Don’t Get Technical with Domain Names

You want to increase sales? Get a website.

by Kristina Knight

We have all heard this question and answer, but developing a website alone is not a guaranteed increase for sales or traffic. Unless it is done right. Here are a few tips.

• Keep it simple. Don’t include “4” for “for”, “U” for “you” and so on. This can confuse customers, possibly sending them to the wrong site. If you must use one of these domains, register both the version with the domain completely spelled out and the version with the abbreviated name.
• Keep it short. Keeping your domain short makes it much easier to remember. Marketing101.com will produce more hits than EverythingYouNeedToKnowAboutOnlineMarketing.com.
• Use popular keyword phrases that apply to your business. Will your service help boost sales and website traffic? A keyword like MoreTraffic.com or TrafficHits.com will generate search engine hits. Search engine optimizations generate website rankings by how often a site utilizes specific keywords and keyword phrases. If your site name is a popular keyword the benefits could be tremendous.
• Many search engines have numerical or alphabetical listings. Beginning your domain with an A, B, or C will put your site closer to the top of the rankings. If yours is a new or unique service you could even use “1” or “1st” in the domain, as numbers are ranked ahead of letters.

If you do decide to have a domain with 1 or 1st included, register both the domain with “1” and with “i”, and have the alternate redirect to your homepage. Sometimes these characters are transposed.

Once you have come up with a list of domain possibilities following some of these rules, visit a registration site like http://www.godaddy.com or http://www.register.com or http://www.omnis.com.

If you already have a website, don’t change the name without giving it a lot of thought. Instead, consider developing a dummy site with your keyword domain that redirects to your main website