Choosing the right domain name

by

Joe Garcia

We get a lot of questions from customers about choosing a domain name (or even what is a domain name?), but even more often than that, we see domain names that we wish people would have talked to us about before registering. Long, complicated, hard-to-remember URLs just add a hurdle between your website and the people trying to get there.

In an effort to keep parishes from making bad domain choices in the future, I thought I'd share a few simple rules for choosing a new domain name for your parish:

1

Keep it short

Let's be honest: Church-goers in Baltimore are not going to have the patience to type out NewAdventFellowshipChurchOfChristBaltimore.org just to find out what time services start on Sundays. Yes, that might be the full name of the church, but is that how people refer to it? Go with something shorter: NewAdventBaltimore.org.

2

Make it memorable

You want people to remember your domain name. You want people to sit down at their computers and be able to type it in without Googling for it or flipping through your church bulletin to find it. The easiest way to make a domain name memorable is to use something that connects with what people are already used to:

• Do people tell their friends they are going to church at New Advent Fellowship Church of Christ in Baltimore or just New Advent? I would bet it's the latter, so use something like NewAdventBaltimore.org as your domain.
• Use words, not acronyms - unless the acronym is used frequently and consistently. If the folks at Grace First Methodist Church in Miami commonly refer to the church as GFMC, then go ahead and use GFMC in the domain name. But don't use something like gfmcom.org for Grace First Methodist Church of Miami.
• No hyphens. People don't remember hyphens. Just don't use them.

3

Spelling matters

I'm guessing your members are not all spelling bee champs, so don't expect them to be. Don't get me wrong, I love that your church has a uniquely biblical name, but people will likely not spell KoinoniaChristianFellowship.org. That might be a time when you want to use a nickname or an acronym (KCFNashville.org).

If your church has a frequently misspelled name, it might be worth registering both the proper and improper spellings. So maybe if your church in Washington is named Hallelujah Church of God, you might want to register both HallelujahSeattle.org and AlleluiaSeattle.org.

4

Say it out loud

The goal should be that your domain name is easily given verbally, without extra instructions. To do that, make sure you try not to use words with a variety of spellings or abbreviations: 1) There's no need to use your state's name in your domain; 2) Be clear if your domain has abbreviated words that are normally spelled out or vice versa, and 3) Just avoid using hyphens. I'm serious about the hyphens.

5

Don't forget about email

The domain name you choose will be part of your email address, so make sure you keep that in mind.

If you're like me and you have to write or type out your email address constantly, you'll appreciate having a shorter domain.

And if you have to give your email address out regularly, having an address that makes sense when said out loud is extremely important.

6

Social media consistency

It's not a make-or-break issue, but keeping your church's domain name consistent with your social media URLs makes everyone's life easier. If Celebration Church in Atlanta uses CelebrationAtlanta.org, it would be great if they could also use facebook.com/celebrationatlanta and twitter.com/celebrationatlanta. So if you're trying to decide between two domains, look and see which one has identical usernames available on your favorite social media sites.

Where do I get my domain?

There are literally hundreds of domain registrars out there, and after trying dozens of them, here's my recommendation:

• Name.com - $10.99 / year. They have phenomenal support, and the user interface is incredibly easy to use. My favorite part is that they have DNS templates for Google Apps, Office 365, and much more. If you've never made changes to DNS records, Name.com makes it a breeze!