Small businesses need memorable URLs

It’s not exactly rocket science, but we’ve seen research quoted in multiple places this week revealing that small businesses can suffer from poorly-chosen web addresses or URLs. That’s something which the man in the street could probably have told you himself, but it does beg the question, what makes a good URL?

Well, something snappy, memorable, and easy to fit onto a business card or flyer. Hard-to-remember domain names include those where the business has chosen one of a variety of similar options: who can remember if your friendly local is at duke-of-york.com or dukeofyork.com? Then there are those businesses which choose a totally different URL to their trading name: ocado.com springs to mind. In some ways, it’s a double miracle that they have done so well since their chosen name doesn’t actually mean anything!

It’s not easy choosing the right domain name, but it’s a decision you should spend as much time over as you did choose your business’ name in the first place. If you can afford it, buy the .com and the .co.uk versions, and maybe even the .biz and – if applicable – .org. Better than you should have them than your competitors – plus, if you have them all, it won’t matter if your customers type in the wrong one. Just make sure they all redirect to the correct address.