Branding

Tips For Deciding on Your Website’s Domain Name

September 1, 2015 by Deborah Anderson

Choosing the name of your website domain may seem simple until you start to go through the process. There are several things you need to consider when you are trying to find the best choice for your web page address. Here are just a few tips as you think about your company’s new domain.

Don’t spend time choosing your extension.

Although you should choose your domain name carefully, it is not advisable to get creative with the extension. There are many available, but it is still the .com extension that is by far the most dominant, and it is also the extension that new customers will assume your business is using when they are searching for your website. However, if you find the perfect name for your URL, but you find that the .com extension is already taken, you might want to consider using .net. This is clearly the second choice for commercial websites. If you are operating a non-profit website, then you should think about using a .org extension. This is the best choice for many non-profit organizations.

Don’t feel you must choose a single name.

The truth is that domain name registration is cheap. For a small amount of money, you can have the name for an entire year, and there is no obligation to renew the name. The importance of understanding this is that if you have two names that you like equally, you can register both of them. The beautiful part of it is, you can actually use both of these names if you like. The company that you register your domains with will want to know where to send people when they enter your URL. This information will come from your Internet service provider. You can have more than one name pointed to your website. For example, you may have come up with the perfect name for your site, but you want to register both the extensions of .com and .net. You can have both of these URLs pointed to your website. Either address will take your customers to your company’s web page.

Think about including one or more of your keywords.

If you are in the process of creating or have already created your website, you most likely have a few keywords that you will be using for your search engine optimization and ranking of your website. Using a keyword in your URL will augment your efforts to be found easily in a search engine. Of course, these keywords need to be directly related to what you are selling, so your new customers can find your site.

Experiment with various names.

There are several domain registration companies that have search engines to help you find what is available and what is not. Try not to assume that the name you want is taken. Domain names frequently expire and are available to the first person that pays for the registration. One example of a company that has a domain search is Network Solutions.

The Power of Unique – Building Your Brand

January 28, 2015 by Phil Turner

The Internet is full. Full of the same old, same old. But there IS room for unique. There always will be room for unique.

Over 99% of pages and people online are like poor quality home recordings of the original. The original was unique once, that’s what made it stand out.

The original still stands out like a Deutsche Gromophon vinyl LP played on a Linn LP12 Sondek turntable surrounded by cheap and tacky CDs and MP3 recordings.

If you are building your brand, online or offline, you must be unique. You must have personality.

Establishing Your Uniqueness

You, as an individual are unique. So am I. Each one of us is unique because no two people have had the same set of life experiences or has the same set of genes. The first step is to acknowledge that you are like no other person who has ever lived. The second is to celebrate that.

If you are building your brand and want to stand out then make sure that you are part of your brand. Let people see the real you. Let people know what makes you different. Let everyone know your unique thoughts on important issues.

You will often see media celebrities wearing peculiar clothes and hats in a bid to establish themselves as unique. That can be part of your unique character, but there needs to be MUCH more to it than that. No brand can be successful unless it stands out as different.

How Do You Talk about Yourself?

The first step is to acknowledge that you are like no other person who has ever lived. The second is to celebrate that. – Phil Turner

Blog. Blog. And then blog some more.

On a blog you can say almost anything you like. If you have a brand and a website make sure that there is a blog and that you are the person who writes the blog posts.

You cannot outsource your uniqueness. No matter how much you pay someone to write your blog posts they will never be the authentic and unique YOU unless you write them yourself. You can hire an editor to tidy them up, but every post needs to be from your heart and your thinking.

Remember

Remember why you are doing the blog posts. You are passing on your unique knowledge, your unique perspective on life. You are showing people how you are different and establishing that what you have to say is worth listening to.

There is a symbiotic relationship between you and your brand. You are part of your brand and your brand is a part of you.

And You?

What are you doing to set yourself apart from the imitators, from the herd? Are you part of your brand? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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