Business or location-specific domains and extensions.
Choosing a location specific business name might seem like a smart way to build local trust, but it could be the biggest mistake that limits your growth potential.
What if you started your own driving school, based in Morden, South London, and called it “Morden Driving School”, for example?
Great, this can establish a strong presence and may even establish a certain amount of trust. However, client numbers will be small, and anybody looking from outside Morden will be put off thinking you don’t serve their area.
What if a young student in the next borough wants lessons, but doesn’t understand distances, so assumes it’s limited only to Morden?
Even worse, what if you become so popular that you want to expand into the neighbouring boroughs and take on other instructors?
Their opportunities may be limited due to the perception that your driving school is tiny. Or worse, you will struggle to recruit instructors due to the perception of your business size.
When should I use a business or location-specific domain name?
There are times when choosing a location-specific domain name is a good idea. However, these are for particular purposes and uses.
If you do want or need to use location-specific domain names, then these should be used in specific landing pages or websites only that target specific locations, but never a business name. The only exception to this would be using the name of your business’s city.
Some businesses use the city where they were founded as their business name, yet export all over the world.
Look at the “London Taxi Company” for example. (Now known as the Chinese-owned levc) Their name originated from the fact that the company used to be called The London Taxi Company, as it was the primary manufacturer of the iconic black cabs used for taxis in London.
So while their company is not London-based, the product they created was originally for use in London.
Don’t let this domain extension disaster happen to you!
Another critical mistake business owners make is leaving themselves wide open to scammers. This happens when scammers use almost identical yet credible domain names to con people.
A perfect example is a dog training service we came across recently that uses the same domain name as an already long-established dog training service.
Main Business example:
The long established business is using fourpawstraining.co.uk
They registered their domain name in August 2008.
Sadly, they failed to register any other domain names to protect their brand and business name.
Copycat Business:
However, the copycat business that’s stealing their intellectual property and traffic is using the domain name fourpawstraining.uk
This business registered the .uk only domain name version of fourpawstraining.co.uk in December 2023!
That’s nine years after the .uk domain names were released.
Don’t Let Your Domain Name Hold You Back
For the last 25 years, we’ve been helping business owners all over London sort out their domains and hosting, and we’ve seen too many good businesses paint themselves into a corner with names that seemed clever at the time.
Your domain should be working for you, not against you.
Whether you’re just starting, already stuck with a limiting name, or worried about someone nicking your idea, there’s always a way forward, and you don’t need to become a tech wizard to figure it out.
We’re not here to blind you with jargon or flog you stuff you don’t need. Just honest advice about what’ll work for your business, what it’ll actually cost (spoiler: probably less than you think), and how to protect yourself without the headaches.
Fancy a chat about your domain options? Get in touch or send us a WhatsApp Message to book a consultation. No sales pitch, just a proper conversation about what makes sense for your business.
After all, you’ve got enough to worry about without your domain name being one of them.
