The Internet is the ultimate gateway to the world of available sales and marketing. Small business owners now have the same ability to compete with their larger competitors like never before by simply maintaining a strong web presence and registering a memorable domain name.
Many online users may not realize it; however, access to the Internet is gained and controlled primarily by domain names. As a small business owner, once you’ve developed a functioning and effective website, in order to reach the public you must use a domain name.
Domain Name Extensions
Most domain names are directly related to the company, product, service or purpose of the website. It’s intentional, as not only do you want your domain name to be recognizable to you, but also your customers. Depending on the type of company you operate helps in determining part of the domain’s name. Most companies will have a domain name that ends in with the .com extension. Others may include: .gov, .net, or .org. Regardless of the extension, the domain name should be used on all distributed company advertising material.
Before you secure a domain name for your company, you should first give it some careful thought. You want something that’s easy to remember. Companies should consider a domain name that’s easy to spell, fresh and catchy. If you’ll notice, most large websites have a single word domain name. Remember you’ll be responsible for reciting it to customers, possibly over the phone, so complicated names can become tedious, and customers grow frustrated when they can’t access your website.
Domain Name Marketing
Once you have your domain name, then you must incorporate it into your marketing. The website is only as useful as the traffic it generates to a specific site. Your website design should also include online marketing features such as tags for search engines, listed domain name(s), as well as key phrases designed by you or your SEO guru team. To increase market saturation, you can advertise with search engines, networking sites, or any related websites.
As a small business owner, you may also opt to utilize your domain name in your existing advertising material. Business cards, letterhead, flyers, radio and television are all great marketing mediums to assist individuals with domain name recognition. Once your domain name has a reputable and established recognition, online visitors will quickly begin trickling into your website.
A domain name is a relatively small investment, especially when compared to other marketing techniques. Domain name’s on average cost less per year than a direct mail campaign reaching 2000 people. The domain name will last longer, and have the greatest potential to reach more people. As with all marketing, it’s about getting your company’s name visible. Domain names are the quickest and easiest way to reach online customers. You can also link multiple domain names to one website, which increases name recognition, or serves multiple markets.
Domain names are the link between your small business’ website and your customers, so choose wisely and advertise competitively!
