Running a Business? Here's Why Your Business Needs An Online Domain A registered domain gives the business an identity and the email makes it look legit
By Cate Barker
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
People now instinctively turn to Internet to buy products and services, for finding cafes around or buying cloths.
Even for those who hear about a business from a family member or a friend, it is natural to use Internet to know about offerings and to get in touch with business owner. The basic point is that a business needs to have an online presence to flourish.
Today, getting online is cheap and even people who do not have time to build a website can do so by paying a little to service providers.
There are service providers who can help you buy a domain in India and will help you set up email addresses in the name of your business, and this can come for as low as INR 54 per month.
For instance, GoDaddy's Online Starter Bundle offers you an Indian domain along with one-page mobile friendly website and an email account based on the unique domain name of the business, which then becomes ready for the professional world. A registered domain gives the business an identity and the email makes it look legit. And of course, the business becomes searchable on the Internet.For an investment of INR 54 per month, the Online Starter Bundle helps you take your business online, within minutes.
Business Identity
Same as a street address allows customers to find a business—office or shop— a domain name makes the business available online.
Ideally, a domain name should be the same as the business name. This would require a little bit of creativity as no two businesses can have the same domain name.
For example, you may like the name Zomato and like to name your business so, but you cannot use Zomato.com as domain for your business as it is already registered.
How To Choose a Domain Name
A shorter domain name, and same as that of your business, is easier to remember for customers. Including special characters makes it difficult to memorize and recall.
In case you want to use your surname as the domain but it is already registered, add, say, the location of your business to the domain name. This will also let customers know the place of your operation.
Also, .in and .co.in are the two extensions—the part that appears after the dot—are unique to India and people immediately understand that the business is based in India.
The Email Address
An email address with business domain name makes you look professional.
Definitely, there are free websites which allow you to create email addresses but that should be only used by start-ups who are short of funds, not if you have funds. For receivers, emails with business domain name make it more attractive and legit as even spammers can create email addresses through free websites.
Also, unlike free websites storage spaces in these emails are bigger. In any case, free websites prompt you to buy additional space after certain usage which may not be enough for you.
Internet Presence
Customers now like to see the offerings on a Web page, unlike being explained over the phone. They like to click on information tabs to learn about the business and offerings. You must ensure to share your business information, contact details and links to social media pages.
In case you go for a paid domain registration, usually the service provider will gives round-the-clock assistance in multiple Indian languages.
