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What's in a Name?
One of the decisions encountered by
agents and others who are contemplating a website is what to name it.
Unfortunately, a few well-circulated articles have clouded the issue
recently, so a few "decision rules" are in order. First, a
little background about what the "name" of a site really is.
Two different aspects of a site get
called the "name." One is actually its domain name, and
the other is its title. The domain name is the "dot
com," as in realestateabc.com,
most-wonderful-realestateagent-intheuniverse.com, discovery.com, or
janedoe.com. This is what you register and "own." Web users
type the domain name into their browser to visit your site the first
time. (After seeing your wonderful site the first time, of course, they’ll
bookmark it and not have to type it again.)
Domain Names vs. URLs
Is a "domain name" the same as
an "URL"? Not quite. The complete address of any web page on
the Internet is called its Universal Resource Locator, or URL. The
domain name of a site is the address or URL of its opening
("index" or "default") page. URLs of interior pages
or graphics have added information. Your site domain name and URL might
be www.tallestagent.com,
and the interior page about home financing might have the URL www.tallestagent.com/financing.htm.
The title is actually text that is
hiding in the unseen programming of a site. The title might also be
shown big and bold somewhere on the web page, but what search engines
pay most attention to is the one in the unseen header of the site,
sometimes referred to as a metatag. This title is also the part that is
auto-saved when someone bookmarks a site. (A list of bookmarks is
actually a list of titles that link to the addresses for
those sites or pages.)
So how do you decide what the address and
title should be?
Some Basic Rules
The significance of an address or domain
name is often highly over-rated. Don’t struggle too long over this.
Why? Because most search engines do not consider the address when they
rank a site. Those search engines that do consider it also take
many other factors into account. How do you decide on a domain name?
Here are three characteristics that your domain name should have, in
addition to its not already being owned by someone else:
- easy to remember
You want to be able to say, "Oh,
you’ll find a lot of information about that on my website. Just go
to janeandjohn.com and click on the blue house." When you next
record your outgoing voicemail message, you’ll want to add, "Be
sure to visit my web site at www.alltheanswers.com."
- easy to enter into a browser without
spelling errors
A web site address is similar to a
phone number. Type in the wrong letter or number and you’ll get the
wrong site or no site at all. If your name is Linda Brown, then most
web users will enter lindabrown.com or lindabrown.net without error.
If your name is, however, subject to memory or spelling errors, such
as Rhoda Vlasinkarakova, consider a short, simplified version or a
different approach altogether.
- short enough to fit on your business
cards, flyers, mailers, sign riders, etc.
Some of the most important ways that
people will find your site is via your own sales and marketing
materials. Be sure your URL is everywhere your phone number appears—and
in large enough type that baby boomers can read it without their
bifocals.
- relevant to you and your business
Vanity Names
A recent article admonished agents to
avoid "vanity names." Actually, using your own name as the
domain name of your website has many advantages, especially if you have
an established clientele that just might enter your name into their
browser with a dot-com after it to see what comes up.
If you’d like to use your name, but
someone else has already registered yourname.com and yourname.net, or if
it is a name that is not easily remembered or spelled, then search for
an available domain name that is related to your business. Since so many
agents have registered real-estate-related domain names, this may take a
little creativity on your part, but you’ll find one you like. Follow
rules 1, 2, and 3 when you do this.
Numberoneintergalacticcosmicagent.com might be tempting, but don’t do
it. (Actually, it’s too long anyhow.)
A Few More Rules
- Be cautious about using numbers in
your site name. Not everyone will remember if it’s "one"
or "1."
- You may use hyphens and underscores in
an address, as in www.mountain-homes.com or www.mountain_homes.com,
but this creates difficulties when you tell people your web address.
You’ll be saying, "Go to www dot mountain underscore homes
dot com," which could cause confusion.
- An address may not start or end with a
hyphen.
- A web site address is limited to 26
characters total.
Page Titles and
MetaTags
Every page on your web site can have its
own title. The title of the main page, as listed in the page’s
metatags, is probably the most important because that page is the one
most often registered with search engines and directories. Search
engines read these titles and use the information to determine the
ranking of your site.
Be sure the metatag with your site
or page title uses the key words that you expect your future clients to
use. What are the expected key words? The programs and services that
track the terms that web users enter into search engines give us some
clues:
- terms related to real estate, such as
real estate, agent, home buying information, or condos.
- terms related to their location of
interest—and your area of activity. Usually this is entered as
city and state, but larger regions are also used. If you work in
Hayward, California, for example, you might want to include the term
"bay area" in your title.
- terms related to specific aspects of
real estate, such as home loans, mortgage, finance, termite
inspections or homeowner insurance.
Note that titles may be longer, much
longer, than URLs—but try to keep them under 120 characters or so. San
Diego Ocean View Home Seller Information from Real Estate Agent Percy
Smith, for example, uses 79 characters and includes a good number of key
words for the search engines to pick up.
Conclusion
The short story: Make your domain name
as short and simple as possible. Use your knowledge about your business
and your clients to create a metatag title that uses effective
key words.
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Watch for forthcoming books by Barbara
Cox, Ph.D.: The
Prentice Hall Dictionary of Real Estate, with Jerry Cox, GRI, and
David Silver-Westrick, Prentice Hall January 2000; Internet Marketing
for Real Estate Professionals, with William Koelzer, Prentice Hall,
February 2000; and A Real Estate Primer, Prentice Hall, April
2000.
Need help planning your web site or
Internet marketing?
E-mail Barbara Cox at bgcox@home.com
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