If you’re a nutritionist, health coach, personal trainer, or other health and wellness professional looking to establish your own business, you definitely need to focus on setting up an online presence for yourself.
A well-designed and well-named website can help people find your business and get them interested in what you have to offer.
When putting together your website, one of the first things to do is figure out your domain name. This is the name that people will type in when navigating their way to your website. Typically, a domain name closely resembles a concept related to your business name or in some cases, it might be identical to your business name.
Why Your Domain Name Matters
Choosing the right domain name is essential if you want to create a thriving business. This is especially true in the health coaching and personal training space, where there are already hundreds of thousands of businesses and practitioners.
The following are some of the primary reasons why you need to think carefully before choosing your domain name:
Establish Credibility
The right domain name can help to establish credibility and show your current and potential clients that you are a professional. If you have a domain name that represents your business and aligns with what you are offering them, clients will be more inclined to trust you with their health and fitness goals.
Be More Memorable
It’s also easier for people to remember your business if you have a clear, catchy domain name. If they remember you, they’ll be more inclined to search for you in the future, even if they’re not interested in personal training, health coaching, or nutrition coaching yet.
Increase Search Engine Rankings
A clear, catchy domain name (especially one that contains a keyword for which you hope to rank) can also help more people find your business organically when they’re searching for similar businesses online. The right domain name can improve your search engine rankings and increase the chances that people will find you on their own.
Choosing the Right Domain Name
You can see that it’s important to choose the right domain name if you want your health coaching or personal training business to be a success. If you’re not sure how to do this or where to begin, start by following these steps:
Make it Short and Easy to Read
Your business website’s domain name ought to be concise, clear, and easy to read. People shouldn’t have to guess at what it says. For example, www.HealthCoachHannah.com is much easier to read than www.hannahshealthcoachingandpersonaltraining.com.
Make it Memorable
Make sure your website domain name is easy to remember, too. This is why keeping it short comes in handy. People are much more likely to remember a short, simple domain name than a long and complicated one.
It also helps immensely if the domain name features at least a part of your business name. If you can’t get a domain name that’s identical to your business name, it at least ought to be as close as you can get it.
Make Sure it’s Available
There are lots of free online tools you can use to check the availability of a name. Your website registrar will likely have a tool you can use as well.
Consider brainstorming a few good domain name options so that, if one’s taken, you have others to use instead.
Go for a .com
If possible, try to secure a domain name that ends in “.com.” This is because .com names are often considered to be more credible than other options. People also tend to expect to type in .com when they’re looking for a particular website, so choosing a .com domain name will help to eliminate confusion as well.
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Registering Your Domain Name
Registering a domain name is fairly straightforward. Just follow these steps:
Choose a Registrar
First, you’ll need to find a registrar through which you can set up and host your business website.
A registrar is an online service that you can use to register a domain name and set up your website. Hosting refers to the storage of your website on a server (the server may be shared with other websites or dedicated exclusively to your website). When someone types in your domain name, after you’ve selected and signed up with a registrar, they’ll be connected to your server and directed to your website.
GoDaddy and BlueHost are popular and affordable registrar options that are also easy to use.
Search for Your Preferred Domain Name
Most registrars have a tool you can use to search for domain name availability. Use this now so you can solidify your domain name and ensure that no one else is already using it.
Fill Out the Forms
After you’ve chosen a domain name, you’ll have to fill out some online forms to get your website set up. These forms are used to gather basic information about you and the type of website you’re creating. For example, you’ll put in your name, your website’s domain name, your contact information, and your credit card information to pay for the hosting service.
Pay for Your Domain
You may have to pay for your domain name as well, although many registrars will offer a free domain name when you sign up and pay for a hosting plan. On average, hosting costs around $3-10 per month. You can also get a cheaper plan, in many cases, if you pay yearly instead of monthly.
Link the Domain Name to Your Website
If you already have a business website, you’ll need to link the new domain name to your existing website.
The process for this will vary depending on the registrar you use. In general, though, you can link a new domain name by going to your web hosting account and updating the address to which your domain name directs users.
If you don’t have an existing website and are creating one from the ground up, you can go ahead at this point and use the tools the registrar offers to set your website up.
Remember, registering your domain name is just the first step in setting up a business website. Once you have a name, you have to create web pages to make up that website (services page, contact page, etc.).
Launch and Confirm
Once you’ve finished creating your website, you can launch it and confirm that it’s live. Then, you’ll be ready to start sharing content and communicating with current potential clients online!
Don’t Forget to Renew
Don’t forget that you have to renew your domain name on a regular basis. In most cases, once you register a domain name, it’s yours for 1-2 years. Once that time is up, you’ll have to pay to renew your domain name; otherwise, someone else could try to create a new website using it.
Many registrars allow you to set your account up so that your domain renews automatically. This can be a great approach for those who don’t want to have to worry about keeping track of renewal dates.
Set Your Website Up Today
The idea of choosing a domain name for your website can seem daunting at first.
If you keep these tips in mind, though, it’ll be much easier for you to choose a domain name that suits your business and is easy for clients (and future clients) to remember.
Don’t forget to follow up with these tips on registering your domain name as well. They’ll help you ensure you can secure your ideal domain name and start moving forward with your business plans.
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