The lazy man's guide to creating a merchant site URL part 2
Last time, the discussion on creating a URL focused on the use of extensions, and how shorter the url is, the better. Let's have a recap:
- Acquire a dotcom
When choosing a domain name, make certain yours has a dotcom extension. Not only does a dotcom add a dash of professionalism to your company reputation, it makes your site look legitimate to the eyes of your customer.
- Short and sweet is the way to go
For easier to remember URLS (easy to write, spell, remember, pronounce), shorter urls are better. Avoid long, difficult to spell URLs and as much as possible, try to avoid dashes and other odd characters for your URL.
There are certain things in life you can't go without - like a decent 3-pc suit, or a double-bladed shaver in the middle of a camping trip (unless you wanna look like a distant relative of bigfoot). In the Internet world, ranking on search engines is important as well as expensive(seo consultancy fees - ouch!) - and it's something you can't even try to go without if you want to succeed in the ecommerce market.
Equally important in the creation of a URL, would be keywords.
- Key in those words
Let's make it easier: if you have a business dealing with leather wallets, your customers would naturally search for "leather wallets" - those are your keywords. Unfortunately, there are a million sites selling leather wallets, and most of them have snapped up URLs with the keywords leather wallet. How can you distinguish yourself from them? Let's dig deeper into your "leather wallets" shall we? What kind of leather wallets do you have? Amazingly, you sell crocodile leather wallets! Lucky you, it's got a pretty good search volume, competition is low and nobody has yet to acquire a URL pertaining to crocodile leather wallets. Not only does it reflect your line of business, it can improve your ranking on search engines - which leads to increased traffic, and hopefully, turn browsers into customers.
- Business-name
For instance, if you already have a business name (company name), you can also register it as your URL name. Other companies create micro-sites pointing to their home sites - a good idea if you have the capital to buy up other domains related to your business (if you make leather wallets, try creating microsites for your specific products like synthetic leather wallet, or snake leather wallet). This idea is also applicable to individuals creating their own sites(i.e. consultants, programmers, etc)- register a URL with your first and last name. Using your business name(or personal name) makes it easier for your customers(potential or current) to find you.
The Internet has been exploited for years now - creating a unique URL might prove difficult, and buying up existing ones can prove expensive for start up merchants. Your URL is an important component for ecommerce success; with your free merchant account on one hand, shopping cart, payment gateway and of course your products and services (add a four-leaf clover for luck!), you just might get a shot at everyone's dream of financial freedom.