, so I secured shopriad.com. 

Quick tips:

• Keep it short, simple, and memorable – ideally under 15 characters.
  
  
• Avoid hyphens, numbers, or tricky spellings unless they’re part of your brand.
  
  
• Choose something customers can say, spell, and type without hesitation.
  
  

SEO considerations
From an SEO perspective, your domain is not the magic bullet it once was – but it still matters. If possible, conduct a keyword relevant to your industry or product. This can help with memorability and may give you a small boost in search. Just avoid going overboard: “best-custom-made-wooden-toys-online.com” isn’t doing you any favors. We can help with this part of the process if you want an expert on the case (Matt’s your guy).

Legal considerations
By this point, you should have your LLC registered and your business name registered on your Secretary of State’s website (these are both fairly low-effort processes – don’t let the official nature deter you). If you haven’t done this yet, that may not be a bad thing – part of the process of locking down your business name should include researching available domains (just go to GoDaddy.com and search the domain names you’d like). 

To make sure your business name is available in your state and doesn’t infringe on existing trademarks, you can:

1. Search your Secretary of State’s business name database.
   
   
2. Search the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database for active trademarks.
   
   
3. Check domain availability on sites like GoDaddy or Namecheap.
   

You might find your ideal URL is already taken – sometimes by another business, sometimes by a domain broker. If it’s broker-owned, you may be able to purchase it, but prepare yourself for a wide range of prices. GoDaddy offers a broker service if you’re serious about securing a specific name.

“Which domain extension should I get?”

The gold standard is still .com – aim to secure it if at all possible. If it’s unavailable, you can explore alternatives like .co, .org, .net, or industry-specific extensions like .design, .shop, or .io.

Once you choose your primary domain, you can redirect any other domains you buy to point to that one.

“How many domains should I buy?”

It depends on the size and scale of your business. And of course your budget.

If you’re building, say, a lifestyle brand that you hope will be recognizable, plan on securing additional / tangential domains. Why? Because you don’t want any knock-off brands impersonating your brand or diluting your hard-earned domain authority. 

You might consider:

• Common extensions (.co, .org, .net)
  
  
• Common misspellings of your domain
  
  
• Abbreviations or alternate brand phrases your customers might type
  
  
• Product-specific domains you may want in the future
  

It’s all about getting in the head of your customer and helping them find you!

Larger brands will want to cover their bases by securing more domains, while smaller brands may not be so concerned. We’ve worked with brands who had spreadsheets of domain names they were considering securing! 

One tip: if you can’t secure your exact brand name, grab a few related domains customers might try. And you don’t have to buy a domain for every product idea – sub-brands can live comfortably under your main domain (like argan.shopriad.com). This is often better for SEO anyway.

…What’s next?

Now it’s time to build some digital real estate. Your next steps might include:

• Finding a creative team to run a Discovery to help you crystallize your vision, strategy, and key messaging (that’s our jam, we’d love to chat!)
  
  
• Turning that brand name into a logo you’ll want stickers of
  
  
• Setting up Google Workspace for business email and file storage
  
  
• Building your website (we’ve gotchu!)
  
  
• Designing business cards and marketing materials
  
  
• Opening your business bank account
  
  
• Securing matching social media handles, even if you’re not ready to post yet
  

And one last tip – try to keep your social handles consistent across platforms, even if they don’t perfectly match your domain. Consistency makes you easier to find, and you can have a little more fun with usernames than you can with your domain name.

Congrats. Owning a domain is one of the first real assets your business will own. 

May it encourage your entrepreneurial efforts and kickstart your journey!