Whether you like it or not, your domain name is an important part of your branding efforts. Your domain name goes on your letterhead, business card, printed materials; it must be spoken verbally over the phone, presented in email communications, and appears in the search results when your site ranks well on important keyword searches. Because of all this, your URL must be able to fit into your long-term branding strategy.

Keep it Short & Memorable
The best domain name is one that is relatively short and memorable. Long domain names or domains with hyphens are often just too cumbersome for someone to remember or even pass along to others. Are you better off telling a potential customer to visit debbies-hair-care-supplies.com or debshaircare.com?

There are times when having a long URL is really the only way to go, but be sure before you go that route. Before I registered PolePositionMarketing.com I considered several other options such as ppm.com (already taken) or PPMarketing.com (too urinary), PoleMarketing.com (doesn’t really “say” anything). Ultimately I went with PolePositionMarketing.com because it assisted in the branding process while saying something about what we do to anybody who sees it.

Use it for Email
There are many free email services out there: hotmail, gmail, yahoo mail, etc. These are great for personal use, allowing you to have one email address forever. However, for business purposes I would strictly use your domain name for email correspondence. Receiving business documents, quotes, or other business communications from stoney@polepositionmarketing.com rather than stoney@hotmail.com is considerably more reassuring to most people looking to do business with you.

Using your domain name for email does the following:
Gives your communications a more “professional” feel

Helps build your brand

Increases the likelihood people will remember, and therefore return, to your website