It's really sad when it happens.
Chances are, if you own a business, you named it pretty early in the planning stages. And then you discovered that you couldn’t get the domain name to match it. That hurts, doesn’t it? That’s why I always suggest to my start-up clients that they find a domain name they like and then name the business to match it. John’s Corner Deli might find that johnscornerdeli.com is already taken, and then they have to get creative to find something even remotely resembling the business name they’ve chosen.
If you have been very lucky (or remarkably wise), you’ll have thought about this before you named your business. The topic came to light today when I was meeting with my daughter about the start-up she’s considering in the Social Media Marketing field. She wanted to name her business “Socially Savvy”, a simply brilliant name, but one whose domain (sociallysavvy.com) is already taken. So we went back to the drawing board, trying a hundred other names and finding that everything she liked was taken.
We’ve found a few domain names that have some appeal, and she’ll be thinking more about it over the coming days and weeks. And when she settles on the domain name, she’ll know she can name her business accordingly. Too often, I’ve met with start-ups who have already committed to a business name only to find they can’t use it in their web address. There are creative ways to get around the problem, but it’s never ideal. So if you or anyone you know is considering starting a business, do yourself a big favor and buy your domain name first.
