16th Nov 2007
Choose your words carefully
The expert advice, if you are looking for a web domain name, is to find one with the specific keyword or phrase your target audience is likely to use in search engines. Plus, to increase your chances with search engine positioning, it’s best (so I’m told) not to separate the words with hyphens or underscores.
As a copywriter I’d add another consideration to that… be careful about the words you choose from your readers’ point of view. Let me explain:
I’m an avid fan of the TV programme QI and I watched the ‘Children In Need’ edition last week on BBC4. Stephen Fry asked the celebrity panel to describe what was being sold on four example websites which were:
- www.therapistfinder.com
- www.whorepresents.com
- www.penisland.com
- www.presentsexchange.com
You can imagine the ribald comments that came out of these names. I’ve capitalised the words to show the true intention of the domain names:
- www.TherapistFinder.com
- www.WhoRepresents.com
- www.PenIsland.com
- www.PresentsExchange.com
Words chosen perfectly innocently can take on a different meaning when they are run together as web domain names. So - before you settle on a web domain name - make sure it’s not going to cause any embarrassment for you.
~ Carol Bentley
Leave a Reply