Pick a domain that will still make sense in five years

A domain is a sign on a building. If the name is a joke, a trademark problem, or a hyphen pile, you will explain it for the rest of the company.

Say it out loud

Call the name to someone in another room. If they ask you to spell it twice, keep looking. Avoid double letters that collide with a more famous brand. Avoid the year you launched.

.com still wins for local trust. Country codes are fine when you are actually in that country. Novelty TLDs work when the word is unmistakable (studio, clinic) and you will defend it in ads.

Buy the obvious mistakes

If you can afford it, grab the misspelling that your front desk already hears. Point it with a 301. Do not build a second site.

DNS is product

The records that matter on day one:

• A / AAAA or CNAME to the host that serves HTTPS.
• MX before anyone sends a quote from the new address.
• SPF, DKIM, DMARC the same afternoon. Waiting is how you train Gmail to distrust you.
• CAA if you want to be picky about who mints certificates.

TTL can stay low until the cutover is boring, then raise it.

Do not hide the registrar

Screenshot the account recovery codes. Put two people on the registrar login. Domains expire in silence; calendars do not have to.