If you are new to internet marketing, then one of the first actions you will want to take is to secure your own domain name for your website. Once you have the right domain name, you can move forward and build your website, but without a domain name you are dead in the water.

Just any old domain name won’t do either, you need to put some serious thought into the domain name for your website, selecting one which truly reflects the image of your company. Think of a domain name as the address of your business on the internet or even its business card and you will realise its importance.

If you choose the wrong domain name and want to change it later on, you can do this, but it causes a whole set of issues which you will most probably need professional help to overcome. This approach is not recommended, which is why you need to select the right domain name at the beginning of the process.

If you still need more evidence that your own domain name is vital to your business, here are 4 more reasons that should help to convince you.

1.     A domain name makes your business look professional

If you simply decide to go with a free domain name from WordPress.com for example, then your domain name will be yourwebsite.wordpress.com. This doesn’t sound very professional and who wants ‘WordPress’ in their domain name anyway? Since domain names are as cheap as chips, there is no valid excuse not to register a domain name for your business.

2.     You can build your own brand

If you are just starting your own business, it is important that you begin to build your brand. A domain name that reflects your brand, also reinforces its value and increases the awareness of your brand within the community. It is a good idea to have your domain name matched to your company name, otherwise you will only confuse your customers. Matching your domain name and company name also makes it easier to build a brand.

3.     You can have multiple professional looking email addresses

It doesn’t look very professional if your contact email on your website ends in gmail.com or some other free email address. You really need your own branded email addresses which can only come with your own registered domain name. You can have as many email addresses as you need – one for each employee and department if necessary, but it is important for your brand’s image that you have email addresses linked to your domain name.

4.     Domain names are valuable

Some domain names are perceived to be so valuable that they sell for thousands of dollars. That’s just the domain name. Domain names can so easily become associated with particular brands that many companies purchase as many similar domain names as they can. They do this to prevent competitors pinching their traffic or jeopardising their reputation and company image, by creating a low quality website with a similar domain name.

So now that you understand how important owning your own domain name is to the success of your business, you can register a domain name with iiNet and start building your brand straight away.