it.com 10 Mistakes Tech Startups Make When Choosing a Domain Name, According to Experts

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Choosing a domain name for a tech brand often feels like a creative milestone. It is exciting, fast-paced, and usually squeezed between product launches and funding conversations. But in reality, this decision has long-term effects that reach far beyond branding.

The domain name influences how people trust a business, how easily they find it, and how confidently it can grow online. Founder conversations echo these same themes, including this Reddit discussion, where the importance of choosing a name repeats again and again.

We’ve invited CEOs, startup leaders, and decision-makers across the tech ecosystem to share their perspective on the 10 biggest mistakes new businesses make when choosing a domain name for a tech brand.

Treating the Domain As an Afterthought​

One of the most consistent themes across expert insights is how often domains are treated as an afterthought. Many founders focus their energy on product development and go-to-market plans, assuming the domain can be sorted quickly at the end.

That mindset often leads to compromises that are expensive to undo later.

Andy Zenkevich, Founder & CEO at Get a Copywriter, explains:

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make when choosing a domain name is treating the domain as an afterthought.

When you're spending hundreds of thousands building a great product, marketing it, and hiring a team, the domain probably belongs to the subset of your work that deserves a little more attention than it actually gets.

I've seen dozens of startups forced to rebrand, pay a fortune to acquire a domain, or lose mindshare to competitors with better names.

Domains often look small on a budget line, but their impact compounds over time.



Source: Unsplash

Underestimating Trust and Credibility Signals​

A domain name sends an immediate message about legitimacy. Long before users try a product, they see the URL in search results, emails, and ads.

Brett Farmiloe, CEO at Featured, shared a clear outcome from rebranding:

When we rebranded from Terkel.io to Featured.com in 2023, we saw an immediate increase in trust from prospective customers and partners.

It was one of the toughest decisions as a cash-constrained startup, but people simply trust a company more when they see a premium domain name in their inbox or when subscribing to a service.

Trust does not guarantee success, but weak trust signals quietly slow it down.

Choosing a Name that Only Fits Today’s Product​

Another major mistake is choosing a domain that describes the current product too narrowly. Startups evolve quickly, often faster than expected.

Jignen Pandya, CEO at Expert App Devs, explains:

The biggest mistake new tech businesses make is selecting something that only fits their current product rather than their long-term vision. Whenever the business evolves, the domain is likely to feel outdated and lose its credibility, and this eventually needs expensive rebranding, domain migrations, and lots of SEO work.

A great domain should pass the "radio test" like if someone hears it once, they should be able to type it correctly. That's the true test of usability and branding.

This challenge frequently emerges when founders later try topick a domain name for an IT startup that can support broader positioning.

Making Names Hard to Spell, Hear, or Remember​

Creative spelling often feels clever at the brainstorming stage. In real-world use, it creates friction.

Ben Foster, CEO at The SEO Works, describes the issue:

Tech founders often try to get a short domain by dropping vowels or using creative spelling.

If you have to spell your website out letter by letter every time you tell someone about it, you have failed the first test of marketing.

If a potential client types your name based on how it sounds and ends up on a competitor's site, you have lost a sale before you even started.

Small spelling barriers often translate into lost traffic and diluted brand searches.



Source: Unsplash

Following Trends Instead of Fundamentals​

Trends move quickly in tech, especially around AI. Domains, however, are long-term assets.

Phil Santoro, Co-Founder at Wilbur Labs, shared an observation:

The single biggest mistake tech founders are making right now is anchoring their brand to a .ai domain.

AI fatigue is already starting to take over, and customers are becoming skeptical of buzzwords.

A .com domain screams longevity, while a .ai domain often signals experimentation.

What feels modern today can feel dated sooner than expected. And the scarcity of names in the .com zone can be overtaken when looking at alternative solutions, such as .it.com extension.

Ignoring the Short Name and Reputable Extension​

Some founders choose unfamiliar extensions to appear distinctive. Several experts warned that this often creates confusion instead.

Arne Möhle, Co-Founder & CEO at Tuta, explains:

We used to operate via tutanota.com, and recently rebranded by switching to the shorter and more memorable tuta.com domain.

What we learned from this: It is often underestimated how important a short and easy domain and a great top level domain - like .com in our case - is.

Creative domains under top level domains no one has ever heard of look fancy, but they are confusing.

People cannot remember where to place the dot, and that hurts brand reputation as well as search engine optimization.

A well-known extension signals credibility and makes recall easier.

Clarity, reputation and usability often matter more than novelty.

Overlooking Security and Signaling Risks​

Domains are not just branding tools. They are technical signals, especially in SaaS and cybersecurity.

Yuying Deng, CEO at Esevel, highlights a subtle but costly issue:

Domains are often the first technical touchpoint that customers, investors, and security teams see.And security teams often see them first as well.

In cybersecurity and SaaS especially, deals have been slowed down just because of domains that provided quiet warning signs, odd extensions, naming inconsistencies with the product or variants that seemed like they could have been used to phish. Nothing was technically wrong; however, emails were silently sent, and trust was lost.

Learning that sort of phenomenon late in the process is a painful lesson.

In regulated industries, these signals are scrutinized early.



Source: Unsplash

Failing to Research a Domain’s History​

Buying an expired or previously owned domain without history checks can introduce SEO and reputation problems. Google has explicitly warned about expired domain abuse.

Nikola Baldikov, Founder at SERPsGrowth, explains:

If you buy a domain that's been used for spam or link schemes, you inherit suppressed rankings, unstable traffic, and months of cleanup work.

Google is explicitly calling out expired domain abuse as a manipulation tactic, so even without a visible penalty, it can be hard to surpass the shadow ban.

This often overlaps with common domain name buying mistakes made under time pressure.

Creating confusion with multiple domains​

Some startups launch different tools or features on separate domains. This can dilute trust.

Sandro Kratz, Founder at Tutorbase, shared a clear lesson:

Using separate domains for our different tools made customers question if we were a legitimate company.

Once we consolidated under one domain, that feeling disappeared.
Figuring out your domain early saves a lot of awkward conversations later.

Consistency helps users understand what belongs together.

Choosing Availability Over Strategy​

Cheap and available domains are tempting, especially early on. Several experts cautioned against letting availability drive the decision.

Tom Jauncey, Head Nerd at Nautilus Marketing, explains:

Cleverly spelled names and obscure extensions are often chosen because they are available and inexpensive.

If a customer cannot spell it, remember it, or associate it with your brand, you create unnecessary friction.

Rebranding later is far more costly than securing the right domain early.

Short-term savings often lead to long-term costs.

Source: Unsplash

What These Mistakes Have in Common​

Across all expert insights, one pattern stands out. The biggest mistake is underestimating how permanent domain decisions are. Domain names shape trust, SEO, security perception, and brand memory. Fixing mistakes later is possible, but rarely simple or cheap.

FAQs​

What is the biggest mistake new businesses make when naming a tech brand?​

Choosing a domain that works for today but limits trust, clarity, or growth in the future.

Does a domain name really affect SEO?​

Yes. Domains influence branded searches, click-through rates, and perceived credibility, all of which support SEO.

Are trendy domain extensions risky?​

They can be. Trends often age faster than brands, increasing the chance of rebranding.

Should startups secure multiple domains?​

Some do it for brand protection. This works best when there is one clear primary domain.

Is rebranding later a good strategy?​

It is possible, but often costly due to SEO migrations, lost recognition, and technical complexity.

Continue reading on the it.com Domains blog...