Description

This video could also be titled, “How to Pick a Domain Name.” Choosing a web address is one of the most important decisions you make when putting your business online or building a website. In this video, I show you some key considerations when choosing this all-important address.

Transcript

Note from Eric: Below, you will find a word-for-word transcript of this video. I provide this as an aid for the hearing-impaired and for those who might just want to read it rather than watch the video. This conversational style is not reflective of how I write. Be nice! Hey guys it’s Eric Spellmann and I am back again and this time we’re gonna talk about how to pick a web address. You know we call it a domain name but.. a Web Address!

Remember! Make “dot com” a priority. I can’t tell you how many times people have said “Well I got the dot net or I got the dot org because the dot com was taken.” People trust me! Trust me when I say this. When you get a “dot net” people are gonna still type in “dot com”. If you can’t get the right “dot com”, then choose a different one. Trust me on that one.

It must be easy to say no spelling necessary. In other words you should be able to tell someone on the phone: “Here’s my address.. this dotcom.” And you shouldn’t have to go “Oh be sure and put the this and that.. and spell it.. and there’s two of this.. and……” NO NO NO NO NO. You’ve got to be able to say it once on the phone and they get it. I would rather it be long and easy to remember than short and hard to remember, like an abbreviation.

No hyphens! Now I know technically they allow hyphens. I mean you’ve seen a lot of web addresses with hyphens in them. However, people forget them, and you always have to tell em that they’re in it. You’ll have to say Oh don’t forget the hyphen. And what will happen is you’ll tell people over the phone don’t forget the hyphen and they’ll go to another website altogether. Hopefully not something inappropriate.

Also remember! Get multiple domains. Why just have one? So many times we think with good website design we only need to have one. Let me give you a good example: ericspellmann.com. That’s my domain. I have more than one domain. Most people don’t realize spellmann has two Ns at the end. And so what I did was I registered ericspellmann.com with two Ns AND I registered the misspelling too.

Believe it or not, and I’ve looked at my statistics, one quarter of all my traffic are going to my website through the misspelled version. But I’m okay with that. I would rather that be the case, than em come up with “site not found.” So, get multiple domains. Also, if people know you by different names or people know you by products, pull that up too. Choose a domain that people get, and people can spell and people can remember.

Consider product base versus maybe a company name. For instance, if you’re a law firm you definitely don’t want to put in Smith, Jones, Webb, Johnson.com. No one’s gonna remember that. But if you put in phoenixlawyer.com or toughlawyer.com, people are gonna remember that so think about who your audience is, think about what they can spell and what they can remember. Your domain name does not have to be your company. It can actually be what you do or what you sell.

Domain names are case insensitive. Now you’re saying who cares? Some of you are going what does that mean? Basically you can type in a “dot com” uppercase, lowercase or mix, it really doesn’t matter. It will still go to the same site. The reason that’s important is when you get to your print material like business cards or banners. Let me give you a good example. Look at mine “ericspellmann.com”. Now if you look at that it’s all lower case and it’s not quite you can’t have to look at it to break it apart. But look at this “EricSpellmann.com”.

The first letter of each word is capitalized. It makes it more easy for the human eye to break it apart and therefore more easy to spell. If you have a multi-word domain name, consider capitalizing the first letter of each word before you put it in print on a pamphlet, on a billboard, on a business card. It will make it easier for people to read. And whether they put it in their computer uppercase or lowercase, it will still work.

O yeah! And watch out for landmines. Folks please please please!!! Look at them before you register them. I once had a lady, and she wanted to create a website where attorneys can get together. And she said “Oh Eric I’m so excited, I want you to build me a website but I’ve already got the dot com.” I said “Oh really what is it?”

And she goes “its lawyersexchange.com.” And I said “NOOO!! you can’t have that.” And she goes why not? And I said write it out and you’ll see. That is awful awful. Write it out before you register it. Think about how it’s going to look and affect your online marketing. It’s also another case for upper-casing the right letters too.

Well folks as always give me a call, email me. Got a question? Let me know. Picking the right domain is key, and keep in your mind you can get more than one. But look through those rules, make sure you choose a good one and you should be good to go. Folks I will see you in cyberspace!