What is a domain & how does it work?

What is a Domain?

A domain is the website name that customers can use to reach your site. It acts like a street address, but online! In addition, a business can also generate company emails for their employees and for customers to contact. Domains are great for ensuring your business is identifiable online as well as making everything much more professional.

Let’s break down Pitch Labs’ domain. Our domain name is pitchlabs.org. If someone wants to visit the Pitch Labs website, all they have to do is enter our domain name (pitchlabs.org) into a browser search bar! All of our organization emails end with our domain (ex. [email protected]).

It is also important to note that domains are unique. If a domain name is already in use, nobody but the person who owns it can use it for their website/emails. This may cause you to run into issues when generating a domain name for your business, but do not fear! We have included some tips to help overcome this later on in this article.

Domain Extensions

The .com or .org at the end of a domain is called the domain extension. While you can choose almost any domain extension, here are the most common ones:

• .com: used for commercial businesses
• .org: used for non-profit organizations
• .net: used for networks/portals OR for when the .com version of the domain isn’t available

There are plenty of other domain extensions available to choose from, but it is recommended that you stick with the above.

Creating a Domain for your Business

When generating ideas for your business’s domain, keep the following tips in mind:

• Make sure it is recognizable! Domains are an important component of a brand’s online presence, and people should be able to easily identify your business when they see it. The first place you should start is your business’s name.
• It should be easy to remember: customers need to be able to reach your website quickly and easily! Try to keep it as short as possible without losing clear brand recognition.
• If your desired domain is unavailable, you may need to resort to variations. One way to fix this is using a commonly known abbreviation that your business goes by (for example, American Eagle’s website is ae.com). Another option is adding keywords such as the industry your business is part of (just make sure that the business who owns the desired domain isn’t in the same industry as you!).