Be the master of your own domain name
By Dermot Corrigan
Possibly the most important decision to make when planning a new company website is what URL or domain name to choose. This address will symbolise your business in the future, so companies will want to get it right.
The key factor when coming up with your website address is to make it memorable, according to Ken Stanley, technical director with The Creative District.
“Your domain name is very important,” said Stanley. “Your website is your company’s shop window to the entire world, so you want people to remember your address. Domains tend to be more memorable if they are short and snappy. For example, take www.axa.ie. I’m sure Axa has very few people ringing up asking what its web address is.”
Considering how potential customers are likely to search for your product or service could help companies decide on a memorable domain name, said Maryrose Lyons, managing director of Brightspark Consulting.
“From a search engine point of view, it is a good idea to have your keywords contained within your domain name,” said Lyons. “If your business is called NNR Ltd, for example, and you sell medical devices, consider buying the domain name www.medicaldevices.ie. You can still use NNR.ie as well, and set up a redirect on it to your main domain name.”
Larger companies launching a new marketing campaign could profit from innovative or creative domain names, said Stephen Murphy, communications director at Webfactory.
“From a corporate point of view, you want a short domain name that is easy to remember and you want to use your company name as much as possible,” said Murphy. “If you are launching a new product or service, you might hive that off to a separate URL though. For example, Bord Gáis has breakingthrough.ie, which showcases its sponsorship of the hurlingU-21 championship.
For particular brands, that can work very well.” The decision on whether to focus on a dot.ie or a dotcom address, or other newer options such as dot.mobi, dot.tv, dot.eu, was also something to consider, said Michele Neylon, managing director of Blacknight Solutions.
“Our advice would be to try and get as many of them as you can,” said Neylon. “People look for domain names that include what it is the business does. It can be easier to find that domain name in dot.ie than in dotcom. If you are targeting the British market, it can make sense to also get the dot.co.uk address, for example.”
