GETTING STARTED

What are custom domains and why are they important to your brand?

5 min. read

Aug 31, 2023

A custom domain name is a unique name given to an address, specific to your brand name. It is also commonly known as the URL for your website and replaces the technical address. The first domain name was used in 1985 and has been a practice followed since then.
Imagine typing 112.111.01.02 instead of smartcommerce.amazon.in! Custom domains are integral to the current, modern world wide web and especially important to your business. Your customers need to remember where to find you again if you’re looking to keep repeat customers. You can decide exactly the name your website will have when you purchase a custom domain. We’ve come up with the complete guide an Indian business needs when starting online with a custom domain.

A custom domain name replaces the free domain name provided by a website creation service. For example, yourbusiness.com instead of www.smartbiz.in/cheenimitti or www.smartbiz.in/kosha. The name format helps to easily remember the name, adds trust to your brand and a host of other benefits. The best part about a custom domain is that once you purchase it, it’s yours for the entire duration of the lease. Once indexed, you’ll get organic traffic from various search engines to your website based on your website name (branded keywords) as well as the kind of content you have on your website.

Why are custom domains important to your brand?

Having a custom domain is crucial for a business due to various reasons:

An online address: Just like everybody has a home address, a custom domain gives an address and an identity to your business. It is essential for proprietary reasons, once you purchase a domain- it’s yours exclusively This is the first step you need to take if you want your customers to start trusting you. With the internet helping you reach your customers, unfortunately that also means scammers pretending to be your business can target your customers. A custom domain solves all this for you.
Email availability: Custom domains allow you to have email IDs associated with the business, i.e. all the employees can have email IDs with the domain name. For example, abc@yourbusiness.com. That’s always better than a generic email ID like randomname@gmail.com This gives your customers trust as they will be purchasing from a professional website/ business with a professional email ID to reach out to for anything.
Branding: Custom domains help establish the brand identity for your business. When someone is talking about their website and needs to share the URL with a business contact, a custom domain helps in spreading brand awareness. It helps customers and other stakeholders recognize and recall your brand name. This means that a customer who loved your product can keep finding you without rerouting to another store when trying to find you online, keeping the repeat business flowing.
Credibility: It helps build trust and credibility. Customers find a website with a custom domain name more legitimate than websites with no custom domains.
Distinction from the domain provider: As mentioned earlier, when a business uses a free domain name provided by the domain provider, the URL may look confusing. It does not help build brand recall. This is very important for small businesses that are trying to establish themselves. While it may be a hard decision to spend money on buying a custom domain name, it’s worth it.
Search gets easier: When customers, suppliers, investors and others are looking for the website, a custom name makes it easier to look up the brand name. This especially impacts SEO, as it gives Google the chance to index your brand, giving it the chance to show up when anyone that searches for keywords associated with your business.
Easy to remember: Custom domain names are easier to remember and recall. Whenever someone searches for a brand in a particular sector, the one with an easier domain name will be one factor that will influence the customer’s decision to visit the website.
Control: With a custom domain, you have full control over its configuration, DNS settings, and how it's used. You can change web hosts or email providers while keeping the same domain.
Privacy and security: With custom domains, you can often opt for domain privacy protection to shield personal contact information from public domain registration records.
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Best practices for a custom domain name

Selecting an appropriate domain name is a critical task for establishing a strong online presence and a brand recall. Following best practices can help you choose a domain that is not only memorable but also effective for your brand or website. If you're an e-commerce company looking to create a website with no-code capabilities, try SmartBiz by Amazon.. If you want a custom name, here are some of the best practices for selecting a good domain name:

Keep it short and simple: Try to use your business name as it is. If it is a lengthy name, try to keep it brief.
Reflect business activity: Opt for a domain name that easily conveys to your customer what your business is all about.
Keep it unique: The domain name should not look similar to competitors so that it is easy for customers to identify your website quickly.
Avoid special characters and hyphens: These generally make it harder to remember and may end up leading the customer to a competitor’s website. Try and stick to letters and numbers.
Choose the right domain extension: “.com” is the most commonly used and recommended domain extension for business websites. Use other extensions like “.net”, “.org”, “.io” or country-specific extensions if they are more suitable to the business.
Make it SEO friendly: Having a generic domain name may not result in showing up top-ranking searches. It is a good idea to use a unique name that reflects the brand and business.
Consistency with the brand: Domain names that are aligned and consistent help in cementing the brand.
Think about the future: The domain name should not limit the scope of activity a business may want to indulge in future. Keeping a wider scope may be helpful. Otherwise moving to a new domain might be necessary.
Take feedback: It’s good to take feedback from a few people about the domain name, as getting the perspective of someone who has never heard of your business before might be important
Research: You must research and check if there have been any negative associations with the planned domain name.
Keep it evergreen: Business owners should think of a long-lasting name that doesn’t fade away with passing trends.

What to do if your desired domain name is taken/ not available?

A domain name is listed as not available only if that exact domain name is already taken. A good way to get around such issues is to use variations of your desired domain name or to change the domain name entirely depending on your circumstances. The other option is to contact the domain owner and negotiate a transfer of ownership.

How to get a custom domain?

Getting a custom domain name involves several steps, from selecting and registering the domain to configuring it for use with your website or online services. After selecting a domain name, a business owner can follow this step-by-step guide on how to get a custom domain if they’re not already using a service provider

Checking domain availability:

The first thing you need to do is use the search tool of the domain provider to check if the domain name is available. Some of the popular domain registrars include GoDaddy, Wix and Google Domains.
If the preferred domain name is already taken, you may need to come up with an alternative or try different domain extensions (e.g., .com, .net, .io, .co).
Register the domain:

After finding an available domain, you need to register it through the chosen domain registrar. Follow the registrar's instructions to create an account or log in in case of an existing one.

Add the domain to the cart, choose the registration period (usually one year, but you can register for longer to avail discounts, if any), and complete the payment process. Once completed you should receive an email from your provider with the details needed to add your domain name to your website.
Configure domain settings:

After registration, access the domain registrar's control panel or dashboard. Configure domain settings like DNS (Domain Name System) records, privacy settings, and auto-renewal options.
When purchasing a new domain name or changing it, you have the ability to connect your website to the new domain name. Do note, you do not have have the ability to change your domain name once purchased. To change to another domain name, you will need to purchase it and then connect it to your website.

This involves
• Accessing your domain registrar account
• Finding your DNS management or name server setting
• Changing your nameserver settings to one provided by your domain registrar.
• Click save to connect your domain name to your website.

Enable domain privacy protection to keep your contact information private.
Connect the domain to the website:

Depending on your web hosting provider, you will need to configure DNS records to point the custom domain to your website's IP address or server.
If you are using a website builder or hosting service, you should provide detailed instructions on how to link the domain to the website.
Test the domain:

After making DNS changes, it may take some time (usually up to 48 hours) for the changes to reflect across the internet.
Update links and promote custom domain

Once a custom domain is correctly configured, organizations must update any links or references to the old domain (if applicable).
Startups must promote custom domains through their website, social media, and other marketing channels.
Renew your domain

A business organization must keep track of the domain's expiration date and renew it to avoid losing ownership.
Consider additional services

Some domain registrars offer additional services like email hosting or evenno-code website building, etc. A business owner may want to explore these options based on one's needs.
Domain registration is an ongoing process and therefore it's crucial to maintain ownership by renewing the domain before it expires. Also, it's important to keep the contact information up to date with the domain registrar to receive important notifications about the domain.

How much does owning a domain cost?

Most domains cost somewhere between INR 850 to 4000per year depending on the kind of provider you go with. So, if you're planning to create your online store, it's an investment worth making.
(Price Source: GoDaddy, Wix)

Custom domain names are essential to starting your own e-commerce business, online store or any business. They bring trust and credibility to your endeavour. It's important to choose a custom domain carefully. It should resonate and align with your brand and will help you in cementing your online presence.

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FAQ's

1. Can I connect the custom name to my hosting account?

Yes. It is typically done by updating the Domain Name System (DNS) settings for your domain to point to the IP address or name servers provided by your hosting provider.

2. Should I have multiple custom domains for different aspects of my brand or business?

Yes. It can help you segment your online presence and target specific audiences more effectively if your brand caters to various customers and sells different category products. If your brand does not cater to various categories and products its important to consolidate in order to increase your domain authority.

3. How to transfer my custom name to a different hosting or a registrar provider?

Yes. This process involves updating the domain's settings to point to the new hosting server. When purchasing a new domain name or changing it, you have the ability to connect your website to the new domain name. Do note, you do not have have the ability to change your domain name once purchased, to change to another domain name. You will need to purchase it and then connect it to your website.

This involves
• Accessing your domain registrar account
• Finding your DNS management or name server setting
• Changing your nameserver settings to one provided by your domain registrar.
• Click save to connect your domain name to your website.

4. How do I add a custom email address to my socials and website?

You can add an email ID to your website ( associated with your domain name) by using the email services provided by your host service. Each one is different and you will need to refer to your hosting service provider for instructions. .

5. How do custom domains impact SEO and discoverability?

Custom domains improve the SEO for your website as search engines tend to favour websites with custom domains over generic or subdomain URLs. The keywords present in your domain name help it rank for keywords.