How to Start an Online Business: Name, Domain & Launch Checklist

Starting an online business has never been more accessible—or more competitive. While the barriers to entry have dropped to nearly zero, the decisions you make in the first week will echo for years. Your business name becomes your domain, which becomes your email, which becomes your brand, which becomes your reputation. Get the foundation right and everything downstream gets easier. This guide walks you through every step, with special focus on the naming and branding decisions that most guides skip over.

Step 1: Validate Your Business Idea

Before you spend a single dollar on a domain name or business registration, make sure someone will actually pay for what you're building. Too many founders fall in love with a name before validating the idea behind it.

Quick Validation Methods

• Talk to 10 potential customers. Not friends and family—actual people who have the problem you're solving. Ask about their current solutions, what frustrates them, and what they'd pay for a better option.
• Search for existing solutions. If nobody else is solving this problem, ask why. Sometimes it's a genuine gap in the market. More often, others have tried and failed because the market isn't there.
• Build a landing page test. Create a simple page describing your product or service, drive a small amount of paid traffic ($50–$100), and measure how many people sign up for a waitlist or click "Buy Now." A 3–5% conversion rate suggests real interest.
• Pre-sell before you build. The strongest validation is someone handing you money. Offer a pre-sale, a founding member discount, or a paid pilot program. If 10 strangers pay you before the product exists, you have something real.

Step 2: Choose Your Business Name

Your business name is the single most important branding decision you'll make. It needs to work as a spoken word, a domain name, a social media handle, a logo, and a legal entity—all at once. Here's how to approach it strategically:

Naming Strategies That Work

1. Compound words — Combine two real words into something new: Mailchimp, WordPress, Salesforce. These are memorable, meaningful, and usually have available .com domains.
2. Modified words — Alter a real word's spelling: Lyft (lift), Fiverr (fiver), Tumblr (tumbler). Instantly recognizable, with a modern twist.
3. Invented words — Create something entirely new: Spotify, Zillow, Hulu. Highly unique, but require more marketing investment to build recognition.
4. Descriptive + modifier — Combine what you do with a distinctive modifier: Basecamp, Freshbooks, Grammarly. Clear and immediately communicative.
5. Metaphorical names — Use a word from another context: Amazon (vast like the river), Apple (simple and approachable), Stripe (a clean line). These carry emotional resonance beyond their literal meaning.

Before committing to a name, verify that it's truly available. Check our guide on how to check if a business name is taken for a thorough checklist covering domains, trademarks, social handles, and state registrations.

The Domain-First Approach

Many successful founders work backwards: start with available domain names and let that inform the business name. This avoids the common pain of falling in love with a name only to discover the .com is taken (or costs $50,000 on the aftermarket).

A business name generator can accelerate this process by producing creative, brandable names that have available .com domains, saving you hours of manual searching.

Step 3: Secure Your Domain Name

Once you've chosen a name, register the domain immediately. Don't wait until your business is "ready"—domains get snapped up fast, and the $10–$15 annual cost is trivial insurance.

Domain Registration Best Practices

• Always get the .com. Even if you plan to use .io or .co as your primary domain, owning the .com prevents competitors and cybersquatters from benefiting from your brand recognition.
• Register common misspellings. If your name is "Clikflow," also grab "Clickflow.com" if available. Redirect misspellings to your primary domain.
• Use a reputable registrar. Cloudflare Registrar (at-cost pricing), Namecheap, or Porkbun. Avoid registrars with aggressive upselling and inflated renewal prices.
• Enable WHOIS privacy. This should be free with your registrar. If they charge for it, switch registrars.
• Set up auto-renewal. Losing your domain because you missed a renewal email is a nightmare scenario. Turn on auto-renewal from day one.

Step 4: Register Your Business

Once your name and domain are locked in, it's time to make it official. The legal structure you choose affects your taxes, liability, and how professional you appear to customers and partners.

Common Business Structures

• Sole Proprietorship — Simplest option. No formal registration needed in most states (though you may need a DBA). Downside: no liability protection—if your business gets sued, your personal assets are at risk.
• LLC (Limited Liability Company) — The sweet spot for most online businesses. Protects personal assets, offers tax flexibility, and looks professional. Formation costs $50–$500 depending on the state. Wyoming, Delaware, and New Mexico are popular for their business-friendly laws.
• S-Corp or C-Corp — More complex, but necessary if you plan to raise venture capital or issue stock. Most online businesses don't need this at the start.

Where to Register

• Your state's Secretary of State website — The cheapest option. File directly and skip the middleman. Most states have online filing.
• Stripe Atlas — $500 one-time fee to form a Delaware C-Corp or LLC with a registered agent, EIN, bank account, and legal documents. Best for tech startups planning to raise money.
• LegalZoom / ZenBusiness / Northwest Registered Agent — Formation services that handle the paperwork for $39–$299 plus state fees. Convenient, but watch for annual upsells on services you don't need.

Step 5: Claim Your Social Media Handles

Consistent naming across platforms builds trust and makes your brand easier to find. Claim your handles on these platforms even if you don't plan to use them all immediately:

• Must-claim: X/Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn (company page), GitHub (if tech-related)
• Claim if relevant: TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit
• Don't forget: Product Hunt, Hacker News (if launching a tech product)

If your exact business name isn't available as a handle, use consistent variations: add "get," "try," or "use" as a prefix (e.g., @getnametastic, @trynametastic). Pick one variation and use it everywhere.

Step 6: Build Your Website

Your website is your digital storefront. In 2026, there's no excuse for a slow, ugly, or confusing site—the tools available are extraordinary.

Website Platform Options

• Shopify ($39/month) — The standard for e-commerce. If you're selling physical or digital products, start here.
• WordPress + WooCommerce (free–$30/month hosting) — More customizable than Shopify, but requires more technical setup. Best for content-heavy businesses that also sell products.
• Webflow ($14–$39/month) — Visual website builder with real design flexibility. Great for service businesses and portfolios.
• Framer ($5–$20/month) — Modern, fast, and designer-friendly. Excellent for landing pages and marketing sites.
• Next.js + Vercel (free tier available) — For developers who want full control. Build exactly what you need with modern web technology.
• Carrd ($19/year) — Single-page sites for under $20/year. Perfect for MVPs, personal brands, and link-in-bio pages.

Essential Pages for Launch

1. Homepage — Clear value proposition, what you do, who it's for, and a call to action. Visitors should understand your business within 5 seconds.
2. About page — Your story, your mission, why you started. People buy from people they trust.
3. Product/service pages — Detailed descriptions, pricing, and social proof (testimonials, case studies, logos).
4. Contact page — Make it easy for customers and partners to reach you. Include a form and a professional email address.
5. Legal pages — Privacy policy and terms of service. Use a generator like Termly or iubenda for GDPR/CCPA compliance.

Step 7: Launch Your Marketing

A website without traffic is a billboard in the desert. Here's how to get your first customers:

Free Channels (Start Here)

• SEO / Content marketing — Write helpful content that answers your target customers' questions. This compounds over time and is the most sustainable traffic source.
• Social media — Share your journey, provide value, engage authentically. Building in public works remarkably well for online businesses.
• Communities — Reddit, indie maker communities, niche forums. Contribute genuinely before promoting.
• Email marketing — Start building your list from day one. Tools like Buttondown (free up to 100 subscribers) or Mailchimp (free up to 500) make this easy.

Paid Channels (When Ready to Scale)

• Google Ads — Target people actively searching for what you sell. Start with $10–$20/day and optimize from there.
• Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) — Powerful for B2C products and services. Visual products perform especially well.
• Sponsorships — Newsletter sponsorships, podcast ads, and influencer partnerships can drive targeted traffic at scale.

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Your Complete Launch Checklist

Here's everything in one place. Work through this list in order—each step builds on the previous one:

Idea & Validation

• Identify your target customer and their specific pain point
• Talk to 10+ potential customers about the problem
• Research existing solutions and identify your unique angle
• Validate willingness to pay (landing page test or pre-sales)

Name & Domain

• Brainstorm 20+ name candidates using multiple naming strategies
• Check .com domain availability for each candidate
• Verify trademark clearance (USPTO, EUIPO)
• Check social media handle availability
• Register your .com domain immediately
• Register 1–2 defensive domains (misspellings, key TLDs)

Legal & Financial

• Choose your business structure (LLC recommended for most)
• File formation documents with your state
• Get an EIN from the IRS (free, online, instant)
• Open a business bank account (separate from personal)
• Set up basic accounting (Wave is free, QuickBooks for growth)

Digital Presence

• Claim social media handles on all major platforms
• Set up professional email ([email protected])
• Build your website with essential pages
• Install analytics (Plausible, Fathom, or Google Analytics)
• Set up email capture / waitlist

Launch & Grow

• Publish 3–5 pieces of SEO content before launch
• Announce in relevant communities and social channels
• Start collecting customer feedback from day one
• Set up automated email sequences for new sign-ups
• Track key metrics: traffic, sign-ups, revenue, churn

For a deeper dive into the branding elements of your launch, see our brand identity checklist covering visual design, voice, and everything that makes your brand cohesive.