In today’s global marketplace, your company’s domain name will become your de facto business name. Regardless of your industry, country of operation or type of business, your customers will expect that you have domain name so that they can find your business on-line.

Whether you’re starting a small corner restaurant or a multinational operation, it’s essential that you take care in selecting the right domain identity for your business.

Here are 5 key secrets that will help you create the perfect domain for your start-up:

Secret 1. “Must-Have” Dot Com. In business today the.com domain extension means business. Not only will your customers expect you to have a domain name, they will expect the domain extension to be .com. While there are some good country code domain extensions, like.ca for Canada,.au for Australia and.in for India, the.com extension has become the clear choice for business.

Consider registering other extension in addition to your.com extension. If you don’t own the.com, you’ll be sending a lot of your customers to the company with the.com extension. In addition, Google generally places companies with.com extensions well above most other extensions in their search result listings.

Secret 2. Domain Name = Company Name. Consumers have come to expect that a company’s domain name is the same as their company name with “.com” added.

Here’s a quick quiz… what are the domain addresses for these companies: Facebook, Disney, Hershey, Ford, CNN? The answers: Facebook.com, Disney.com, Hershey.com, Ford.com and CNN.com. Each of these domain name match their company name. These companies don’t add any additional words to their domain name, neither should you.

Secret 3. Look to Be Evocative. You’ll want your domain to create some excitement. A great name should have energy and vibrancy. The last thing you want is a name that’s boring.

A dull domain name gets lost in the noise of the marketplace and is easily forgotten. Consider names that evoke a positive association with your business objectives, some fun or whimsy or evoke interest in your business.

Secret 4. Be Sure Your Domain Name is Easy to Communicate. One of the secrets to a winning domain is clear communication. You’ve got a great domain identity when it’s easy to pronounce and easy to write. So write the name down and say the name out loud.

Avoid names with multiple pronunciations and spellings. A successful domain choice will usually have fewer than 12 characters. The longer the name the greater the chance that you’ll confuse prospective customers.

Secret 5. Use All Alphabetic Characters. While there are non-English options (called non-ASCII characters) available in domain name protocol the best domain names are in English. So you’ll want to pick a domain that uses all English letters.

While the rules permit to use hyphens and numbers in domain identity – you’ll want to stay away from them. The use of a hyphen is generally used when the non-hyphen name is not available. (Example: Using Safe-Way.com, when Safeway.com is taken.) Many consumers will forget to include the hyphen, so you’ve just sent your customers to another website. Consider using a number only in the rarest of circumstances – only when it can be clearly integrated into your company name.

By following these five simple secrets, you can create a name that differentiates your business from your competitors and help position your firm for success.