Think Before You Engage: 100 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign

16. What Should I Use as My Website Address?

Before you rush out and choose your domain name or name your website, keep in mind that your domain name should be your website name as well. This can be difficult because domain names can often be hard to come by.

Naming a site after its domain name is important, for the simple reason that when people think of your website, they'll think of it by name. If your name is also your URL, they'll automatically know where to go. For example, when people think of chevys.com, they don't have to wonder what URL to type into their browser to get there. The name of the site is also the URL.

Imagine if your business (or website) is called Mount Carmel, but somebody else holds that domain name. Instead, you have some obscure domain name called, say, ilike-mountcarmel.com. What happens when your customers, recalling that Mount Carmel is a place they want to go, type www.mountcarmel? They'll end up at the wrong place and may stay there.

Can't get the domain you want? Try adding “The” or “My” to the front of it. Hey, it works for me…

What if you cannot get the domain name of your choice? What you do depends on how committed you are to that particular name. If you have an existing brand name that you're known for, you'll probably not want to eliminate ...