If your small business doesn’t have a website, it can be difficult to demonstrate credibility and gain consumers’ trust. The first step in building a profitable website for your business is choosing an impactful domain name to represent your brand.

Easy to set up and cost-effective, a domain name helps establish your company as credible and interest-worthy. Interested? Check out these five steps to choosing a domain name for your organization that will boost consumer engagement and drive traffic to your website.

1. Keep it simple.
When choosing a domain name, keep it as simple as possible. You want something easy to say and remember for potential customers. Most brands generally choose the name of their organization, but if your name is exceptionally long or intricate, you may want to simplify it.

Potential consumers should be able to look at your domain name and associate it with your business’s name, product or service. An easily recalled name helps people find your website and demonstrates a level of reliability and professionalism.

2. Avoid repeat letters.
Your domain name should not only be simple, but it should avoid repeating letters at the beginning and end of words. These types of small details are hard for clients to remember and bog your brand down in minuteness. Stay focused on the business brand ideal, while making the domain name as simple as possible for visitors.

3. Steer clear of numbers.
Numbers in a domain name create a confusing experience for viewers visiting your website. The question always remains: is the number spelled out or in numerical form? For numbers like two or four this gets especially complicated. 2? Two? Too? To? Do your best to avoid numbers entirely in your domain name and keep it simple for website visitors.

4. Choose a domain extension.
Now comes the challenging part: the domain extension. Should you choose .com? .org? .net? Many Americans are conditioned to use the .com extension out of habit when searching for a site online. Since its creation, .org remains the most credible domain extension for nonprofits. If your business has a linked foundation or nonprofit branch, this is also an option.

Registering multiple domain addresses under the same name and redirecting back to the same website ensures your business has a solid web presence. No matter how people search for your business, they will go to the right site. Search different domain extensions and decide whether or not registering multiple works for your company.

5. Register your web presence.
Once you’ve generated multiple possible domain names for your organization, begin the registration process. Domain names vary in price, depending upon the extension used and name availability. When researching costs and availability, remember investing in your web presence will only strengthen your business’s website, therefore increasing lead generation, consumer base and customer engagement.

When building your business site, a domain name integrates into creating a strong Internet presence. Stay ahead of the game with know-how by following these five easy steps for choosing a domain name which drives traffic to your site and sales. By hosting a secure website, your business will reach more consumers and grow its fiscal base.