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Choosing Domain Names for Professional Sites: Six Guidelines
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Author: Syd Johnson
Topic: Domain-Names
Viewed: 77 time(s)
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A professional or business site is one where the primary purpose
of the site is to facilitate business transactions. You can sell
items directly online or exclusively offline, but the result is
the same. You want customers to buy products and/or service
directly from you.
To create a domain name for this type of website here are a few
guidelines: 1. Shorter is better 2. Make the name easy to
pronounce 3. Think long term 4. Stick to Categories and Topics
5. Do a trademark search 6. Always have a tag line
Shorter is better
If you want to make real money online, try to keep your domain
name as short as possible. In the online world, the choices of
where to shop and get information is overwhelming. A shorter
name will instantly be memorable. It is always easier to
remember short words and phrases.
A shorter name is good for word of mouth advertising online and
offline. Customers can easily remember the URL and therefore
they?re more likely to pass it on and return to the website. The
name will also stand out when it is printed on brochures,
business cards and other business collateral. Liz, Dick, Kate,
Feds are all examples of our incessant need to reduce every term
in the English language to three syllables or less.
Easy to Pronounce
If you want a short name, you must be very creative. To be
creative and strategic make sure that your domain name is easy
to pronounce. It is perfectly acceptable to create a name from
scratch, but it must sound like a real word when you try to say
out loud. Any three or four syllable term will do a long as it
easily rolls off the tongue. If you are at a loss for words, try
writing a description of your product or service on paper.
This is a very easy way to come up with those little words that
you can use without losing the meaning of what you?re trying to
say. You can also use a dictionary and a thesaurus to come up
with additional words. You can also choose a longer word but
shorten it or use acronyms only. When you decide on a domain
name, say it out loud a few times. If it doesn?t sound right, go
back to the dictionary and try again.
Think long term
You want a domain name that will last a very long time. If you
pick a name that is a slang term or too cutesy, you could find
yourself looking for a new name in a year or two. This is not
the best way to proceed. Once you build a certain level of
online success, the traffic will follow the domain name. You
don?t want to mess with your brand and your online reputation
with redirects and ?we have moved? notices. Online customer will
buy, but only if your site makes it convenient for them to do
so. If you don?t see yourself using the same domain name three
to four years from now, get a new name before you set up your
website.
Trademark Searches
Do a trademark search. If you build up your online business and
domain name, you don?t want to find a court order ordering you
to give it up because it belongs to another company. Remember,
the traffic and therefore your sales will follow the domain name
to the new company.
To do a quick trademark search go to the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov) for domestic
searches and the International Trademark Association
(http://www.inta.org) for international searches. If your name
is cleared, then consider getting a trademark to protect your
business.
Tag line
Tag lines are the work horses of the marketing industry. An
interesting, professional tag line can bring you more word of
mouth advertising than you can ever buy from a search engine
company. It will bring your name into random conversations in
newsgroups, newsletters and casual conversations. This can help
you save money on paid advertising and create the ultimate viral
marketing campaign without very little effort.
Keep these six tips handy to brand your domain name and bring in
more site traffic.
About the author:
This article may be freely distributed as long as there is an
active link back to http://web-hosting.typepad.com
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