Location, location, locationYour web address is critical to your brand

What is a web address?

• It isn’t, actually, a location: • Not even in a virtual sense

• It is a pointer to a location: • More like a Windows shortcut or Mac alias

• It can point at nothing!• But it is of course only any good when

it points to a functioning web space:• Your web host’s web server

You cannot own a web address but you can lease one

Registriesinternic.org [.com, .net, .org and others]nominet.org.uk [.co.uk, .org.uk and others]

RegistrarsInternet Service Providers (ISP)Specialists like 123-reg.co.ukWeb hosting service providers

RegistrantsYou and me!

Top and second level domainsAn indicator of your business scope

Commercial entities yourbusiness.com yourbusiness.co.uk yourbusiness.uk.com yourbusiness.gb.com yourbusiness.ltd.ukyourbusiness.plc.ukyourbusiness.eu

Network infrastructure providers

yourbusiness.net yourbusiness.net.uk yourbusiness.uk.net yourbusiness.gb.net

Non-commercial entities

yourbusiness.org yourbusiness.org.uk

Educational entities yourbusiness.edu yourbusiness.sch.uk

Others yourbusiness.biz yourbusiness.info yourbusiness.mobi

yourbusiness.me.uk

What’s in a web address (URL)37 characters: countless permutations

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-0123456789

but they’re not all good!…

Home sweet home or not…Experts Exchange was a knowledge base where programmers could exchange advice and views at…www.expertsexchange.com

Looking for a pen? You could have looked no further than Pen Island at…www.penisland.net

Screenshots from www.archive.org

Home sweet home or not…

Australian horticulturists, David and Sarah Caldwell, hadn’t quite thought things through at…www.molestationnursery.com

PowerGen generated all sorts of interest in Italy at…www.powergenitalia.com

Screenshots from www.archive.org

Web domainstormingTry out word combinations and have other similar ones suggested, and then check for their availability (albeit with American top level domains) at…www.domainsbot.com

Check all the main UK domains (and the main global ones) at…www.123-reg.co.uk

I’m freeWHOIS says “I’m not!”

Check your competitionAnd your ‘neighbours’

Location, location, locationSome guidelines

• Keep your web address as short as you can• But not at the expense of clarity

• eg: TheSolentElectronicHome.co.uk or SolentElectronicHome.co.uk or tseh.co.uk

• Consider misspellings• Research your neighbourhood• Consider secondary addresses

• YourBusiness.co.uk and .com and ?• Make sure your registrar is flexible

This presentation available at www.slideshare.net/tag/impact-071031