19
Mar
Domain Names & Usability
March 19th, 2007 under Usability, SEM.
 

One of the things I like about usability is that it touches upon literally every aspect of a web business–it’s as much a
school of thought as it is a discipline. There are many little offshoots of that fact–tiny parts of your business which are partly
governed by usability (which you may often not even realize right away). And before your eyes glaze over, let me remind you that
usability always affects profits.

For instance–is your domain name usable? Things that could make a domain name unusable include:

  • Having a domain which is not easy to spell. If your site should ever get featured on radio or TV, you want viewers to be able to easily type it into a browser after hearing it. Otherwise you’re going to lose a percentage of them.
  • Having a non-dotcom domain. People have a tough time remembering non-dotcom TLD extensions, period. Again, you’re going to lose a percentage of potential visitors by having a
    non-dotcom.

Remember, these visitors you’re losing aren’t just visitors, they’re potential linkerati.
Anyway I just thought this was important to bring up since so many SEOs and marketers seem to be getting into domaining. Don’t forget about usability!

Bookmark This Post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Netscape
  • Technorati
 

2 Responses to “Domain Names & Usability”

  1. broc Says:

    I wonder if existential would be considered easy to spell to the average person

  2. Your Mom Goes to Dot Com Says:

    […] type in the domain name and hit Ctrl+Enter, which automatically takes me to the .com. I’m not alone in this. If you have a non .com, you’re sending a ton of your traffic to whoever owns the […]

Leave a Reply