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Strategic Domain Name Selection for Increasing Traffic and Conversion Rates

Strategic Domain Name Selection for Increasing Traffic and Conversion Rates. Jeremiah Johnston COO & General Counsel Sedo.com, LLC. Should your domain strategy include domains besides your primary brand?. First, a few background premises: Domain names are not just a brand name

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Strategic Domain Name Selection for Increasing Traffic and Conversion Rates

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  1. Strategic Domain Name Selection for Increasing Traffic and Conversion Rates • Jeremiah Johnston • COO & General Counsel • Sedo.com, LLC

  2. Should your domain strategy include domains besides your primary brand? First, a few background premises: • Domain names are not just a brand name • Descriptive “Direct Navigation” domain names receive targeted traffic (keyword search = keyword domain) • Descriptive domain names benefit from brand recognition effects w/o being a brand

  3. Effective Branding v. Protecting Trademarks • Marketers want names that immediately convey what the product is or does • For this reason, marketers prefer names that are descriptive, laudatory, or suggestive of the product or service with which it is associated. • However, the level of trademark protection for a descriptive, laudatory or suggestive name is lower than a name that is fanciful or arbitrary.

  4. Trademark Spectrum Fanciful Descriptive Suggestive Arbitrary Generic Sony Bikes, LLC BabySoft Lotion No Protection Less Protection Most Protection

  5. Do people really search via domain names? • WebSideStory Research: • “Over 64% of users arrived at sites by direct navigation, compared to 35% via search engines and links.” • Some users don’t distinguish between search bar and browser navigation bar: • Ex: Top Searches on Yahoo.com: 4 times as much as “Paris Hilton”! • Some browsers auto-complete (add “www” and “.com”)

  6. Case Study: WiFi.com Purchased through Sedo for $225,000 • Keyword domain name, not a brand name! • Describes exactly an entire category; no superfluous additions • One-word, short, and .com extension • Built-in direct navigation traffic Can a purchase like that really have a positive ROI?

  7. Case Study: WiFi.com • Wifi.com – averages 15k visitors each month • Traffic through pay-per-click program costs nearly $10,000 per month.* • $10k x 12= $120,000 annually • Purchasing the domain: approximately $225k Utilizing Direct Navigation to Capture Consumer-Driven Web Traffic * Based on the current bid price of $0.66 for the term “wifi” on the Yahoo network.

  8. Instant Recognition: The Power of Keyword Brands Which would you trust for health advice? www.HeartDisease.com or www.Merck.com Where would you shop for a niche product like ballet shoes? www.BalletShoes.com or www.Zappos.com Which link would you click, searching for “Home Business”? www.HomeBusiness.com or www.BT.com/business User: “Yes, that’s what I’m looking for!”

  9. Case Study 2: Poker Domain Portfolio Portfolio of 23 poker domains, eg, “Poker-Odds.de” • Acquired all possible point-of-entry keywords related to poker • Just redirect the traffic, or make an SEO-optimized gateway page • This portfolio is forwarded to an affiliate program: • Over 6,000 active players have signed up through the domains • Generates over $15,000/ month in affiliate commissions How much would you pay for traffic like that via PPC?

  10. BONUS #1 Better Organic Search Engine Placement Results for „Kreuzfahrten“ on Google.de  kreuzfahrten.de is #1 Results for „Cruises“ on Google.co.uk  Cruises.co.uk is #1

  11. Better Organic Search Engine Placement • Most people still link with your domain name: • “I buy domains at Sedo.com” • “I found a WiFi provider at Wifi.com” • Therefore, if your domain contains your keywords, you automatically generate many incoming keyword links • Google interprets that as your site being a popular source for info on keyword It’s not a guarantee, but there is solid evidence it helps!

  12. BONUS # 2 Use of Campaign-Specific Domain Names Bayer - WonderDrug.com Barnes and Noble - Books.com BellSouth FastAccess.com Boeing - NewAirplane.com    Burger King - HaveItYourWay.com Burger King - StackersUnion.com Burger King - SubservientChicken.com Busch Gardens HeroSalute.com   California Milk Advisory Board - RealCaliforniaCheese.com Calvin Klein - Bras.com Calvin Klein - Underwear.com Campbell's Soup - MySoup.com Carnation Instant Breakfast - MyMorningFuel.com   Church & Dwight - Arrid deodorant - WetnessProtectionProgram.com Chevron - WillYouJoinUs.com   Citibank - StudentLoan.com ABC - OnlyTheyKnow.com Ad Council - TheTVBoss.org Ad Council - DontAlmostGive.org American Egg Board - NaturesMiracleFood.com American Heart Association - BeatYourRisk.com American Express - 800TheCard.com American Express - Apply4BlueSky.com American Express - MyLifeMyCard.com   American Express - StopPong.com American Lung Association - AsthmaControl.com   Anheuser-Busch - BeeResponsible.com Anheuser-Busch - Bud.TV Anheuser-Busch DesignatedDriver.com AOL - TotalTalk.com   AstraZeneca - GettingItRight.com Atari - TestDriveUnlimited.com Aubuchon Hardware - HardwareStore.com Audi - NeverFollow.com Banana Republic - FindTheArtInTheEveryday.com Bank Of America - Loans.com   Bayer - NoFleas.com

  13. BONUS # 2 Why Use Campaign-Specific Domain Names? • Better conversion rate: specific domains can be an exact match to the niche that the user’s looking for • Easier tracking: how many people visited the domain from that campaign? • Brand association: Bank of America is “Loans” • Brand disassociation: RestlessLegs.com is an independent information source, not a pharma company sales pitch.

  14. BONUS # 2 How much is your campaign worth to you? If it’s worth more than $10, don’t do this!

  15. How to Incorporate Keyword Domains into your SEM Strategy Identify your top keywords in each market Develop a list of target domains by pairing keyword + TLD Immediately register anything that’s still available! Browse domain marketplaces like Sedo.com for domains containing your keywords Use a Domain Broker (info at www.Sedo.com/broker) to help acquire domains not listed for sale

  16. Thank You! Questions? • Jeremiah Johnston :: jeremiah@sedo.com • http://www.sedo.com

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