The Domain Name debate: Brand versus Keywords
As prices have never been so low, you may consider buying multiple domain names
as a cost-effective option to drive more traffic to your website.
When it comes to choosing a domain name, there are two schools of thought. You
can either elect to register a domain name based on
- a new or existing brand name e.g. business name, trademark, product brand name or
- one or more keywords that you perceive will help your target market to find you.
Both methods have their pro’s and con’s.
Domain name based on Brand
The web is populated with unusual and recognised domain names e.g.
Google.com,
Amazon.com,
Yahoo.com. Naming your domain using a new or existing brand name can be a powerful and rewarding long-term strategy. Developing a brand name from
anonymity to stardom is any marketer’s dream.
Pro’s
A branded domain name may
- Attract attention for its originality and for being catchy e.g.
yahoo.com,
dogpile.com.
- Stand out from competition e.g. compare
google.com with
searchengine.com,
searchengines.com and
bestsearchengine.com?
Which one stands out? Sorry, no price for this easy answer.
- Facilitate direct search. Repeat visitors can guess your name and type it in
the address bar or location field and find you directly, bypassing competitors.
- Encourage brand recognition. Each time people are exposed to your domain name,
it reinforces your brand.
- Increase credibility and loyalty. In general, people prefer to be associated
with a brand name rather than a generic name. If price is not a
consideration, wouldn't you prefer buying Chanel branded sunglasses from
chanel.com or
eyesave.com or
sunglassesportal.com?
- Promote viral marketing. It is easier to refer someone to a domain name that
you can remember and spell without difficulty.
- Provide flexibility. Your domain name can be used on business cards and
offline promotions.
- Protect your intellectual property. Get in first before someone names their
domain with your product brand, business name or title of your book.
Con’s (for new brands only)
A domain name using an established brand name may not encounter the problems
below. A domain name based on a new brand may:
- Be difficult to choose. Selecting a name to convey instantly business core
values and benefits of website is a very difficult task.
- Need time, money and effort to break through the online noise and be
recognised.
- Necessitate a strong unique selling proposition.
- Require an arsenal of internet marketing tactics e.g. linkage strategies and
search engine optimisation to improve the search engine ranking.
Domain name based on Keywords
Keywords are the words that web users enter in the search box of the search
engine to retrieve information on a specific subject.
The current trend is for web searchers to enter strings of keywords rather than
single keywords e.g. a person may look for ‘free family tree’, ‘decision tree
software’, ‘artificial Christmas tree’ instead of ‘tree’. This practice provides
less search engine results but of better quality. Similarly, website owners are
creating generic domain names made of a string of keywords to reach their target
audience e.g.paylesscarrental.com,
collectorcartraderonline.com and
carbuyingtips.com.
Pro’s
On one hand, generic keywords domain names may:
- Generate instant results with drive-in traffic from search engines.
- Attract qualified prospects looking for your keywords.
- Communicate and position instantly your site’s benefits and core values e.g.
justfreestuff.com,
best-home-mortgage-loan.com,
indoorgardensupplies.com.
- Improve search engine ranking. (The use of keywords in the domain name is a
strategy which you cannot rely on to increase your search engine ranking: it is
only a very small part of search engine optimisation.)
Con’s
On the other hand, generic keywords domain names may:
- Be perceived as boring, lacking in imagination and sometimes dubious.
- Require more effort to remember. This could lead to domain names being
misspelled e.g. barnesandnoble.com or barneandnobles.com or placed in the wrong
sequence e.g. homefinancialservices.com or
financialhomeservices.com. These
common mistakes have prompted shrewd business people to piggy back on popular
websites e.g. ezinearticle.com benefits from spelling mistakes of customers from
ezinearticles.com.
- Restrict the usage of the domain name. A long string of keywords does not look
good on offline promotional material.
- Be wasted if you don’t choose your keywords carefully. It is important to
research the words used by your customers and not rely on your assumptions.
Jeff, a printer, had optimised his site for ‘self-publishing’ only to find that
self-publishers were searching for printers using keyword ‘printing’.
The best of both worlds: consider complementary domain name strategies:
1. Create a short, easy to remember brand name using keywords e.g.
diabeticgourmet.com,
netdoctor.com or
houseweb.com.
2. Purchase a few domain names made up of keywords and have them pointing to a
main branded domain name. This will increase the link popularity of the branded
domain name and improve its search engine ranking. This strategy requires you to
buy an URL forwarding option when you purchase your domain name. A word of
caution: if you overuse this tactic, Google can respond negatively to these
‘sneaky redirects’.
