The Internet is arguably the greatest commercial tool invented since the first coins where struck. The access provided across the world to literally billions of potential customers is unprecedented historically. The primary obstacle is human memory.
You may have the greatest product imaginable, but it does no good if customers can’t remember how to get to your website. Or… can’t spell your website name correctly to find it!
Studies on human memory show that with a little practice, people can remember up to ten digit numbers grouped into manageable segments. That is why phone numbers tend to be between 8 and 12 digits. The mind handles area and country codes as it considers them as separate information.
Choosing the right domain name for your business, is as much a marketing exercise as it a technical exercise!
Short and Sweet…
Using phrases that gives your company a unique presence is vital, but too much of a good thing is deadly to marketing. The word “overkill” should be the first one you consider when you pick a name. If you ever have to ask if the name is a ‘mouthful’ – then it is!
Short, direct names, with a cadence or rhythm, hits branding the best. Even if someone does not use your product, short words and phrases, that have a rhythm, can linger for a long time.
Think about ‘jingles’ for advertising campaigns – many people will be able to recite their favorite jingle, even if they’ve never used the product or service being advertised.
What’s In A Name…
When you develop an important product or service, a distinctive name that relates to the function or feature the product delivers, equates to memory retention.
For example, you company may make an excellent anti virus product and using a domain name like RemoveSpywareTools.com is likely to be more memorable than using the name of your company. People will remember that they want tools to remove spyware, long after they forget your business name.
Think of keywords that match what you do. If you can tell someone the web address of your company without having to explain it, you have a success.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t register your Business Name as a domain as well – in fact you should, to protect your branding. What it does mean is that you may have several domain names for distinct parts of your business.
Memorable Means Easier Marketing
The more memorable your domain name is means that that your clients and website visitors will be able to pass your details to friends and colleagues more easily.
Consider too, that word of mouth is evolving into texting and email – so keeping your domain name short and succinct is important.
How Long Is Long?
Technically, a domain name can be a maximum length of 253 characters (with the parts between the ‘dots’ being a maximum of 65 characters. It should be noted that some domain registrars may impose their own limit for a domain registration.
There is no right or wrong length – do your research and see what comes up as a great domain name.
One thing to think about is how the domain name will look printed on Stationery.
Other Things To Consider….
Using certain letters or phrases may cause confusion in your domain name:
S or Z? For Australians and others who use ‘british english’, using a S instead of Z in some words can cause confusion. i.e Personalise vs Personalize.
Numbers or Words? – TheWay2Market or TheWayToMarket… exercise care with this one
Abbreviations and Variations – words like easy, ez or ezy…. Whilst they look cool in written form, they can be easily mistaken in the spoken form.
Lastly, write the name down in all lowercase and see how it looks on a page – there have been some great domain names but when written, they were less than appropriate….
Register your domain names at: Cheap Domain Names Today
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