How To Create Custom Domain?

First impression matters (Harvey Spectre said the same thing in Season 1 of Suits).

And when we’re talking about your brand, there are a few major things that will create an image about it.

First is your product: how quality it really is and how affordable it is. What problem does this products solves, and how much is improving the lives of others?

The second one are people: what kind of people are working in your company? How they’re contributing to your company’s mission? Does their job leaves some space for their personal development as well? In general, are they becoming better by doing what they’re doing, and does your company becomes better because of them?

And the final one is: your online reputation. That includes your website, social media channels, marketing & branding, as well as the value you’re providing with your products, services, and stuff you’re sharing with others.

And let’s be honest: you can’t know more about the first and the second thing until you check the first one - the website. If you want to buy, for example, a digital business card, you will first check available providers globally, and compare them. You won’t make any purchase before you check their websites actually.

Whenever your customers visit your website, they enter a URL containing your domain.

That’s why it is so important to create a great custom domain that fits into your brand identity. But that’s not enough: you’ll need to learn how to use your domain for many more segments, and that’s what we’re going to show you in this blog.

Source: platforms.com

What Is A Custom Domain?

Custom domain is a unique web address that a business or individual owns and uses for their website, such as www.companyname.com. Unlike free subdomains provided by platforms (e.g., companyname.wordpress.com), a custom domain is chosen by the business and is more professional and personalised.

A custom domain simply gives a company a more professional image. Having a domain name that matches the brand helps create a strong and credible online presence, giving customers more confidence in the business. For example, www.brandname.com looks more authoritative than brandname.someplatform.com.

By the way, did you know that custom domain can actually help boost click-throughs by 2.4x? Click here and create your own ✅

A custom domain builds trust with customers and visitors (needed if you would like to have a profitable business, by the way). Additionally, a personalised domain shows that a business is established and serious, which is important for attracting new customers, particularly in competitive industries.

Why this can be important to you as a business owner?

Because every detail matters - including the links that lead to your website.

Search engines, like Google favour websites with custom domains because they tend to be more relevant and trustworthy; and a custom domain helps in improving search engine rankings, which can increase organic traffic to the business website.

There are more reasons why is important to have a quality & effective custom domain.

With a custom domain, businesses have full ownership and control over their web address, unlike when using subdomains from free website services. This ownership is important for long-term growth and scalability, and businesses can use the domain for multiple purposes like email addresses (for example, info@companyname.com).

How Big Brands Are Using Custom Domains?

As a brand, with a quality custom domain (that’s also easy to access - short and easy to remember) you can easily gain consistency across all marketing channels, including websites, emails, and advertisements. Customers often associate custom domains with professionalism and reliability.

Businesses often use multiple custom domains for specific marketing campaigns or product launches. For example, using productname.com for a new product line helps focus marketing efforts and creates an effective online identity for that specific campaign.

Marketers often create custom domains or subdomains to drive traffic to specific landing pages for promotions, events, or lead generation. For example, a brand might use sale.brandname.com during seasonal promotions, making it easy for customers to find relevant deals.

Often those domains and/or subdomains are just link (URL) redirects to the main website page. For example, if you would like to visit the official website of Coca Cola Store, you can type shareacoke.com.

Source: Screenshot from the shareacoke.com website

Nike, the biggest sport brand in the world, use link shorteners, domains & subdomains to redirect its customers to product pages, or membership pages. To check the real example, see nikeplus.com.

By the way, do you know how brands like Nike, Starbucks, or Amazon are using QR Codes? Find out here. ✅

How To Use Custom Domain As An Individual?

Custom domains are not only for big names & brands in the industry.

As an individual, whether you’re a freelancer, business consultant, or artist, a custom domain reflects credibility and helps people find you more easily.

You can use a custom domain to showcase your portfolio, resume, and achievements. If you’re a designer, writer, or photographer, for example, your domain can become a digital gallery for your work.

One of the main benefits of having the custom domain as an individual is that you can easily share your work with potential clients, employers, or collaborators. On your own domain, you maintain full ownership and control of your content, unlike platforms like Medium or Blogger.

Just as for businesses, with a custom domain, you can create personalised email addresses like contact@yourname.com or info@yourportfolio.com. These email addresses look more professional than using free services like Gmail.

How To Create A Custom Domain?

Here we go - it’s finally a moment to find out how to create a custom domain. 🫠

We will recommend you a step by step process to choose & create the best possible custom domain for yourself or your business. After having your domain, you’re ready to take further important steps for your personal or business promotion.

By the way, did you know that with Tapni you can buy a Custom Domain for 30% less money than on other websites? Wanna have something like mihajlo.link instead of t.link/mihajlo? Don’t miss out to get your custom domain today! 🚀

Here are the major 7 steps for becoming an owner of a domain you want:

1. Choose a Domain Name:
   • Think of a name that tells something unique your brand, business, or personal identity.
   • Make sure that domains it's unique and easy to remember. Shorter domain names are often better for branding (for example, pxl.to, or t.link).
2. Check Domain Availability:
   • Use a domain registrar to check if your desired domain name is available. Some popular domain registrars include (GoDaddy, NameCheap, Google Domains, BlueHost)
   • If your desired domain is taken, consider alternative extensions (for example, .net, .org) or variations of your name.
3. Register the Domain:
   • Once you've found an available domain name, you can purchase it through the domain registrar. Domain prices can vary based on the popularity of the name and the extension (for example, .com, .co, .io).
4. Choose a Hosting Provider:
   • To actually use your domain for a website, you'll need to connect it to a hosting provider. Popular hosting services include: (BlueHost, SiteGround, HostGator)
   • You can choose shared hosting (cheaper and good for small sites) or dedicated hosting (for larger businesses and websites).
5. Connect Domain to Your Website:
   • After purchasing hosting, you'll need to connect your domain to the hosting service by updating the DNS (Domain Name System) settings. This process is usually straightforward and involves copying the DNS information from your hosting provider and pasting it into your domain registrar’s settings.
6. Set Up Email with Your Domain (Optional, but Preferable):
   • Many hosting services or third-party providers like Google Workspace allow you to set up a professional email using your custom domain (for example, filip@tapni.com).
7. Configure Additional Settings (Optional, but Preferable):
   • You can add SSL certificates for security (especially important for e-commerce sites) and configure subdomains (for example, aws.amazon.com).

📦 Wrapping It Up

Today we’ve covered why custom domains are so important, and why you should start using them as soon as possible - it doesn’t matter if you have business or personal needs: it will work well in both cases. The main reasons why you should go for it are:

1. As a brand, with a quality custom domain gain consistency across all marketing channels, including websites, emails, and advertisements.  ✅
2. As an individual, whether you’re a freelancer, business consultant, or artist, a custom domain reflects credibility and helps people find you more easily.  ✅
3. Custom domains can actually help boost click-throughs by 2.4x.  ✅

🎁 Bonus: 10 tips for selecting a custom domain

We’re aware that maybe this is your first time of choosing a domain, and we want to make it easier for you. That’s why our team created list of 10 tips on how to choose a right custom domain.

Make sure to check each tip before purchasing your custom domain.

Here they are:

1. Keep It Short And Simple - Shorter domain names are easier to type, remember, and share. Try to keep your domain between 6-14 characters. Avoid long and complex words or phrases that might confuse users.

2. Use Keywords - Incorporate keywords related to your business or industry in your domain. This can improve your SEO (search engine optimisation) and help potential visitors understand your site's focus.

3. Avoid Numbers and Hyphens - Numbers and hyphens can make the domain harder to remember and can cause confusion when people try to share your domain verbally (for example, the can ask "Is it 5 or five?" or "Is there a dash?").

4. Choose a Popular Extension - .com is still the most recognised and trusted extension, but alternatives like .net, .org, and .co can work well, depending on your niche. For location-based businesses, you can choose country-specific extensions (for example, .uk, .ca, .de, or create subdomains, like us.tapni.com).
5. Make It Brandable - Choose a domain that represents your brand's identity. It should be unique, and align with your business goals - a brandable domain stands out.
6. Think Long-Term - Avoid being too niche or specific to one product if your business plans to diversify in the future. Consider how the domain will serve you in 5-10 years as your brand evolves.
7. Check for Trademarks - Make sure that your chosen domain name doesn’t affect any existing trademarks or copyrights. This can prevent legal issues in the future. You can use trademark databases or consult legal professionals for this.
8. Use a Domain Name Generator - If you’re stuck, domain name generators like IONOS or DomainWheel can help you brainstorm creative ideas based on your keywords. IONOS AI Tool can give you recommendations for the website domain based on your keyword prompt based.
9. Make It Easy to Spell and Pronounce - Make sure that your domain is simple to spell and pronounce to avoid confusion when people share it via word-of-mouth.
10. Secure Social Media Handles - It would be great if the domain name is available on social media platforms as well. Consistent branding across both your domain and social media accounts strengthens your online presence. It’s great when the website and the Instagram Username are the same - it will be easier for your customers to find you (check tapni.mx as an example).

Ready to create custom domains with Tapni? 🚀

Check our other articles on this topic, and learn how to benefit as much as possible from using great URLs!

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