Thoughts on Marketing…

Every little bit helps when it comes to search engine optimization, so think it through before you choose the name for your next website.

First do some research and find the keywords that people will use when they search for the product or service you offer. Nobody told me that when I first started out, so my website: www.marte-cliff.com doesn’t tell anybody anything except my name. It also doesn’t add a thing to my website optimization.

I should have tried to find something with copywriter or freelance writer in it. My other copywriting site does a little better job, but only a little: www.copybymarte. At least the word “copy” is there, so someone reading it will have a clue. But… it does nothing for the search engines.

Why? because it’s all run together. I should have said “copywriting-by-marte” so the search engines could see the separate words.

Separating your words will also help you avoid some unintended and sometimes hilarious outcomes.

For instance, there’s a site called Speed of Art. But their URL is speedofart.com. Uh – guess that one gets a lot of giggles, but does it attract people interested in art?

Here’s another one: Experts Exchange – but it came out www.expertsexchange.com. One little “-” would have made all the difference…

Even these – if they had been written correctly – would not give visitors a clue about what they might find on the website.  Who knows what they mean by the speed of art? What kind of experts are exchanging what?

So think long and hard before you settle on a domain name. I know, the best ones are taken, but you can manage to personalize.

If your business name includes what you do, who you are, and/or where you are  – isn’t it the obvious choice? Something like Rosebud-livestock-feed.com pretty much says it all, and it isn’t likely that someone else has taken the name.

Try to avoid anything that’s difficult to spell – and do keep it as short as you can without sacrificing the meaning. Remember that some people will have seen your web address and tried to just hold it in memory – so make it easy for them to find you.

Don’t use a bunch of initials – unless your brand is as well recognized as GM or AT&T. People will remember those initials backwards and upside down as often as they remember them correctly.

Something else to avoid: using a number or letter in place of a word. People try to remember, but they won’t. So avoid the “cute” practice of changing “for you” to “4 U” or “4 you.”

Save that for Twitter, where you have to cut your message down to 140 characters.

Speaking of Twitter – if you’re there, please follow me. You’ll find me at http://twitter.com/idahowriter

OK – enough nagging for one day…

Wishing you great prosperity,

Marte