This article is by Kasssey Lee on TLfDInvestors.com originally from GrandSeeds.com
Your domain is the address of your store in the digital world. If consumers remember what you sell and where to buy it, that’s powerful marketing. Your brand helps them remember what you sell, and your domain helps them remember where to buy it. Therefore, you want your domain to be easily remembered. The easiest way to remember your domain is to make it match your brand.
It's never too late to get the matching domain name, it just gets more expensive.
Match Your Brand to Your Domain Name A nice case study about Zelle.com expressed on DotWeekly.com about matching your brand to your domain name. There are a couple of other articles about the importance of branding on Dotweekly that a worth the read. And the tag line says it all, It's More Than a Name. With your domain name the goal is to make your brand stronger, not weaker. In addition to branding, author and operator of DotWeekly Jamie Zoch provides some other great info on the domain industry regularly, be sure to follow up on domain movers and start ups. Branding and the relation to your domain name cannot be stated enough for design into your website and the success of your business. If you can, acquire the domain names for your products, too.
There's a lot to branding your business in sync with your domain name and I'm just going to discuss a few key points that begin with the letter A.
Authority and Affinity
Being a brand authority now of days is having a powerful domain name. Powerful domain names are valuable because they are memorable and reflect your business as a leader in your industry. Like it or not we live in the age of information overload, and that's a good thing. As a kid I would ride my bike back and forth to the library trying to juggle a stack of books, knowledge and products from all over the world are now at anyone's finger tips from just about anywhere. How does a customer find, return to, or recommend your business in a sea of 1.7 billion websites all competing for the first page of Google? This is why your domain name matters.
Affinity is the sense of the natural path to your business, a relationship to or the path of the least resistance. If a customer has to remember your domain name or apply a silly extension, not only are they going to have a hard time getting back to you, it's even more difficult for them to refer your company to their contacts. Word of mouth is still a powerful tool in growing your business.
Here's a few great articles on the subject of branding and why your domain name matters: Spend Less on SEO, More on a Memorable Brand by Jamie Zoch and The True Cost of Your Domain Name by Chris Zuiker.
One point I would add to both of these articles is that not acquiring your matching domain name is leaving the door open for your competition to purchase it. Some companies have spent millions just to keep their competition from having them.
Excellent article by Andrew Rosener of Media Options on the brand value of domain names to your business. Andrew makes several key points on why you should own the the matching dot com domain name and what it costs you when you don't.
This is a great read for all C-level executives looking to gain a 15% market share in their niche. Business is online and good domain names will never be any less than they are today. Position your company and your brand for success before your competition snaps up the key generic domains that can impact your sales.
Great domain names are powerful assets that appreciate while generating revenue through brand recognition, as an authority in your field and have so many other marketing advantages that justify the cost. Allocate your advertising budget in the domain name sector for exponential growth and appreciation.
Check out these premium domains names for sale here. SouthernHomes.com FloridaBeachHomes.com DallasTech.com AtlantaConsulting.com LakeStyle.com LongLashes.com YourSiteBuilder.com DatabaseTools.com KeyInsight.com and many more.
Why domain names are even more valuable today. This is a copy of an article that was on the FragerFactor.com in 2006. I've cleaned it and condensed it, still strong and valid points made. Top 10 Reasons Why Domain Names Are Great Investments 1. Domain names tell people specifically where to find you on the Internet 2. A good domain name presents a more professional image and can support and even build your brand in the marketplace. 3. Domain names are unique – nobody else can own your domain name. 4. Annual cost is just $12 to renew your domain name. 5. Domain names can be easily shared with others via word of mouth. 6. Direct traffic to your domain name costs you nothing. 7. Search engines rank websites with relevant domain names higher. 8. Domain names like any business asset can add value to your business at time of sale. 9. Owning multiple domain names relating to your business can increase traffic and the number of qualified site visitors that you receive. 10. Owning multiple Domain names blocks competition from entering into your space and increases the value of your business to potential buyers. How to Qualify a Domain Name 1. Is it easy to spell? I mean EASY! The masses can't spell. 2. Is it easy to remember? 3. Will it look good on a billboard or in a commercial? 4. Will it pass the radio and SIRI tesst? 5. Is it commercial or social? 6. Does it mean something just standing alone? 7. Can the domain go up in value by 100x? by 1000x 10,000x? 8. Is this a retail price or a wholesale price? 9. Are the other extensions taken? (get the .com) 10. Does it get ANY traffic or make ANY income consistently? 11. Is it a plural when it should be a singular? Or is it a singular when it should be plural? 12. Will there be mistypes? If you buy a .net without owning the .com, how much traffic will you lose? 13. If I decide I don't want the domain anymore is it good enough to be liquid? 14. Are there other related domains that would help or hinder? 15. Is this the best domain I can find for the money? 16. Can I use the money in a better way? 17. Does it add value to your overall portfolio? 18. Could you open a business around that domain name? 19. Is the traffic type in or is it coming from any other way? 20. Could you envision a large company using that domain in a national ad campaign? Check out these domain names for sale.
There's a revolution in technology going on and for as many businesses that get it, many intelligent organizations still just do not. I get a few offers, most of them low, on different domain names every month and one of the questions I was asked by a potential purchaser was, how do I arrive at a price?
It's a fair question and to put an answer to it, here's the rationale behind the numbers. First, like real estate domain names are virtual property, but with several valuable added dimensions. Domains are the way customers find your business, remember your location and spread the news about your products. It's your business address for all practical purposes. Ninety percent of the people you do business with will never visit your business at it's physical location, but they'll all check your website, which is by way of your domain name.
Names that have more traffic or are capable of generating more traffic with short memorable names are worth more and their market demand is more. Like having a shop on main street vs. opening up a business on a rural road. A good memorable name that suits your business or product lines brings customers and helps them find their way back to you. Most company names are picked without the customer in mind or without any marketing considerations, just a name that means something to the organization on a somewhat emotional level. You can spend millions branding a odd name or bring the brand to your door with a descriptive name. And with domain names, you can have several or hundreds of names to drive traffic to your business.
The method, internet media. Consider the pro's and cons of different advertising media. There's print, TV, radio and internet. Print, I throw it out. It's garbage that comes with my printed mail. I haven't bought a newspaper in over 10 years at least and the last time I think I looked at a magazine, I was either in a doctors office or on a plane. Forget print, it's over. The postal service is nostalgic and I'd be willing to bet 100 percent privatized within 10 years. TV, I watch movies for the most part or change the channel during the commercials. Watching the Atlanta Falcons beat the Aint's in the season opener, I saw a couple of ads, but couldn't tell you what they were today. I'm moving in the direction of subscription TV like Netflix and Hulu. I'm not alone. Radio, okay you get ads in front of me while driving more often then I care to say. Occasionally, I am too lazy to load a playlist from my phone or all the stations that I have programmed in are in sync with their commercial's timed together. Traffic reports get me to tune in, but the rest of the noise I could do without. I get about half of percent of anything useful from radio news. The tone and rate of speech only ramps up tension. I'm working on weaseling out listening to main stream radio all together. Half the time I enjoy just listening to silence.
The internet has main access to get in-front of my eyes. I am on the net at home, at work, even while visiting a store in the mall I might be checking prices of a competitor on my phone. I have discretionary income and I move quickly. Like a lot of your customers, I have much to manage and like in the real world, I have to be street smart online and as nimble as a forest creature to find the best deals. I validate a business I am going to use based on the domain they have, how their website looks, works and if they have a phone number on their contact page. Usually I like a second opinion, options or it's just the way to complete due diligence by checking a few other sites. How I find that second, third or fourth site through search or by their domain name directly is potentially a company I'll be working with. CEO's of those companies are the CEO's that are likely to make their 17 percent growth targets and are the ones that get their bonuses. They're the one that get it. I price domain names comparable to other media even when that media is less effective.
30 seconds on Atlanta TV during prime time will cost you 30k and your money is gone just that fast. Most industry magazine ads will cost you upwards of 1200 per month for a four color, 1/2 to full page ad and you don't even know if anyone is reading it. Your domain name is yours perpetually. The internet is even more revolutionary as the phone system was when it came into being some 120 years ago and as fast as technology grows, the internet is not going to be replaced anytime soon. With a great domain name you look like the authority in your industry. Most clients will never see your office, I can't stress enough how important your online presence is. Technology is the only industry that has had double digit growth since the 70's and looks to be booming for the rest of man's existence. The slope of the curve is about to go vertical.
The short, memorable, brand-able, desirable names, and what other similar domains have sold for, makes for the price range listed. We encourage you to make offers on our domains and other available names. The cost, effectiveness and value is continually rising.
Short of fielding email inquiries about domain investing, I decided to create a series of posts featuring some of the domain sites read on a regular basis.
The undisputed authority for domain name news has to be Domain Name Journal. Ron Jackson, journalist and former news anchor built one of the most trusted blogs for reporting events and sales within the domain industry.
DNJournal.com is a weekly periodical and a must read for anyone in domain investing. Ron has a warm and intelligent style that emanates through the headlines to each in-depth cover story.