Domain branding is central to the successful development of internet businesses. Traditionally, a company will chose a name which is non-generic in nature, so that the identity of the business and brand can be trademarked and protected. Which traditionally, is exactly what a business should do. Often they make up a name by picking two unrelated words, putting them together in some unexpected way, to create a new, never- before- seen word. Like moonzoom or skyfall. And then they spend a fortune trying to build the brand just to get you to remember the name. Its great for the budgets of the advertising agencies.
But its not great for an internet business. Sure you can brand anything, if you spend enough money. And the search engine optimization specialists will tell you that the domain name doesn't matter anyway. They can get XYZcoldPizza.net to page one of the search engines. And if you keep them on retainer, they can keep you there every time the search algorithms change. Maybe.
But most businesses are missing the point about domain names. Its not a trademark issue. You own it, and no one else can use it. Because its registered to you. Its not a search engine optimization issue. With the right domain name branding, you don't even need the search engines.
Its a behavioral issue. The easier the name is to remember, the greater the rate of return will be on any advertising dollar you spend. And the easier the name is to remember, the more repeat business you will get. And if you were smart enough to buy the domain that actually matches the keyword generic category for your industry, you have a number of competitive advantages over everyone else on the internet.
1. Instant credibility - you are the brand. Your customer already knows exactly who you are, and what you do, just by virtue of your name.
2. Free type-in traffic. A lot of people looking for your product will actually just type in your category killer domain name into the browser. And viola. They find you. Never having even visited a search engine.
3. Lots of repeat business. People return to sites they can remember. And if you are the easiest site to remember, you get the most repeat business.
