Domain Names You Should Own

Internet marketing expert Matt Bailey guesses businesses own somewhere between 20 and 30 Web domains (aka URLs) each, on average - a surprisingly high number. I think I own maybe 15 or 20. But a quick check revealed we own 88.

Holy smokes! These things stack up like junk in a storage closet. They're basically impulse buys.

Business owners buy the URLs for their business names, and pick up product names, too. Oh, and common misspellings of each, and with dashes between the words? Goodness, better be safe and also control each in .net, .org, .biz, .us, .info, et al.

Need a bigger closet. But why waste $100 to $1,000 per year and some administrative time on domains with no utility? Will someone please explain which ones we should own or not own?

We talked to Matt Bailey, president of SiteLogic, and Steve Schneiderman, president of Schneiderman Marketing, two people who should know - if anyone should. Here's what they agreed on:

1. Buy your company name, product name(s) and personal domain name (e.g., JohnDSmith.com) if you can get them.
2. Buy common misspellings of your main URL. Example: AcquisitionAdvisors.com owns www.AcquisitionAdviser.com and www.AcquisitionAdvisor.com and forwards them to the main URL.
3. Buy your company name and main product name(s) with dashes between the words, e.g., www.The-Business-Owner.com. Direct them to the domains they mimic. This keeps them out of the hands of others who might use them to your detriment.
4. Concern yourself only with .com, .net and .org. Don't worry about .info, .biz, .us et al.
5. Buy your business name + sucks. Example: This publication is The Business Owner. We own www.TheBusinessOwner.com. We should buy www.TheBusinessOwnerSucks.com. Disgruntled employees or customers could have a lot of fun with a URL like this (often do)!

Schneiderman says you have to think about what the devious might try to pull, such as buying derivations of your name, business name or product name, and using them to make a defamatory message pop up when people search for you or your products or services. That's why we suggest you buy your "sucks" URL as described above. Bailey and Schneiderman both explain that while it's wise to own your business names and trade names - to keep them out of the hands of others - it's even better to put them to productive use. For example, use a URL for a particular product by creating a dedicated landing page. This allows for enhanced traffic tracking as well as a Web "place" that focuses exclusively on a single task, e.g., selling a particular product or service.

Copyright © 2010 by D.L. Perkins, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Reproduction, in any form, in whole or in part, is prohibited without written permission from an officer of D.L. Perkins, LLC. Issn. No. 1556-2026. Vol. 6, No. 2