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How to Avoid Program-Itis
When people first come online to start or build a business a lot of them catch a very common Internet disease that I will refer to as Program-Itis. I also fell victim to this disease. What happens is the bug hits you and you begin to believe that...
Online Press Releases Tipped As Internet Marketing Strategy for 2006
Combination of PR and SEO attracts marketers' attention With
consumers taking charge of what they read and when they read it,
online news has attracted the interest of marketers. The new
report Search Marketing Benchmark Guide from Marketing...
Produce More Sales from your Email Promotions
Do sales come from your ezine regularly? How many well- written articles do you submit per week to Online ezines? How often do you send thank you's and follow up messages to your different email groups? If you answered not many, then you need to...
Top 10 Tips on Running a Widely Successful and Profitable Business Online
1. Know your target market
I know you’ve all heard this many times over, but believe me, if you have taken the time to research your target market and find out what their exact needs are then you have already taken the first step towards...
What are Promotional Articles and How Can They Work for You?
One of the most effective ways for attracting attention to your business on the Internet is to write articles. The most popular ones are how-to articles, which also establish your expertise. People are always looking for articles for their websites,...
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URL's, What's in a name?
Google? What kinda name is this? Of course it brings to mind
googolplex but how could one branding mean so much to a company?
We all know what it means though, it's the featured search
engine used more than any other at this point.
When it comes to naming your URL it is important to be catchy,
but is it more important to be relative? This is a question we
all must face when we name our web site. Sometimes this is easy,
for instance if you have a business names "Flowers-a-Plenty"
then it's a no brainer what you will name your site. At this
point if www.flowers-a-plenty.com is not taken then of course
this is the optimal decision. However, if your looking to start
a flower business online is it very important to come up with a
name that is both catchy and relevant? YES! Many of us don't
have the starting capital to make the brand name so we look for
something that will be both specific for rankings, and catch the
millions of web users attention. The name of your website will
be something you have to live with, not just a page of hundreds
that might end up on your site.
There are many names that just won't be accessible or worthwhile
for your online campaign. These are names that have already been
taken or have an obvious conflict with current businesses. For
instance, to name your new car dealership "Chevie" instead of
the currently wide used name Chevy just isn't gonna cut it if
your truly want your name to stand out. While registering the
name Chivie.com might be helpful in getting traffic off of
misspellings during searching, its not a feasible name to use
for your branding. There are many aspects that go into branding
and naming your URL. We must look at advertisability, relevance
and intractability. For instance to name your search engine
marketing firm "Search Engine Marketing Firm" might be nice and
relevant, what's going to make you stand out from the rest?
While there are obvious barriers here, the fact that names like
these are likely to be registered, you must also consider how
you are going to distinguish yourself from the competition. If
you have a company that specializes in this area, then getting
this name and forwarding it to your business web site might be
the ideal solution, but it still might not be an ideal name for
your company.
Some important points to look at:
Domain Name: Your domain name will be the name of your web
presence and is many times used for an effective online branding
strategy. Choose a name that is unique, easy to remember and, if
possible, highlights the type of products services you wish to
portray. If however your budget allows, it is more important
that your name be unique. If Google had gone with a
name more
relevant say, InternetCrawler.com would they be who they are
today? If you have a selling point that out-smarts your
competitors, you may add a word or two about it in the URL to
take advantage of this unique portion of the branding strategy.
Logo: When we think of windows operating system, we are reminded
of its logo before everything else. Sometimes the logo will be
the lasting memory in the eye of the visitor that makes you
memorable, if so, then this is your unique take on the market.
Tips for branding your URL on the Web
Be Consistent: Branding on the web would requires making sure
you know your audience. You should be consistent in terms of
your approach, your message and your treatment given to the
viewers through and through.
Be Innovative: Branding your URL is all about being innovative.
Understand the likes and dislikes of your target audience before
you begin to even think of ideas for branding yourself on the
web.
Appeal to the Target Market: Let me restate: Entire branding
efforts should be focused on a SECTION of the consumer segment
you wish to appeal to. Your brand should appeal to your customer
and instill confidence with your viewership in which you are
trying to promote to.
The web is unlike any other communications or marketing medium,
your web presence is the one place where the entire identity of
your company (its products, image, reputation and quality) are
viewed in a matter of seconds and a few mouse clicks. Either the
entire experience comes together or it doesn't. For this reason
alone it is important to make your brand worthwhile to the
audience in which it is intended for.
In my particular instance, I have used the name Grapester.com to
promote a web site about wine, offering knowledge, articles and
insight on "How to Drink Grapes". While Grapester is a catchy
name, the slogan also makes the site more relative as the tag
"How to Drink Grapes" is all throughout the website and is
something that the visitors that come there will remember.
Remember: The brand of your presence online is a foundational
building block that will stick with you throughout your online
campaign and is not to be taken lightly!
About the author:
Todd Levi is a current Web Design and Marketing contributor with
over 5 years experience in the field of web design and
promotion. His website http://www.LeviSolutions.com is his
current business that helps all sorts of companies get online!
He also conducts a blog entitled SEO-Marketing where useful
information can be found about creating, maintaining and
applying strategies for bettering your online presence at
http://seo-marketing.levisolutions.com
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