Your business has to have a GOOD website. Not having a web site is poor customer service and a bad example of your commitment to your company.

Choosing a good domain name for your website is almost as important. Here are some tips to help your company find the best domain possible and help your clients remember your site name.

widget .com or widget.net is confusing for clients who can not remember your site name. Most people  type in www.yourbizname.com.  Also, if your competitor has the .com name, you are sending your clients their way.

If  www.yourbizname.com is not available, try this trick  www.yourbiz – name.com. (Having a dash in between your name is a great way to boost your search engine listings, BUT make sure to secure another domain name with no dashes. Point the dash domain to the real domain www.myrealdomainname.com)

Always try to include one of your most popular keywords in your domain name. This helps with your search engine marketing.  If your company is selling software a good domain name would be: www.oursoftware.com.

Another tip is to target your city and/or state as well: www.ontario-ourwidgets.com.

If you must have a .ws, .biz or .whatever, please register a .com and point to the site.

Stay away from numbers.  Clients will try to remember: “Was it www.number1widget.com or www.numberonewidget.com”.

If you are having a creative road block, try this. Get a sheet of paper and write within one minute a list of keywords related to the services/products you provide OR words your clients will use to search for your service/product. Don’t think about it, just let it flow. Once finished, compile the results, then have someone rate the best to the worst.

After choosing the best domain names, consult your web designer to help select the best ones that represent your business.

• Your Website Should be Custom, Unique and Original, Something that Stands out from your Competitors.
• Don’t be Too Wordy with too much Text and Content. Get to the Point.
• Customers should Immediately Find what they are looking for. Use Bullets or Outlines to Make your Points.  They are Easier to Read and Follow.
• Your site should have a lot of “Call to Actions” (reasons for customer to Buy, Call or give you their Name and Phone Number).
• Once your Website is live, consider how you will Drive Customers to it. (Search Engines, Articles, Advertising, yellow page listing, etc.)