If you’re reading this, you’re probably already in the online business game. So, chances are that you’ve already chosen the domain name that defines your company.

But is that domain name exactly what you wanted it to be? Do you suspect that your sales might be better if your domain name was shorter, or more memorable or intuitive? After all, your domain name is the very foundation of your online business. A good one can boost sales just as surely as a weak one can sink them.

But choosing a domain name is also the very first step in kicking off your online business. So, unfortunately, because it’s first in sequence, it’s also often rushed and not given the amount of thought and research that it should be given. Many people who rush to get a website up and running often don’t spend a whole lot of time or thought into getting a domain name that’s just right … and suffer for it later as the customers flock to the competition.

The good news is that it’s never too late to get a better domain name, especially if you’ve yet to break through with big sales or a huge customer base. After all, that’s what redirects are for. And this time, with your business already up and running, you have the time to sit down and really consider what your domain name should be. What’s going to have the best effect on your customers? What name is going to stick in their minds, and what’s easy for them to type in when it’s time to go shopping?

By way of answering these questions, BNET recently offered up a valuable article on just what you should consider if you want your domain name to be a “home run” — that is, if you want it to be the kind of domain name that defines your whole company. The article offers up these four points as key elements when re-thinking your domain name:

1. Brand Recognition: Ideally your domain comes before your corporation. All the best e-commerce sites started with a home-run domain name (think Amazon, Google, EBay, and Yahoo). But for the corporations that already have an established name, it’s often best to retain the corporate name as your domain. Later, you can get creative with your sub-domains, or even alternate domain names, but the a priori choice should be your corporate name.

2. Length: Research shows that domains with 2-7 characters are the best best. Anything more than 10 letters begins to lose its strength with visitors.

3. Imagery: The majority of the population thinks more with their visual part of the brain rather than their logical, speech-related part.

4. Keywords: In search engine marketing — the keyword still reigns supreme in many domain names. This is an unfortunate situation, because nobody wants to name their web site, “easyipphonesetup.com,” but they’ll often feel obligated to do so, in order to capture search engine traffic. Despite the fact that keyword-specific domains serve search engine traffic well, they often don’t resonate with consumers, nor do they look very professional. In this case, i recommend nixing this pitfall. Besides, the good keywords are likely already bought up.

Check out the original article here, and, as always, let us know what you think in the comments.