| One of the first items on your 'to do' list
when setting up your website is to select a good domain name. Your site domain name
identifies your site to the Internet and the world.
If you are considering building a site for sometime in the
future, you should reserve your domain name now. Once you have your own domain name, you
will be able to use it for your site address later on.
In an Internet address such as CateringByCarol.com, the
"CateringByCarol" is your domain name. The ".com" is your domain name
extension.
FYI - the entire www.CateringByCarol.com is referred to as
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or web address.
Your site's Internet domain name is crucial to your overall
marketing success. Here are some suggestions for how to make the most of your domain name:
1. Know your target audience.
Choose domain names that are appropriate for them.
Depending on who you are targeting this could mean choosing names that sound sincere,
current, active, professional, or that use key words from your industry.
For example, the domain names; PhilsPlumbing.com, the
domain name states Phil's business and PhoenixPlumbing.com, where Phil does business.
Depending on Phil's marketing plan and the geographical location of customers that he is
trying to reach, both may be good domain names for Phil.
2. Keep domain names short and simple.
Generally, the shorter the domain name the easier it is to
remember or write down, and the less chance of users noting and remembering it
incorrectly.
If you want to be taken seriously online, don't use the
domain name of your Internet Service Provider (for example, America Online), followed by
routing information to reach your site. In this instance, your address on the Web would be
www.aol.com/yourbusinessname.
Restrict your domain name to one, two or three words at
most that tie-in to your business. HardyLandscaping.com or DeluxePaintingContracting.com
makes it clear that they do business with their domain names.
Domain names may be between 2 and 67 characters long
(including the extension), and contain the characters a-z, 0-9 and '-' (hyphen).
Domain names can not start or end with '-' (hyphen). Domain
names are not case sensitive and should generally be displayed in all lowercase. You can
now also register multi-lingual domain names.
Select a domain name that is unique to you and your
business, like JoanBeccaRoofing.com.
Develop a few domain names that would be acceptable to you.
Because of the huge number of web sites launched every day, you may not be able to
register your first choice.
3. The exception to the tip above is to register a long
domain name containing a list of relevant words for your web site to achieve a higher
ranking in some search engines.
Several of the major search engines rank web sites much
higher if the search terms are contained in the domain name. You can use up to 63
characters to create a long domain name with keywords and automatically redirect visitors
to the real web site. Most domain name registrar services offer the redirect service as
standard in their price.
The domain name MaconCarSales.com provides a significant
advantage for a site built for prospective auto buyers in Macon using an Internet search
engine to find a local Macon auto dealership.
This is called a "keyword oriented domain name".
Even such long and hyphenated domains seem to perform well on the search engines.
In competitive situations a long keyword rich domain name
might edge-out your competition's domain name in a prospective customer's Internet search.
If on the other hand, you will be driving your customers to
your site through other media advertising (newspaper ads, television ads, business cards,
etc.), then you will want a domain that is easy to remember so that your prospective
customers may remember it the next time that they are on the Internet.
If you are concerned about this then you should pick a
domain that is relatively short but concise and easy to remember.
The 'carsales.com' is a great example and can add some
relevance to your site. But an even better option is hyphenating the domain, if you don't
think it will effect the branding power. By adding a hyphen you are effectively isolating
each keyword which appears to have better results on placements.
Should you not care about domain branding (making it
memorable), you have relatively free reign over the length and targeting of the domain. In
this case hyphenation is by far the best option since it seems to have better chances of
success.
4. Use the appropriate words within your domain name.
For example, DenverNewHomes.com is a good domain name to
sell new homes (plural) in the Denver area. On the other hand, if you only want to sell a
particular home in the Denver area -- use DenverNewHome.com.
5. Use a domain name search program such as Mozzle
(www.mozzle.com) or Domain Questor (www.internet-soft.com) to generate your domain names.
There are some great free and shareware programs available,
and several include advanced word and character combinations and other features far beyond
those that web based services provide.
For example, Mozzle contains an automatic thesaurus,
acronyms, alternative domain name spellings, trademark searches, and a pattern search and
so on. Check out a few of these software tools and decide which is best for you.
6. Register your domain name in the correct global or
country level domain.
For universal appeal use a .com, .org, or .net domain. For
local appeal use an appropriate domain in your country, such as .co.uk or .org.au. Note
that many domains have restrictions on what domain names can be registered. In some
domains you can only use a name that is derived from a registered business or organization
name.
7. Check that you are not infringing on an existing
trademark or other name that rightfully belongs to another business or individual.
An available domain name does not necessarily give you the
right to register and use it.
Do not pick domain names that are very similar to your
competitors. You want new prospective customers coming to you and your site, not to your
competitors.
8. Do not use cute or confusing spellings of your domain
name.
If your domain is targeted at a worldwide audience then
stay away from words that are spelled differently throughout the world, such as words
ending in "ize" (in the U.S.) / "ise" (in the U.K.). This also applies
to many words that have different meanings throughout the world. Some common English words
are even offensive in other languages.
9. Use virtual domain names.
With a virtual domain name you may register a new domain
name and point it to an existing site that uses another domain name. The new domain name
is referred to as a "virtual" domain name because it points to your site. You
may use as made virtual domain names as you feel you need for your site.
In the above example, Phil could register both domain names
-- PhilsPlumbing.com and PhoenixPlumbing.com. Use the PhilsPlumbing.com when he sets-up
his site and he is trying reach his neighborhood customers. Then register
PhoenixPlumbing.com as a virtual domain name when he is ready to market his services to
the entire Phoenix region.
Both domain names point to his same site but the second of
the two domain names is referred to as a "virtual domain name". Visitors using
either of the two domain names will not know that there is no real site coding behind the
second domain name because they are seamless transferred to Phil's only site on the
Internet.
Summary
Like any brand name, logo, or trademark, your domain name
represents part of your business identity. Customers will associate it with your
particular product, service, or business -- if you name it correctly. Remember that you
domain name will probably be used for several purposes, including your site, email
address, and possibly an ftp or other server. It will be a part of your overall business
marketing campaign.
If your domain name can be easily remembered then you will
attract more customers. People will use your web site or email address to get immediate
and convenient access to the information or service that you are providing.
In addition, domain names are portable. You can move
physical address, change phone numbers, change Internet service providers, change the
company that hosts your web site, and still keep the same domain name.
Copyright Steven Presar |
