Business Builders

Navigating Your Way to Internet Success – Your Domain Name

Congratulations! You’ve asked yourself the important preliminary questions and formulated somewhat of a game plan as to what you’d like to accomplish by showcasing your business on the Internet. , Much like a business plan, your plans for Internet marketing (that’s what a website is – don’t be afraid of the terminology) will constantly evolve. It better, or you will find yourself behind the curve. The whole point of securing your real estate so to speak, on the Internet, is to ensure a return on investment for your business. You’re in business to make money, and you are investing that money in Internet marketing to get a return. It’s not a build it, and they will come approach.

What’s in a name? No, not the Capulet’s and Montagues – but a domain name. The domain name for your website can be the difference between having your site at the top of Google, and having it lost in the ether of cyberspace. Do not hastily choose a domain name for your website strictly because it sounds cute, or is easy to remember. Remember, those are subjective feelings, what you find cute I may find incredibly annoying. One thing for certain, if your goals are to gain search engine placement for your website (ie. Expose your business to the millions of internet surfers everyday….many of whom may be right around the block), you will want to include a geographic reference, along with the focus of your business. This is one of the simplest SEO techniques out there, and it all starts with the domain – starts there…nowhere near the end.

Let me give you an example; say a pet store right here in San Diego is looking for a catchy domain name for their newly revamped website, but also one that is search engine friendly. Maybe something like sandiegopets.com, sandiegopetsupply.com, or sandiegopetdepot.com would work. But let’s strip away some layers and start asking ourselves the important questions.

Where in San Diego? Is there a better “geographic locator” than just San Diego, a lot of times there is, you just need to start asking yourself these types of questions. For the SD example, imagine if your pet store is up in North County San Diego – someplace like Carlsbad or Oceanside – at the extreme North end of the county, San Diego proper is over 35 miles away. Wouldn’t you think if someone is in the city of San Diego, they are going to look within 5-10 minutes of their location for a pet store? If the hypothetical store in question is over 35 miles from San Diego proper, would it make sense for San Diego to be part of the domain? Maybe so, maybe your biggest customer is a dog shelter in the city itself. Then again, maybe not – but this is the mindset that is needed. Would you want your web identity to be San Diego, or would it be better to have it more localized??? Maybe carlsbadpets.com, or oceansidepets.com works better. And come up with answers from a consumer’s perspective. Do you focus more on dogs and cats, or horses, or birds, or fish?….Again, more questions that need answering in relation to your domain choice. Hopefully the above example leaves you with more unanswered questions.

It may seem as if you come away from reading this article with more questions than answers. Good, that’s the way it should be. You need to ask and answer these questions for yourself before you can go ahead and have control over your Internet marketing…or domain choice. Herein lies the wisdom of my favorite Naval axiom, The Law of the 7 Ps: Proper Previous Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.

Words to live by