Choosing the right domain name for your new business is one of the most critical decisions you will make in developing an online presence. The right domain name will draw in customers from around the world and has the potential to make your product or service a household name. The wrong domain name, however, can leave you floating around in cyberspace with very little exposure.

Every small business owner understands the important of developing and maintaining an online presence in today's economy; it is almost essential for long-term success. Whether you choose article marketing, social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising or email marketing to draw in new customers, your domain name needs to reflect your business and be seamless for consumers entering your web address.

A vague domain name, such as your personal name, is never a good choice for a web address. Using your name does not tell potential visitors about your business or service, and potential clients may fail to recognize the intent and not visit your site as a result. You want to choose a domain name that reflects a portion of your business. If you sell handmade soaps, for example, incorporate the word soap into your domain name. 

 Very long domain names are also bad choices. Many new business owners tend to want to stuff a lot of words into one domain name. The more characters your domain name contains, the greater the risk that misspellings and misinterpretation of your site name will occur. If a potential visitor misspells a portion of your domain name, they may be routed to a competitor's site instead of yours. A very long domain name is also hard to read. While you may know what your site reads as, potential new customers may jumble up some or all of the words and elect to not visit as a result; keep your domain name short and to the point. 

 Whether you are starting a non-profit, need a simple .com domain, want to register a domain overseas or simply have questions about the registration process, a professional hosting and domain company can help steer you in the right direction. Network Solutions is an example of a professional company with years of domain registration experience. A division of Web.com, they have over 30 years of experience and three million customers under their belt. They can help you with everything from hosting to domain names.