You’re working on your website and trying to ramp up your blogging, when it hits you: should you buy additional domain names? What if people are looking for your website but going elsewhere because you didn’t buy that extra name? Here’s how to decide whether or not an additional name purchase should be on your list of insurance marketing strategies.
Is Your Business Name Really Long?
If the name of your business is the Williams Smith Brown Insurance Company, then your domain name could be considered too long and clunky. It’s probably better to shorten it, but that could cause confusion if your clients try to place your name into their browser directly. Some companies choose to shorten just a part of their name. For instance, if your business name is the East Arbor Insurance Agency and your website name is earborinsurance because you wanted to be succinct, your ongoing clients could be confused. They might write eastarborinsurance instead. If you’ve purchased a shortened form of your domain name but you want to make sure that customers don’t end up in the wrong place, you could buy the longer version as well and redirect it just in case.
Is Your Web Name Easily Confused With Another?
If it is easy to confuse your website name, it could be helpful to redirect clients to your website. For instance, if your customers aren’t always sure how to spell your insurance company’s name, you could purchase some of the most common misspellings. Likewise, if you have some extra words in your business name such as “the” and “a,” you might choose to leave these out of your actual domain name but purchase the other version in case your clients get confused.
What Domain Names Do You Need?
People generally write .com in as the end of a website name. However, if you’re concerned that they’ll write in something like .net, it’s possible to purchase that as well. If you operate on a nonprofit basis and customers recognize you for this, you could also consider purchasing the .org as well. Webeminence suggests that you should “Consider buying the .net and .com versions of your domain first. Other top level domains are not as popular so are not as important to protect.”
Your Business Matters
When you’re focusing on insurance marketing, remember that it’s your business persona that matters, not the exact domain name that you choose. As ShivarWeb explains, “Domain names are really “memory hooks” – if a customer knows your business, then they’ll know your domain name (rarely vice versa).” If your business is called Williams Smith Brown but you’ve built a brand as your corner insurance agency, you could consider setting up a domain name that isn’t even your name at all – it’s a hook that will help your clients remember who you are and what you stand for. Yes, you’ll probably purchase and redirect your actual business name to that domain, but your domain name is more than a name – it can be a reflection of your business’s brand.
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