Many web site owners make a very simple mistake. They do not choose a memorable domain name. It can literally cost you thousands if you fail to permanently ‘tattoo' your domain name into your prospects head.

There is also one other crucial ingredient needed when choosing a domain name and we ensure all our clients are aware of it before finalising a domain name.

Choosing a name for your site takes a little thought. It's important to know the most important things to consider. Consideration in choosing a domain name is often the choice between business name, brand name and business expertise.  Bear in mind the industry in which you operate, the location of your current business,  and the product or service you offer.

It's worth taking the time to do a little research and to have a good think about the name you want to give your site. It may be very simple. Maybe you already have an established business name and so you will just use that. It's still worthwhile considering other factors. A domain name can use up to 67 characters but does that mean you would want to use all 67 characters? Probably not if it makes your name long winded and hard to type!

Your domain name is the key to your web site.  You are much more likely to succeed online if your name is easily memorable. So how do you make a domain name memorable?

Experience teaches us a few things here. If you want a name that is going to work hard for you, capture the imagination. Apply the principles used for memory retention. The mind likes to think in pictures and so creating a compelling mental image can pay big dividends.  A good name really can be one of the most important elements of your web presence, so its worth getting it right. 

Think of it like a headline in a news story. One imaginative and creative way is to think about the problem your product or service resolves. Think about a picture that you could associate with that problem or service. Our own name ‘Wheels4WebSites' was created in this way.

‘Wheels' are memorable and something everyone is familiar with. They are a way of moving things, transporting things and getting them moving. ‘Wheels' applied to web sites conveys a certain image and one that is easier to remember than ‘XDK consultants'. It's a simple yet easy idea to implement, once you give it some consideration. 

Go for a name or name combination that allows you to create a memorable picture to paint into your customer's thoughts. If it's a familiar image you can hi-jack - so much the better. It gives you association of a familiar picture for example - sleeping beauty and beds, dolphins and water. The idea is to stimulate your creative juices. Think of creating a picture that can easily be associated, automatically, with your brand or company.

Your potential customers will remember the picture and your name. Emphasise it in any way possible to make it even more compelling as an image.

If you have a brand or established name that you must use and still want to take advantage of this tactic there is a way to do it. Create a second domain name that is the picture you want to paint in your customers mind. Then when you are in a meeting or giving a presentation, your customer will remember that picture and so the name. A ‘redirect' can be put on the domain name to point to your main web site. Objective achieved.

Web users are notoriously lazy and if your site is not easy to find then they might just quickly give up trying to find it. This tactic helps in more than one way to overcome this problem.

So consider these important factors in choosing your domain name.

•  Memorable domain names assist "your customers" to quickly locate your website. 
•  Memorable Domain Names are valuable as ‘brands'.
•  A ‘brand' can be a major business asset worth big money.
•  Catchy or memorable domain names can build great brand value for you.

As a general rule its best to go for the shorter name if it's a meaningful one, but choose the longer name if it's easier to remember. Don't make the mistake of choosing some ‘long winded name' that may name your business but is easy to forget and even worse, easy to mistype.

From what has been said it should be clear that your customers remembering your domain name is very important from a marketability perspective.  Remember, people have to type the domain into the address bar. How many times have you typed in a long winded or complicated domain name and got it completely wrong? It's happened to us all!

Domains that are household words, easy-to-remember phrases, or keywords have the greatest value. Who is going to be able to tell their friends about your great site if they cannot remember the name of it?  To find your site again, people have to remember how they found it the first time. 

It really comes down to one simple tactic. Just remember to make the domain name memorable.  Your company's domain name is its online identity.  Think about it like this. Would you remember it after seeing it just once?  Hyphens tend to be a ‘no -no' for that very reason. People forget where to put them.

Domain names can make a big difference in a marketing plan for your web site.  It creates the initial ‘feel' of who you are. The name you choose is part of your business's identity, branding and marketing. As with any business, word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool to drive traffic to your site. Again, a memorable name will help you incredibility in this area. 

Also do not forget the format of your email address. Your email address is going to reflect the name you choose. It's part of your marketing, so choose wisely. 

If there is one domain that you will be heavily marketing, it makes sense to protect yourself and register all other derivations of the name. For example .com. .co.uk. .biz. org etc. It protects your investment. You don't want someone coming along and taking some other form of your name and stealing all the hard work you have done in promoting your company and business.

If your personal name is important to you, register it.  Registering your own first and last name as your URL protects you. If you are a consultant, writer, or other professional whose reputation in your field is critical to drawing customers, this is part of your business.

If you follow the advice above you should buy all other domain names related to yours. It is easy to put a redirect on them so that they all point to the same ultimate domain. Be aware that certain regional search engines will only allow country-specific domains listed in their pages. If that's the case, ensure that you obtain the appropriate domain in order to be promoted in popular, country-specific search engines. 

You can also use different domain names and websites to target specific niche audiences.  If you're really going after a specific topic in your web site, you want to try to pick a domain which has those keywords in it. It helps with targeting and search engine listings.

If you have registered a domain name for a specific period, make sure you renew it in time. If you loose the name, you loose everything that goes with it!

A great domain name can be the start of a great Internet business. Make sure it's memorable!