When you choose a Domain Name, it is usually the first step to gaining an online presence for your business. However, knowing what Domain Name to choose is something you need to pay attention to, as it’s not just your web address; it’s the face of your brand on the internet.

Domains.co.za has helped simplify this process for business of all types, with the introduction of our free online tool AI Domain Name Generator. It has both a Basic and an Advanced version. You can add significant key words, industry-related words, words that you don’t want included, define the length parameters, etc.

It takes the problem and time of having to brainstorm various ideas over and over again by giving you viable solutions in minutes. Added to this, it will only display results that are available for immediate registration, so you don’t have the added stress of finding out that you can’t register the domain name of your choice.

It also has the current prices of all TLDs available on the Domains.co.za platform, so you can purchase additional TLDs to protect your brand, if that is important to you.

Here’s a friendly guide to help you get started:

How to Choose a Domain Name

Using A Company Name

Your business name is ideally the best domain for you to initially register, as it maintains your company identity and is easily recognisable to your existing clients. Ensure that it is easy to remember and the URL works i.e. short and if possible, make it catchy too!

NOTE: If your business is named Air Fresh Car Air Conditioners – it is far too cumbersome for people to remember exactly, so look at something that is pertinent but shorter, as per the domains below. THe second example would be considered as a premium domain name.

EXAMPLE:
airfresh.co.za
afc.co.za

Premium Domains

Premium domains often include common words or short letter combinations, usually ending in .com. Search engines like Google favour these domains and potentially offer better visibility in search results. Although they may come with higher costs and may already be registered, you can use our quick search tool on the Domain Name Search and Register to check availability. For detailed information on acquiring a premium domain, contact our Sales Team. Please bear in mind that Premium Domains are usually far more expensive than regular ones.

Creating Choices

If you can afford registering more than one domain, it is a good idea to look for Domain Names relevant to your business. This is a multi-site approach and is usually recommended for business intent on maintaining their branding strategy.

Create a list of suitable industry or product specific names, that will most suitably describe your business online and use our AI Domain Name Generator, as mentioned above to help you find the perfect domain name for your business, whether you are an entrepreneur SME, startup or SOHO

Using TLDs, 2ndTLDs & gTLDs

Consider registering TLD (Top Level Domain) variations of the .co.za domain, especially if your first choice has already been registered by someone else, you may find that the TLD version is still available, e.g. .com, .net, .org or the generic .info gTLD. This is also a way to generate different options for a multi-site approach, and the AI Domain Name Generator makes it very easy to incorporate multiple TLDs in its results.

NOTE: The .com is the most well recognised TLD, followed by .net, .org and then the generic .info. Again these can all be pointed to your primary website and could gain you an advantage over your competitors.

Using Characters

You may be able to register your company name by using a hyphenated version, as per our previous example if the first domain had been registered, then it may be possible to register these combinations:

EXAMPLE:
air-fresh.co.za
air-fresh-ac.co.za
aircon4cars.co.za

Should you choose this variety, ensure that everyone is informed that it is hyphenated, otherwise you will lose potential new customers to the other website.

When using numbers as a substitute for a word e.g. 2 and 4, remember that being smart, may not be very clever, as it can be misleading to existing and potential clients, unless of course, it is already part of the company’s existing name and branding. In the case of the last example above, the 4 would have to be accounted for in the rest of the business advertorials,, company name could then become T/A (Trading As) to ensure continuity throughout all media forms and social platforms.

IMPORTANT:

A domain will only accept letters, numbers and the hyphen character, all other characters are unacceptable.

Additional Information

Here at Domains.co.za we also offer you the ability to search for multiple domains, as well as Bulk Registering of multiple domains. Should you be looking to transfer an existing domain to us, then please click here.

Multi Domain Name Registrations

A multi domain name strategy is to secure multiple domains relevant to your business. It ensures your business remains visible even if customers aren’t familiar with your exact name, and it also protects against competitors acquiring similar domain names. Once you’ve confirmed the availability of your preferred domain, consider registering additional related options. This is a good way to ensure people who don’t know your business, can still find you by pointing other domains to your website. You will be able to create traffic via these websites to your website. Using the example above, you could look at registering:

EXAMPLE:
caraircon
carfresh
aircon4cars 
airconforcars, etc