Selecting a domain name for your church website is a big deal! Your domain is what you want people to remember and how they will find you online.
Unfortunately, you won’t always find the exact domain you are looking for. Sometimes it may already be taken or it could be out of your budget. Again, think of a website domain like real estate. If someone else already owns the domain you were looking for they either may not be interested in selling or the sale price could be outside of your budget. For more on the process of buying a domain name, we have you covered here.
For this reason, it is important to have a few options in mind when searching for a website domain for your church. There are actually a lot of strategies that go into selecting the ideal domain name for any website owner. Follow these guidelines to find a domain name that will be beneficial to your online presence.
Preferred Extensions
One of the first things you will tackle when choosing your domain is to seek out your preferred extensions. When we say extensions we are talking about the last part of your domain name. The most common and preferred extensions are .com, .org, and .net. This also means they are likely to be the most expensive. There are also industry-related extensions that can sometimes be relevant. In the case of a church domain name, .church could be a viable extension.
Why use a preferred extension?
Nearly 46% of all registered domain names are .com domains. Even most smartphones have a default .com key for quick typing.
The .com domains are easy to remember. Most internet users instinctively use .com when entering a website address in their browser. Due to the popularity of .com domain names, they are easier to brand, promote, and help you grow your business.
Due to its familiarity, flexibility, and potential, we recommend that first seek a .com domain extension for your new website.
Targeted Keywords
For a church domain name, it is imperative that you include church somewhere in your domain name. This will help search engines send outside traffic to your website. When someone googles “church near me,” Google will have no problem identifying your website as a church. So instead of goodnews.com let’s make it goodnewschurch.com
Keep it Short
We know, we just advised you to add the word “church” to your domain and now we are telling you to keep it short. As we said, there is a strategy and we can find balance here. We recommend keeping your domain name under 15 characters. Longer domains are harder for your users to remember.
Not to mention, users will also be more prone to entering typos with longer domain names which can lead to lost traffic.
Utilize Location
Adding your location can be a good strategy when you are having a hard time finding an available domain name. We know when it comes to church names there can be a lot of duplicates out there. This makes it even harder to land on an appropriate available domain. Including your location can be a good way to differentiate yourself. For example, Hosannachurch.com could be hosannachurchmn.com.
Of course for churches who wish to expand to many locations or are already spread across the country, this wouldn’t be a great option.
Consider Abbreviations
It can be tempting to add abbreviations to your church website domain. These can be helpful but should be used carefully. While everyone in your congregation may know “River Valley Church ” as RVC. To the outsider, RVC means nothing.
Now, if you are having a hard time finding an applicable domain, abbreviations can sometimes help you find the right one. For example, Rivervalleychurchag.com includes the assemblies of God abbreviation, or as we stated earlier, location or state abbreviations can also be added if needed.
Avoid Punctuation
Never create a domain name with hyphens or unnecessary punctuation. Hyphens can be a sign of spam domains that you do not want to be associated with.
Hyphenated domains are also prone to typos. If you choose a domain name with hyphens because the domain you want is already taken, then your users will likely end up at your competitor’s site if they forget to type in the hyphen.
Avoid Double Letters
It’s a good idea to avoid domains with doubled letters because it increases your chances of losing traffic to typos. For example, a domain like relicchurchhouston.com will be more prone to typos and result in lost traffic.
Avoiding doubled letters will also make your domain easy to type and more brandable.
Utilize a Domain Name generator
We know this is a lot to consider. Luckily, tools have been created to help you along your way to finding the perfect domain name.
Utilizing a domain name generator will give you tons of ideas to play with in selecting your name. Domain wheel and GoDaddy are great options. To start, you will enter in your church name or any other keywords you want to be included in your domain and the generator will give you a whole list of possible domain options.
As a church website design agency we are here to lead you in the process of designing a building your church website. It is important to us that our clients own their own domains as it is often intertwined with a client’s web presence and we want to make sure they have full control. This allows our clients to shop around, purchase additional domains, and even change their domain if they wish.
With that said, we know this part can be tricky, we are here to offer any help or advice you may need to find the perfect domain name!