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How to choose a domain name for your business

Pick the shortest version of your name that people can spell after hearing it once, on an ending that fits your audience. It does not have to match your legal business name, the ending does not change Google rankings, and the renewal price matters more than the first year. Stay clear of other companies' trademarks.

Updated October 22, 2026 · 6 primary sources, listed below

Five rules that cover most of it

  1. Short and spellable. The test is whether someone can type it after hearing it once. The technical limit is 63 characters per label (RFC 1035), but every extra syllable costs you word of mouth.
  2. No hyphens or digits unless they are the brand. They are valid (letters, digits and hyphens are the allowed characters, and a label can start with a digit per RFC 1123), but you will spend every phone call explaining them.
  3. It does not have to match your legal name. The SBA says your domain needn’t be the same as your legal business name, trademark or DBA.
  4. Pick the ending for people, not for Google. Google says its systems treat new endings like .com and keywords in a TLD give no advantage. Details: will a non-.com hurt my rankings.
  5. Stay clear of trademarks. A domain confusingly similar to someone’s mark can be taken from you under ICANN’s UDRP if it was registered and used in bad faith.

Look at the renewal, not the first year

You pay the first-year price once and the renewal every year after. The one price we show for each ending is the cheapest we found, with its renewal next to it:

EndingFirst yearRenews atCheapest at
.com$10.88$10.88/yrDynadot
.co$15.50$31.20/yrDynadot
.io$28.12$51.80/yrPorkbun
.ai$82.70$82.70/yrPorkbun
.app$8.00$14.50/yrDynadot
.dev$8.00$12.50/yrDynadot
.xyz$2.04$14.21/yrPorkbun

Standard (non-premium) names, from the tld.expert daily registrar price table, checked 2026-10-21.

Five- and ten-year totals per registrar are on each price page, for example .io price. Endings whose renewal jumps well above the first year are on the renewal trap list.

When the .com is taken

Live check against the registries and registrars, with the cheapest price we found and the renewal next to it.

Want to protect the name on more endings? See should you buy .net and .co too.

Common questions

How long can a domain name be?

Each part between the dots can be up to 63 characters, and the whole name up to 255, per RFC 1035. Letters, digits and hyphens are allowed, and a label cannot start or end with a hyphen. Shorter is easier to say, type and remember.

Should I use hyphens or numbers in my domain?

Avoid them if you can. Both are valid, but people who hear the name have to be told where the hyphen goes or whether the number is a digit or a word, and mistyped traffic goes to whoever owns the plain version.

What if the .com is taken?

Try the same name on another ending that fits, or add a short word such as get or hq. Google treats new endings like .com for ranking. Check the price you will pay every year after the first, not only the first-year price.

Does my domain need to match my company name?

No. The SBA says your domain name does not need to be the same as your legal business name, trademark or DBA, and once you register it nobody else can use it while you keep renewing it.

Sources

  1. U.S. Small Business Administration, “Choose your business name” (retrieved October 22, 2026).
  2. Google Search Central Blog, “Google's handling of new top level domains (John Mueller)” (July 21, 2015).
  3. IETF, “RFC 1035: Domain names, implementation and specification” (November 1, 1987).
  4. IETF, “RFC 1123: Requirements for Internet Hosts, section 2.1 (host names)” (October 1, 1989).
  5. ICANN, “Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy” (February 21, 2024).
  6. USPTO, “Likelihood of confusion” (retrieved October 22, 2026).

Extensions on this page

.com.co.io.ai.app.dev.xyz

More straight answers