Perhaps one of the most telling aspects about your online presence is not so much the website as a whole, but the URL you use to advertise it. When you consider some marketing tactics, the URL is really the first thing people will see – maybe on a postcard or sign, on television or heard in a radio commercial. As word of mouth will attest, when people ask for your website you may sound it out for them. Therefore, you want to be certain the domain name you use is easy on the eyes and ears.

The Personalized Domain versus the “Free Site”

One thing I notice, specifically with authors, is the usage of a free site to host information on books and other writings. Assuming an author only has so much to spend on promotion, it’s understandable to want to be thrifty, but one can also argue the purchase of a domain is a necessary and worthwhile expense for anybody wishing to market online.

When you look at a business card, for example, are you more apt to visit the site of a business with this URL:

http://www.freesite.com/mybusinessname

…or this one?

http://www.mybusinessname.com

The latter certainly may look more professional, and will also imply that the site is done with great care. Free sites, while helpful in a pinch and good for personal websites, often come with strings attached. Signing up for a free service may require you to run banner ads on your pages, and may force you to limit the type of content you can have on your site. With the recent news of Geocities closing, too, comes the realization that there is no guarantee a free service will always be there to store your pages. Having your own web space and URL is easier to maintain in this respect, as pages and URL positioning can be moved if needed.

The URL name: Yours or Your Topic’s?

Let’s say you have decided to spring for a simple web hosting package and a URL. The domain name you choose must best express what you plan to showcase on the Internet. Authors, actors, and musicians will tend to use their names if available, yet the business owner has options. If you operate a bakery in your town, you may wish to purchase a domain that is the name of your business, or else a keyword-strong URL that tells people exactly what you do. “YourTownBakers” or “YourTownBakery” where “Your Town” is where you are located, is a viable option. You stand the chance of increased search relevancy based on the keywords used, and one doesn’t have to guess what it is you do.

A good method of determining the right URL for your company is to consider how it will look to the public. The words that comprise the domain should be short, easy to remember, and to spell. Consulting a site like Domize can tell you if the URL you want is available for purchase- if not, you may be able to find an alternative to work for you.