Why Your Domain Name Is Critical To Online Success
Real EstateThe principle of wisdom is to call things by their correct name…Chinese proverb
How to choose a good domain name? Why should you worry and bother so much about the dying process? Is “getting it right” really that important? Every day I hear business owners ponder this question. Over and over again 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 such a difficult process for such an important task? NO! In fact, it’s a lot easier than you think if you follow a few common-sense tips and tricks and get a little creative in the process.
Basically, selecting a domain name requires using the following criteria:
It should be easy to write to avoid confusion.
easy to pronounce/read
Free of .info or .biz TLDs that are hard to remember
ยท Do not use hyphens, underscores or dots between words and letters
Short to make it easy to remember.
Does not have words that end with a letter that is also the first letter of the following word (ie firsttimeecommerce.com)
It is easily marked
If you have friends who are really good at games like Scrabble or Boggle or are champions at solving crossword puzzles, it can be a useful exercise to ask them to help you with naming conventions for your site. Keep in mind that when you create your domain name for your website, you’re creating the one thing that has the most long-term impact on your final site traffic. Choose well! Any name you choose will reside not only on the web, but also on your business cards, letterheads, invoices, and any other PR material you decide to generate. It should be easy to give verbally over the phone and in conversation, so make sure it’s easy to spell and say intelligibly. Select a domain name that makes sense and is easy to remember.
In the days of strictly physical business, naming your company relied heavily on originality. He had to make sure his company’s name was nothing like his competitor’s in order for his company to stand out. Today is not so different! Now you want to make sure your domain name communicates who and what you are, is ‘markable’ and also works as a strong email address. That way, you’re marketing even when you’re sending 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’s often the first point of contact consumers have with you and your marketing messages. It’s subliminally critical, according to Ries, to make a positive first contact with your target audience. Your name should convey specific information that is classified from a consumer perspective. For example, when people search for auto repair shops, do they search under the word “auto” or “automotive”? Looking for a “dentist” or “dentist”? Think like a consumer and how they will search for your business and how they will remember your name over and over again when they 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 drive the most 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 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 searching for information on the Internet. Geotargeting is a physical location associated with your business. Search engines know where you are, and through the consumer’s IP address that you are using to search a directory on the Internet, the Internet knows where you are geographically. Many Google searches will generate a search result that has a map with local listings followed by “normal” search engine listings related to the search phrases used. All businesses displayed on the map list are geographically relevant to the search. All of these things tie into the naming conventions you use when creating your domain name. For example, if you own The Pizza Palace in Seattle and sell gourmet pizzas, you should seriously consider selecting a domain name that incorporates keywords, geo-targeting, and branding elements: GourmetPizzaPalaceSeattle.com or Seattlegourmetpizzapalace.com
The name is somewhat alliterative (Pizza Palace) so it’s easy to remember, it has a geographic target (Seattle) and keywords (Seattle, gourmet pizza, pizza). It’s also not too long and easy to read. It is essential to try to strike a balance when trying to incorporate these three elements in the selection of a domain name. As long as it’s catchy and easy to remember and you strike 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 up and buy your domain name before someone else does!