Purchase critical domain names — right now — to protect your brand!

Your website address is vital to your brand — and your business. I encourage you to research and purchase a variety of domain names to protect your brand. Do it right now, if you can. Domain names are ephemeral: here today, gone tomorrow!

1. Buy your name, if you don’t own it

• True story: One of my clients (a consultant and professional speaker) Googled her unusual name and discovered that a woman with the identical name was wanted by the police! What if the “other woman” had purchased that domain name and set up a website? Talk about brand confusion!

2. Buy common misspellings 

• Example: CathyDoeSpeaker.com and KathyDoeSpeaker.com
• Ask your developer to set up redirects. This way, someone who misspells the website address will arrive at your website, seamlessly.

3. Buy your book title, product title, your tagline, and other brand phrases

• If you’re writing a book or creating a product, purchase the working title(s) right now. Domain names are here today, gone tomorrow.
• Your tagline is a particularly important Brand Element. Purchase the phrase, so you own it — and no one else will.

4. Buy variations and extensions such as .net, .co, .info, and .biz

• True story: My husband, Michael Baum, is an artist. His website address is MichaelBaum.com. One day a man called and said, “My name is also Michael Baum, and I’m an artist too … I’ve been thinking about setting up a website at MichaelBaumArt.com.” We immediately snapped up that domain name, along with MichaelBaum.net and other variations, to protect his brand.
• Purchasing multiple variations of your main domain name(s) can be costly, so do what you can.
• In addition, purchase your main domain name for at least 5 years, since this is critical to your business and you don’t want it to slip away. In addition, “amount of time owned” is a data point that search-engine robots use when rating your site. (This is logical, since a fly-by-night website operator would probably only purchase a domain name for 1 year.)

Nuts-and-bolts advice:

• In all marketing materials (including your business card), always capitalize the letters in each word in your website address to help readers quickly read and comprehend the words. Example: www.yourbusinessname.com versus www.YourBusinessName.com.
• Your email address should correspond with your website address for professionalism, consistency, and to further support your brand. If you’re using YourName@gmail.com, consider switching to Firstname@YourBusinessName.com.
• I purchase my domain names from GoDaddy.com, because I appreciate their prices and their customer service.

Branding advice: Your website address is a Brand Element™

I consider the website address to be an important Brand Element, because it conveys critical information about your business. Your website address supports your brand by communicating:

• Who you are and what you do
  (e.g., CathyDoeSpeaker.com)
  ~ OR~
• What your clients get
  (e.g., SocialMediaBizTraining.com)

Follow the steps above to research and purchase a variety of domain names — right now — to protect your brand and your business!