Your domain is your address online: the part after www. and after the @ in your email. Picking one feels like a small decision, but you’ll live with it for years, so it’s worth five minutes.
The short answer
- Your customers are mostly in Zimbabwe? Use .co.zw.
- Your customers are mostly in South Africa? Use .co.za.
- You sell across borders, or plan to? Use .com, and grab your local one too if you can.
Why a local domain helps
People trust it. A .co.zw tells a customer in Bulawayo you’re a local business they can visit, call and pay in a way they understand.
It can help on Google. A local domain is one of the signals Google uses to decide a site is relevant to people in that country. It’s not the only one: your Google Business Profile, your address and your content matter more. But it doesn’t hurt.
It’s often available. Good short .com names are mostly taken. Your business name is far more likely to be free as a .co.zw or .co.za.
When .com makes more sense
- You serve customers in more than one country, as we do with Zimbabwe and South Africa.
- You want one address that works for exports, tourists or the diaspora.
- Your business name is short and the
.comhappens to be free.
Can I have both?
Yes, and it’s a good idea if your budget allows. Register both, pick one as your main address, and point the other at it. Anyone who types either one lands in the same place. We do exactly this: wanikwa.co.zw sends you to wanikwa.com.
Tips for choosing the name itself
- Keep it short. Easy to say on the phone and to type on a small screen.
- Avoid hyphens. People forget them.
- Avoid odd spellings. “Kwik” instead of “Quick” means explaining it every time.
- Say it out loud. If you have to spell it, think again.
- Check social media too. Ideally the same name is free on Facebook and Instagram.
The most important part: whose name is it in?
Your domain should be registered in your name or your business’s name, with your email address on the account. Not your web designer’s, not your nephew’s.
We’ve seen businesses lose their domain because the person who registered it left, or stopped paying, or refused to hand it over. If you’re not sure who owns yours, find out now, while things are fine.
When we register a domain for you, it’s in your name from day one, and we charge what the registry charges, with no markup.
And email?
Once you have a domain, you can have email like info@yourbusiness.co.zw. It looks more established on quotes and invoices than a Gmail address, and it stays yours if you change providers. We set up business email for $25, plus the mailbox cost from the provider.
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