Securing a Marketing-Rich Domain Name
Look at you, you came back! We knew you just couldn't keep away for long. Why not make visiting us easy by subscribing to our RSS feed (or the audio RSS feed). Stick around and be sure to speak up and post a comment or two!
This is a no-brainer, right? Not so fast. Your domain name, or URL, can have vast consequences in both the online and offline marketing arena. Long or difficult to spell domain names can be the death toll for any website, long before its even been given a chance at success. Short or clever domain names can make people remember where to go more easily, while keyword domain names can often bring in unintentional, yet quality, traffic as people type in whatever.com.
If you already operate a successful business it’s important that you purchase a domain name that will compliment any branding strategy that you have already put in place. The most obvious thing to do is to get your business name as your URL, however if you’re late getting into the game you may find that your business name is already taken by another similarly named business or by a domain name squatter, or possibly a future competitor. Purchasing a business name domain name isn’t always the right way to go, and when left without that option, a keyword domain name might work just as well, if not better.
If you have not yet established your business, you may want to wait on deciding your business name until after you have found an available domain name that is suitable to your marketing efforts. The best possible domain name is one that is both a keyword domain and your business name such as outdoorsportinggoods.com.
Find all posts on Securing a Marketing-Rich Domain Name.
Like this post? Subscribe to the RSS feed and get lots more!
Leave a comment or trackback from your own site.
Tags: Marketing, Search & Marketing, Web Design
Posted in Marketing, Search & Marketing, Web Design
Hi,
I enjoyed your articles. I agree with most of what you have written, and they are short….
I think the discussion of hypenation can be enhanced. The trade-off (hyphen intended) favors using hyphenated names as one increases as the length and the number of words in the names. For example, PolePositionMarketingAdviseOnline is not as desirable as Pole-Position-Marketing-Advise-Online. The search engines can parse a longer hyphenated name better than a shorter one.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that your piece on type-in names should include recommending 301-redirect for anyone using that strategy. Use one ‘landing’ domain, to which all type-in names are pointed. Then do a 301-redirect to the landing domain. Otherwise, Google et.al. take a dim view of the arrangement.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
April 14th, 2007 at 6:42 amBest,
tj
Nameboy
I think the problem with using hyphens for long domains is the long domain itself. I would never want domains PolePositionMarketingAdviseOnline or Pole-Position-Marketing-Advise-Online. They are too long and too hard to remember and especially using the hyphens, too complicated to type in the search box.
You’re right about the 301 redirects for type-in traffic. I believe I hit on that in other articles but its always worth mentioning.
April 16th, 2007 at 6:12 am