What’s in a name? Well if you’re launching a new business, picking the right name is one of the most important things you’ll do.

That’s the belief of Mitchell Stuart, who founded social media agency Inferno Media straight out of school.

Mitchell was able to snap up his ideal domain name through 123 Reg – and for most of Mitchell’s customers, that domain is the first impression they get of him and his business.

“123 Reg was the company most recommended by business friends and it seemed the most simple but powerful tool for my business,” he explained.

“Finding the right domain name was as easy as saying 1, 2, 3. I simply typed in my business name and my perfect domain name popped right up!”

In choosing his perfect domain, Mitchell made a decision that is increasingly common among new online business owners – he went with a new generic top level domain extension.

What does that mean? Well, instead of going for a traditional domain extension such as .com or .uk, Mitchell went for the more descriptive .media extension.

That means his domain name, inferno.media, is literally his business name.

So why did Mitchell make this choice?

“Times are changing,” he explained. “And I would like to stay at the forefront of the market. Having a .media extension clearly makes website visitors know we’re a social media business.”

As you might imagine, having a website is absolutely crucial for a social media agency.

“We couldn’t run our business without our website,” Mitchell said. “We use it for displaying information about who we are, our services, and to give updates to new and existing clients. Plus, being a social media agency, we find our blog is quite popular too.”

In fact, the website is so important for Inferno Media, 65% of its new customers use it to make first contact with the business.

“We’ve grown from a small start-up to a respected business looking after national clients in multiple different sectors of social media with an awesome team of people,” he said.

Mitchell added: “123 Reg has allowed me to save a great deal of time running my website. It has also helped new customers identify that we’re a social media agency due to our .media extensions.

“Without 123 Reg, I wouldn’t have known about the new extensions.”

So what advice does Mitchell have for anyone who is looking to start their own business?

“Spend lots of time researching, and build a strong plan. Then stay focused and keep on smiling.”

Keen to grab the perfect domain name for your business but aren’t sure where to start? Then check out our guide to choosing the right business and domain name here.

You can also read this article about what domain names are and how they work.

Alternatively, you can start searching for your ideal domain name right now.