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Great Domain Name vs Company Name

by WebMomentum
10 replies
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Good morning,

Here's a question that I hope one or more of the Warriors can provide some insight:

I'm about to start an offline business and I have a great generic domain name (I won't name it) that describes the "business service" (for example, bicycle repair). However, I can't really register the "business service" legally as a business name with the provincial/federal business name registry because it is just that, a very generic term.

Should I keep the domain but have a different company name? Using my same example ... the company named "Webby's Bicycle Repair" with the bicyclerepair[dot]com domain name? Or should I get webbysbicyclerepair[dot]com to ease any potential confusion (keep the brand and the web identity the same)?

I hope that question makes sense and I thank all in advance who have some insight for me.

Cheers!
  • Profile picture of the author HorseStall
    You should register both, you can redirect your company domain to the good domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasdon
    Originally Posted by WebMomentum View Post

    Good morning,

    Here's a question that I hope one or more of the Warriors can provide some insight:

    I'm about to start an offline business and I have a great generic domain name (I won't name it) that describes the "business service" (for example, bicycle repair). However, I can't really register the "business service" legally as a business name with the provincial/federal business name registry because it is just that, a very generic term.

    Should I keep the domain but have a different company name? Using my same example ... the company named "Webby's Bicycle Repair" with the bicyclerepair[dot]com domain name? Or should I get webbysbicyclerepair[dot]com to ease any potential confusion (keep the brand and the web identity the same)?

    I hope that question makes sense and I thank all in advance who have some insight for me.

    Cheers!
    If I understand the main part of your question, the best option is to use the 'brand' as your website's main address (webbysbicyclerepairs.com) and forward the generic domain (bicyclerepairs.com) to that site. This way you are building a brand whilst benefiting from any type in traffic from the generic domain.

    .............

    This section -
    However, I can't really register the "business service" legally as a business name with the provincial/federal business name registry because it is just that, a very generic term.
    doesn't make sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author WebMomentum
    Jasdon: Sorry - let me clarify. Yes, I can do the legal registration but given the generic nature of the term, there are hundreds of companies using the term in their name already. Don't want to be constantly resubmitting names for prov/fed approval.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasdon
    But you can use the generic term - it's trademarked words / terms you can't use. For instance 'bicyclerepair.com' is a fantastic domain because of it's generic and descriptive nature - it doesn't matter how many companies use that as part of their domain, ie, 'bobsbicyclerepair.com' - they have no claim to the 'bicyclerepair' element of the domain.

    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ajay Tiwari
    i would suggest buy both domains and run your website under generic domain name.. a good example would be if you search by keyword "Locksmith nyc".
    The first result which appears is locksmithnyc(dot)com here the brand name of the company is "Arties Hardware & Locksmith NYC".
    So i hope above example will tweak your mind. Why i am telling you to buy your brand domain name also because someone else could purchase it and i believe no one would like to lose a domain name with his brand.
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  • Profile picture of the author omy123
    I will suggest you to go for something with location name in this case. "Londonbicylces" for example. you can choose a keyword with location name according to the good searches of that keyword.
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  • Profile picture of the author daipham
    Thanks for sharing this information with us. It is really very Informative.
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  • Profile picture of the author philipf
    choose your brand
    that would be the best route
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  • Profile picture of the author rosesmark
    Making your business name the same as your web site name will be a smart move in terms of SE strategy. The relevance will only help you and make keyword targeting simple.
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  • Profile picture of the author WebMomentum
    Thanks everyone for your insight!
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