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Why Your Domain Name is Critical to Online
Success
by Shannon Evans
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by
their right names…Chinese Proverb
How do you choose a good domain name? Why should you fuss and bother so much
over the agonizing process? Is it really that important to “get it right?” Every
day I hear business owners pondering this question. Over and over the mantra is
“I need a good domain name but all the good ones are taken!”
Choosing a domain name that captures your business brand, is optimized for local
search, and is scalable for your growing and rapidly changing business needs can
seem overwhelming. Does it have to be that difficult a process for such an
important task? NO! As a matter of fact, it is a lot easier than you think if
you follow a few common sense tricks and traits and implement a little
creativity in the process.
Basically, selecting a domain name requires employing the following critera:
· Must be easy to spell in order to avoid confusion
· Easy to pronounce/read
· Free from .info or .biz tld’s that are difficult to remember
· Uses no hypens, underlines or dots between words and letters
· Short so it is easy to remember
· Does not have words that end with one letter that is also the first letter of
the next word (ie: firsttimeecommerce.com)
· Is easily brandable
If you have any friends who are really good at games like Scrabble or Boggle or
are champion crossword puzzle solvers, it can be a useful exercise to have them
help you with the naming conventions for your site. Keep in mind, when you
create your domain name for your website you are creating the one thing that has
the single most long-term impact on your eventual site traffic. Choose well!
Whatever name you choose will reside not only on the web but on your business
cards, letterhead, invoices, and any other PR material you decide to generate.
It must be easy to give verbally over the phone and in conversation so make sure
it is easy to spell and say intelligibly. Select a domain name that makes sense
and is easy to remember.
In the days of strictly brick and mortar businesses naming your company relied
heavily on originality. You had to make sure your business’ name was nothing
like your competitor’s so your business stood apart. It is not that much
different today! Now you want to make sure your domain name communicates who and
what you are all about, is ‘brandable,’ and works as a solid email address too.
That way you are marketing even when you send out emails.
According to Ries and Trout in their books, “Positioning: The Battle of Your
Mind” and “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,” domain name selection is a form
of positioning. It is often the first point of contact that consumers have with
you and your marketing messages. It is subliminally critical, according to Ries,
to make a positive first contact with your target audience. Your name must
convey specific information that is categorized from the consumer perspective.
For example, when people look for car repair shops do they look under the word
“auto” or “automotive”? Do they look for a “dental” or “dentist”? Think like a
consumer and how they will search for your business and how will they remember
your name again and again when you select your domain name.
How do you make your name easily located, remembered, and differentiated from
the hundreds of thousands of others on the Internet? Differentiation is
important but the real goal is to attract the greatest number of potential
customers to your site. By incorporating the right balance of keywords,
geo-targeting, and branding you can potentially dominate your market with just a
little effort.
Keywords are the trigger words that the local search engines use in combination
with a few other SEO tricks to assign your site a “position” in web directory
listings. Keywords are similar to categories in that they are the words and
phrases used by consumers who are seeking information on the Internet.
Geo-targeting is a physical location associated with your business. The search
engines know where you are located and through the consumer’s IP address he/she
is using to search a directory on the internet the internet knows where they are
located geographically. Many searches on Google will generate a search result
that has a map with local listings followed by “normal” search engine listings
related to the search phrases used. The businesses that show in the map list all
have geographical relevance to the search. These things all become linked to the
naming conventions you employ when creating your domain name. For example, if
you have a The Pizza Palace in Seattle and you sell gourmet pizzas you should
seriously consider selecting a domain name that incorporates keywords,
geo-target and branding elements: GourmetPizzaPalaceSeattle.com or
Seattlegourmetpizzapalace.com
The name is somewhat alliterative (Pizza Palace) so it is easy to remember, has
a geo-target (Seattle), and keywords (Seattle, gourmet pizza, pizza). It is also
not too long and easy to read. It is critical to try and strike a balance when
trying to incorporate all three of these elements in selecting a domain name. As
long as it is catchy and easy to remember and strikes that balance you can’t
help but have a winner on your hands. The right domain name is worth its weight
in gold.
Now hurry out there and buy your domain name before someone else does!
Shannon Evans is contributing author and editor of Your Ultimate Sales Force (http://www.yoursalesforcebook.com/)
and multiple business ebooks. Her books teach entrepreneurs that they must
publish or perish in the internet age where businesses must deliver a consistent
and unified message. This is especially critical in this challenging environment
of email, Internet, and mobile phones. Leveraging the market today requires new
methods for attracting new clients.
Shannon is recognized in the Puget Sound as an expert in how to make your
business have a web presence rather than just a web page. Her conversational
marketing techniques and practices outlined by Bainbridge Business Press you
will see your small business presence on the web increase:
http://www.bainbridgebusinesspress.com
She is a consultant for e-marketing campaigns that allow you to organize your
marketing and sales efforts in an inexpensive delivery platform that is easy to
set up and manage. The ability to send, deliver, and track any installed
resource gives you the power to create a marketing program quickly and easily in
a scalable format that can grow with your business.
Shannon has a wide and varied background in both the practical and the pragmatic
aspects of the business world. As Cofounder of Bainbridge Business Press she
loves nothing better than teaching local businesses how to think globally but to
be searched locally.
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