Location, location, location Your web address is critical to your brand

What is a web address? It isn’t, actually, a location: Not even in a virtual sense It is a pointer to a location: More like a Windows shortcut or Mac alias It can point at nothing! But it is of course only any good when it points to a functioning web space: Your web host’s web server

It isn’t, actually, a location:

Not even in a virtual sense

It is a pointer to a location:

More like a Windows shortcut or Mac alias

It can point at nothing!

But it is of course only any good when it points to a functioning web space:

Your web host’s web server

You cannot own a web address but you can lease one Registries internic.org [.com, .net, .org and others] nominet.org.uk [.co.uk, .org.uk and others] Registrars Internet Service Providers (ISP) Specialists like 123-reg.co.uk Web hosting service providers Registrants You and me!

Top and second level domains An indicator of your business scope yourbusiness .me.uk yourbusiness .biz yourbusiness .info yourbusiness .mobi Others yourbusiness .sch.uk yourbusiness .edu Educational entities yourbusiness .org.uk yourbusiness .org Non-commercial entities yourbusiness .net.uk yourbusiness .uk.net yourbusiness .gb.net yourbusiness .net Network infrastructure providers yourbusiness .co.uk yourbusiness .uk.com yourbusiness .gb.com yourbusiness .ltd.uk yourbusiness .plc.uk yourbusiness .eu yourbusiness .com Commercial entities

What’s in a web address (URL) 37 characters: countless permutations abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-0123456789 but they’re not all good!…

Home sweet home or not… Screenshots from www.archive.org Experts Exchange was a knowledge base where programmers could exchange advice and views at… www.expertsexchange.com Looking for a pen? You could have looked no further than Pen Island at… www.penisland.net

Home sweet home or not… Screenshots from www.archive.org Australian horticulturists, David and Sarah Caldwell, hadn’t quite thought things through at… www.molestationnursery.com PowerGen generated all sorts of interest in Italy at… www.powergenitalia.com

Web domainstorming Try out word combinations and have other similar ones suggested, and then check for their availability (albeit with American top level domains) at… www.domainsbot.com Check all the main UK domains (and the main global ones) at… www.123-reg.co.uk

I’m free WHOIS says “ I’m not!”

Check your competition And your ‘neighbours’

Location, location, location Some guidelines Keep your web address as short as you can But not at the expense of clarity eg: TheSolentElectronicHome.co.uk or SolentElectronicHome.co.uk or tseh.co.uk Consider misspellings Research your neighbourhood Consider secondary addresses YourBusiness.co.uk and .com and ? Make sure your registrar is flexible

Keep your web address as short as you can

But not at the expense of clarity

eg: TheSolentElectronicHome.co.uk or SolentElectronicHome.co.uk or tseh.co.uk

Consider misspellings

Research your neighbourhood

Consider secondary addresses

YourBusiness.co.uk and .com and ?

Make sure your registrar is flexible

This presentation available at www.slideshare.net/tag/impact-071031