The Super Bowl, an annual event that attracts millions of viewers, is known for its high-profile commercials. As a professional in the domain industry, I've noticed a significant shift in the advertising landscape from the previous year. While the teams playing may not be my primary interest, I am an ardent observer of the commercials. I was struck by the fact that about half of the ads from the previous year were from .com companies, a number that significantly dwindled this year.
The internet game is fundamentally about traffic. The equation is simple: more visitors equate to more revenue. Whether these visitors are purchasing your products or boosting your ad revenues, they are the key to your online success. There are numerous strategies to increase traffic to your site, but it seems that splurging over a million dollars on a 30-second commercial isn't a cost-effective method, as many companies discovered in the 2000 Super Bowl.
A cost-effective method that is often overlooked by many webmasters is the use of multiple domain names for their site. The basic rule is, the more avenues there are to find you, the more likely you will be found.
Your company name is an excellent starting point. Many contemporary web surfers, including myself, are "web guessers". If I'm searching for The Widget Company, Inc., I'll type in "widgetcompany.com" and more often than not, I'll land on their website. However, a savvy webmaster for The Widget Company would also have "thewidgetcompany.com", "widgetcompanyinc.com", and "thewidgetcompanyinc.com" all pointing to the same site. A real-life example is Coca-Cola, whose official website is coke.com, but they also own cocacola.com, coca-cola.com, coca-colacompany.com, and thecoca-colacompany.com, among others.
Another aspect to consider is variants of your company name. What if someone typed in "wiGDetcompany.com"? Misspellings of your domain are just as valuable as the correct one. After all, poor spellers need your services as much as the good ones do. If you're unsure, ask people unfamiliar with your company's name to write it out. You might be surprised at the creative variations they come up with. Reserve these "mistake" names - they'll count as hits too. A real-life example is Hewlett-Packard, whose official website hp.com can also be reached by hewlettpackard.com, hewlittpackard.com, hewlitpackard.com, and other assorted misspellings.
If you manufacture widgets, you should own "widgets.com". If you make red widgets, you should also own "redwidgets.com". If you make small widgets, you should get "smallwidgets.com" and so on. You spend your time marketing these product names, so it's reasonable to expect that someone would remember it and search for it online. A real-life example is Procter & Gamble, who owns around 200 domains, including pampers.com, pringles.com, tide.com, clearasil.com, folgers.com, and many more.
Owning these domains gives you a competitive edge. You can drive more traffic just with these simple strategies. I've seen webmasters spend a fortune on advertising, hiring search-engine submission specialists, and the like. However, with the cost of domains dropping more than 50% in the past year (less than $15.00 at the company I consult for), it's one of the more affordable strategies to attract more eyeballs to your site.
