When running a business there are a number of factors you must consider to make your business a success. Particularly when it comes to running an ecommerce store, you have to consider the look of your website, functionality, display issues as well as general marketing. One of the factors that is often overlooked is the actual URL of your website. Many people tend to think that the importance is to be as quick as possible in getting your business up and running so you can begin selling straight away. While this is true in some regard, it’s equally important that every single aspect is carried out to a high standard and your URL should be no different.
1. Make It Simple, But Memorable.
The domain you choose for your business is a brand within itself. It’s something a customer is going to enter to visit your site and purchase from you and something that needs to suit your business as a whole. The primary concern of a business is to promote their business brand, they tend to make their URL the same as the business name. That way the customer becomes extremely familiar with your brand. However, while it is important to effectively promote your brand, when selecting a URL you must also consider functionality. The shorter your domain URL, the easier it is going to be for a customer to remember it and then enter it into their browser. If your name is too long, you are going to find that people just can’t remember it, reducing the amount of traffic you will receive. To solve this issue, many businesses create website domain addresses as acronyms of their business. Fashion house Yves Saint Laurent has a domain address of http://www.YSL.com. While Yves Saint Laurent isn’t too long, YSL is a simple abbreviation that ensures people will be able to easily remember it.
2. Keep It Simple
In addition to length, you must also consider spelling. Many businesses try to put a clever twist on words in order to come up with memorable names. While they roll off the tongue nicely, spelling them can be a completely different story altogether. If a customer isn’t able to correctly spell your domain address in the first couple of attempts, you are probably going to find that most of them will give up altogether and go to a site that they know they can definitely spell. In an attempt to try and solve this issue, some businesses tend to buy similar domain addresses that users may enter by mistake when attempting to land on their website. That way, even if a user enters an incorrect domain address, they are then redirected through to your website.
3. Keep It Cheap
Cost is another major issue that should be considered by a business. With a limited budget, especially for an up and coming business, you don’t have a substantial amount of money to spend on URL domains. While most websites cost a set free of anywhere between $6-8, you can get domains that will cost thousands due to the popular search terms they include. Since your business is fairly new, you should stick to the lower bracket domain prices. There’s no point spending a large amount of money on the domain, when it probably won’t give you a beneficial return on your investment as your business won’t be at the required level to entice a large level of customers to purchase.
4. Choose a Domain That Lasts
The next thing to consider is the legality of your domain. In order to create the buzz and excitement in a domain name, some people try to take advantage of popular trends. While this would result in you getting increased traffic levels, it is also going to result in copyright infringement. Although you might keep this up for a little while, it won’t be for long. Before you know it, you will have received an email or other notification from the company who holds the copyright term telling you to take the website down or face further action and a possible lawsuit. You need to remember that the thing about trends in general is that they’re fleeting. What’s popular one month may not be the next, and if you have an entire web domain based around a term that used to be popular, you are soon going to find yourself out in the cold with very few people making the trip to visit your not so hot website.
5. Always Get A .Com
The last thing you should look at is an absolute must for all domains. When it comes to purchasing your domain address, make sure you choose a .com URL. A .com address symbolises trust and professionalism, it makes your business seem like a global presence within your market. A local domain URL does the complete opposite. Also, you need to think about the long term goal. Sure, you may be a rather small company now, but somewhere down the line you may decide you are ready to expand to an international market. The last thing you want is to find that you are going to purchase the .com equivalent on your website and it has already previously been purchased by someone else.