How and Why to Choose a Domain
Domain names serve two purposes. One, to point people to your
online presence, and two, serve as an additional marketing tool. To
make this month’s article really easy to read and learn from, I’ve created
this chart of some fictitious (hopefully!) domains and critiqued them.
Domain |
Comments |
|
Rating: good |
It is short, to the point, and most people have grown accustomed to this format. It is the most popular and people are most likely to use this format (name as one word, short, and .com). |
|
www.my-company.com
Rating: |
Also short and to the point, this domain will be easier to read on a business card or printed material, and is great for search engine optimization purposes. If you can get this domain along with the non-hyphenated version, it will be ideal. Point the non-hyphenated domain to the hyphenated domain’s hosting. This is called "parking." Another perk of having both is that when you have to verbalize the domain in either your ads or networking, you don’t have to say the hyphen. I’m finding that many people don’t know what a hyphen is or where it is on the keyboard. |
|
www.myentirecompanyname.com Rating: tolerable |
While on the long side, this domain will work in a pinch, but is definitely not preferred because of its length. This is representative of formal company names and not the for-branding-purposes d/b/a’s. If you can get shorter, do it. |
|
www.myentirecompanynameinc.com Rating: pushing your luck |
The length may deter people from wanting to email you, or visit your site, or at the very least, earn a groan of aggravation when they have to copy it into the browser bar. Don’t do this to your prospects or yourself. If you have to try this hard to get your company name in a domain, look at hyphenated and shorter versions, as well as revisiting whether or not you’ve got the best company name. |
|
www.my-entire-company-name-inc.com Rating: absurd |
One hyphen is good, more than one loses its appeal. People need to be able to verbalize your domain at times, and they won’t have an easy time if they have to say "my hyphen entire hyphen company hyphen name hyphen inc.com." Once again, don’t do this to your prospects or yourself. Look at shorter domains, or at a different company name if what you like is so popular that everyone else has it. Consider this: what will happen when your company is poised to take over the US market? You’ll have patent and trademark issues all over the place. |
In conclusion, choosing a domain can be a challenge, but with a little
knowledge, you can get the domain you should have. Think creatively, and if you find yourself with a stumbling block,
feel free to give your friendly neighborhood ad agency a call.
