Image is the most obvious goal or criteria. While a few technical people who underestimate marketing ask why does a name matter, they probably would not want to be named Adolph after 1945.
Your domain name is a third of your image. Online, one can’t have an impressive store or an impressive building. But one can have an impressive domain name. For a Web site standing alone, there is only the site design, content, and domain name. Domain names have their own image. In general, the largest companies have the shortest, often one-word, domain names, while the smallest companies have long domain names. A company with a domain name like AmericanWidgetsOnline.net, tells people that they could not obtain the .com, could not obtain AmericanWidgets.com or American.com.
A domain name can either make you look like a fly-by-night email spammer or an established company. Established companies make the effort to have a great domain name, and customers know this. A great domain name will increase your traffic and your sales. Below are the domain names from companies that advertised in one
business magazine:
JennTech.net
AdvertiseToMillions.com
ProfitEbook.netfirms.com
FreeWebSiteCenter.com
Mktforce.com
Vitaminbusiness.com
SubmitSnake.com
TotalNetIncome.com
Alleykats.com
Without knowing anything about the above companies, you probably have the impression that they are not large companies. The above companies were all the businesses with a domain name in the May 2002 Opportunity Showcase (small ads in the back) of Small Business Opportunities magazine. In contrast, below are the Top 10 Internet Properties (Media Metrix, July 2002) as defined by traffic:
AOL.com
MSN.com
Yahoo.com
Google.com
Lycos.com
About.com
Ebay.com
Amazon.com
Classmates.com
CNET.com
Below are the domain names of the Largest U.S. corporations:
WalMart.com
Exxon.com
GM.com
Ford.com
GE.com
Citigroup.com corporate, Citi.com – consumers
Chevron.com
IBM.com
From their own experience, consumers have learned to associate certain types of names with certain businesses. Consumers have learned that large, established companies have short domain names – such as those on the last two lists. Consumers have learned that small companies, like those on the first list from Small Business Opportunities magazine, have different domain names. Not all of the names of larger firms are great names or even good names. Many of the larger firms are stuck with long legacy names – names generations old.
Shorter domain names are also easier to type, which is often given as a reason for short domain names. While true, saving customers the time to type in a few characters is less important than the image and memorability aspects. Short names, with less to remember or less to forget, are more memorable everything else constant.
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