Nowadays, with setting up a business online things are a lot quicker and easier but we still have the issue of location, only it has changed.
The question has now become: What web address / url will bring the most traffic to our website?
With the right URL, potential customers will see it and realize that this website may solve their problem. Or possibly, with the right URL customers will find it catchy enough to remember for a return visit, or to use as a word in conversation with friends.
The big debate amongst the big internet marketing gurus as to how to craft the perfect URL is this... should it be more descriptive or more catchy?
This sounds like a silly debate. However, it can be one of the number one factors in the amount of profit that your online venture earns.
The name of a business may not seem important to you, the business owner, because you already know everything about your business. You know that you are offering products that are of good quality and that are at least interesting if not useful. You know that your buyers can trust you and that you are a nice lady really...
But your buyers do not know that yet, and the first thing that they will base their judgments of you on is your name. I know it sounds silly and it is. However, studies have proven that within 7 seconds of meeting someone we have already made crucial judgments about their character. If we make these sorts of judgments about people based on superficial factors such as the way the clothes they are wearing and their body language then what do people first judge a website on? It's name.
Many of the top business online right now have taken this into account.
If you look at many of the most popular websites on the internet right now, eBay for example, their names do not mean anything in and of themselves. The word "eBay" on its own wouldn't inform me that it is an online auction website with millions of members.
This URL drew traffic (when it wasn't famous) because it was easy to remember, quick to use in conversation, had a unique sound and was easy to type.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, http://www.howtomakeapotatogun.com is rather self explanatory. This URL draws traffic because it is also easy to remember and people know what they are getting.
However can there be a compromise?
Two of the most popular websites that exist are Myspace.com and Youtube.com To me they seem to be the compromise between these two opposites.
Both vaguely describe their websites but succinctly. These URLs are short, easy-to type traffic-pullers. They are easy to spell, remember and say in conversation but they allude to what they are about.
In your new business start-up you are going to want a brand that is recognizable. You are going to want your own "trademark" name. (Not literally trademarked immediately but you get what I mean.)
You also want your e-business website to be easily accessible and search engine optimized.
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The first reason it's important to choose the right web address (domain name) is because it needs to match your company (or whatever your website is for). Let's suppose your company name is Sherry's Flowers. The natural choice for a domain name would be sherrysflowers . com (assuming that name is not already taken).
So what do you do if the domain name you want is already taken? There are two primary alternatives. The first is to choose a different domain extension like .net. For the above example, that would mean selecting sherrysflowers . net This presents a serious danger, though. Let's suppose you choose the .net address and advertise it. Your customers may forget and still go to the .com address which may bring about confusion, or worse, award sales intended to go to you, to your competition instead!
The other (and probably better) alternative is to come up with a totally different domain name altogether something catchy that does not even necessarily even use your company name in it. For example, you could do something catchy like iloveflowers . com. This is sweet and easy to remember. And it prevents the issues of confusion with your competitor (in the aforementioned case where your company name is already taken by someone else, as a dot com address).
Another reason choosing the right address is important is because it needs to be easy to remember. If you want word-of-mouth to work well for you, you need your domain name to be something that can be easily shared verbally, even without the need for pen and paper.
You want John Doe to be able to say to his coworker, Yeah, I got great flowers for Jane from Sherry's Flowers; you can get some for your special girl at iloveflowers.com. Something even slightly more complicated than that (such as getflowers4someone.com) might not only prevent John's coworker from retaining the address, but it may also keep John himself from remembering what the domain was in the first place!
The last but definitely not least important reason to choose the right domain name is so that people can easily type it when they are ready. If you choose a domain name that has too many numbers or strange or complex wording, they simply won't be able to type it correctly. This will prevent a great deal of traffic from reaching your site.
In summary, make sure you choose a domain name that: (1) reflects what you do (and uses your company or website's name, if possible), (2) doesn't confuse you to your potential visitors with your competition, and (3) is easy to remember and type.
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