Well, actually branding does matter… ALOT. Pay attention to the vehicles on the road in your city or on the interstate. You’ll see quite a few cars and trucks with stickers on their windows; Sporting goods brands, state emblems, “my kid is so awesome” stickers, just to name a few. You might be one of the people I’m referring to. Why all the stickers? It’s simple: people want to be known or identified by those products, places or things. Not only that, but they want everyone else to know it! So what do brands and stickers have to do with domain names? Well, again… ALOT. If people want to identify with your product or service, but can’t remember where or how to find it, you are losing business!
Let’s say a business or organization does a great job of branding your identity so that you are well recognized by your target audience. Great product or service? Check. Great logo design? Check. Catchy taglines? Check. Domain name for corporate identity or marketing campaign? Who cares, just register something. STOP! This is where some businesses miss the boat. By not seeing the importance of a domain name, they miss converting potential customers into real money. You can have the greatest product or service in the world, but if your audience can’t remember where to find out more about you and where to buy, that’s a big problem. “But we’re already selling a lot of product so what’s the big deal?” Well, sometimes you have to look at how much you’re NOT selling. Does the potential lost revenue justify the price of getting a domain name that has fewer words or is easier to remember? Often, it is well worth the extra expense of a better domain name because of they extra money it adds to the bottom line.
A “better domain name” can mean different things. Sometimes better is a domain that is an exact match for your company. For example, the name of this business is Growlific™. The domain name is not GoGrowlific.com or GetGrowlific.com, it’s Growlific.com. The domain name is an exact match for the business name. If the customer sees the business name, they only have to type in the .com address to find it. Sometimes “better” means an acronym. For example, your non-profit organization might be the Totally Perfect Sensational Association. For those wanting to find you, it might be a little much for them to have to remember and type TotallyPerfectSensationalAssociation.org. An alternative could be TPSA.org. Easy to remember, quick to type.
Whatever your “better” is when it comes to your online presence, be sure to spend time thinking out your brand strategy as it pertains to your domain name. Otherwise, your would-be customers might identify with a brand by putting a sticker on their car… but that sticker might not be yours!
