Registered domain names are the markers of your website on the internet. We often refer to them as web addresses although this is technically inaccurate. The name you choose for your website represents the code of numbers that is your actual address on the internet.
There are many companies that will sell you a domain name and register it for you with ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Popular ones include Register.com, GoDaddy and NetFirms. These companies will allow you to see if your chosen name is available and may suggest alternatives if it is not.
Every coach needs to consider buying the domain name for his or her own name if it is available. Even if you do not know if you want a website, the cost is very low and you may be regretful later when someone else has a website at YOUR name.
You may want to purchase domain names that are your business name or that give a message that you want to give. If you think of the name and like it, you may want to make the purchase now even if you are not sure that will be your website. I owned the domain growthandchange.com for several years before I decided to put the website for my therapy business there. Once someone else buys the name you want, it will be much more costly to purchase it from them and if they have a successful website there, it would be impossible to transition to your coaching business.
Many coaches agonize over whether to buy a domain with other than the .com address when they find their first choice is not available. Don’t do it. Addresses that end in .net, .biz and all the others will not get you the traffic that you need. You want to remember that people must be able to find you easily and the more they have to remember to get your address right, the less likely they will succeed. Don’t put an extra barrier between your coaching business and your target market. Along the same lines, if your domain is easily miss-spelled or misunderstood, you will want to own the likely wrong spellings. For example, I won both BizTipsForCoaches.com and BizTips4Coaches.com.
Be a little bold in buying domain names because you can always have several domain names taking people to the same website. A typical price for a domain name is $10 for a year and so grab a few and give yourself time to decide what you really need (just remember to keep a list of the names and the dates they expire). Owning domain names is one area where it is much better to be safe than to be sorry.
About the author – Janet Slack of Life Adventure Coaching is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving businesses of their dreams. Sign up for her free weekly business tips for coaches here.
