What’s In A (Domain) Name? More Than You Might Think
Naming a domain is far more complex than most people believe. Don’t let that scare you though, as it’s not quite as complicated as the gears turning in your head are leading you to think. There are three things you must look hard at before naming the website you’ll be bringing into the world. I’ll go over those three items that go into making a memorable and effective domain name.
Identify
You want some way for the person looking at your domain name (and nothing else) to have an idea of what you do or why they should bother. This helps you “pre-sort” people as interested or not. If you use any type of PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising, this simple consideration in the beginning can save you money and frustration in the future.
By identifying what your business does in your domain name, you reinforce whatever advertising you do. It’s kind of a silent exclamation point that says to the person viewing or listening to your ad “We really know what we’re doing in abc industry.”
Keep It Short
People will naturally seek out and take the path of least resistance. Why do you think Google and the other search engines became so popular? It’s great, I type in two or three words and I get back thousands of relevant results back in seconds. That’s the ultimate in saving time. When you can offer that benefit, saving them time, you too become valuable to them.
People just won’t bother if your domain is keyword stuffed and too long to type. Even when they are dedicated and make the effort, they’re still human and make simple typing mistakes. The last thing you want your business to be is a source of frustration to your customers. You do want relevant keywords but your domain name is not the place to include your keyword list. Shoes for kids with fashion sense .com is certainly descriptive. Fashion feet .com is as well and has the added benefit of getting to the point. The majority of people are overwhelmed with things to do and see. There just isn’t time to do or see it all. That’s why your FaceBook friends are up at 2:30 in the morning. How do you know that? Because you are too of course!
Use Simple, Common Words
This gets back to typing errors. What good is a great domain name doing you if any percentage of the people typing it can’t find you? What happens with them? They still want what you offer but they end up going to your competitor who has a more user-friendly domain name.
Make sure the words are common so when someone tells somebody about your website, they can easily and correctly understand your domain name.
If you are only going after a very narrow segment who understands a technical term or archaic word (The word archaic is a good example of what to avoid as not simple or common), you are free to use that word or term. Just realize that it will not immediately, nor for quite some time, or maybe ever bring the masses in to your site.
Alternatively if you use words that are not simple or common, you take the risk of Google sending people away or worse yet even directly to your competitor. Have your ever typed something wrong and Google gives you a suggestion? Try that with your business and you'll often get your competitors right there on the first page. (Ask me how they do it!)
An easy to remember domain is usually just a function of all of the previous attributes. When your domain name is: identifying what you offer, short, and using simple common words, it will be far easier to remember. And after all, what good is that snappy domain name if your potential customer can’t remember or spell it?
Next: The Exceptions To The “Rules”
Rob Calhoun
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