Thu 29 Nov 2007
How Good Is Your URL?
Posted by Rob under Blog, Hosting & Domain Names, Promote Your Site
Aaron Goldman has found a topic for a blog that will never run out of material - he discusses URLs and whether they are good or bad. An example of bad is the funny SpeedOfArts.com, which could also spell “speedo farts”.
His rules on what makes a good or bad URL are worth paying attention to:
Dos
1. CapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord.
2. Whenever possible, use YourBrandName.com.
3. If .com is not available, use YourBrandName.net.
4. If .com and .net are taken, find a new brand name. Seriously.
5. Use YourSlogan.com when running an integrated media campaign.
6. Use subdomains when driving people deeper than your homepage — e.g. Product.YourBrandName.com.
Don’ts
1. Don’t include www. We know to go to the World Wide Web to find you.
2. Don’t include http://. If your audience isn’t Web-savvy enough to know where to type the URL, you shouldn’t have a Web site.
3. don’tusealllowercase (canyoureallytellwhereonewordendsandthenextbegins?)
4. DITTOFORALLUPPERCASE
5. No-hyphens/or slashes.
6. Don’t use acronyms, abbreviations, or numbers unless your brand is widely known as such.
7. Don’t bury your URL at the bottom of a billboard. I’m the only nerd driving around with a 4x zoom lens to find URLs.
