Domain Name Strategies and Best Practices to Advertise and Grow Your Business.
Five years after global fanfare, and not many new domain extensions could be considered a profitable success, if successful at all.
There is no shortage of companies and persons shouting to the mountain top that all the good .com domains are taken. While there is a kernel of truth about a decent percentage of .com domains no longer available, this isn’t the complete truth or story.
Two weekends ago we were in route north to celebrate the life of my cousin whose life come to an end after a short, yet extraordinarily impactful life lived well.
Although he leaves behind a wife and 5 girls ranging in age from 10 to 20 years old, his legacy of attentively serving and encouraging others will live on for the foreseeable future.
But as my family and I traveled from Austin to Dallas, I spotted a few interesting domains being advertised on big rigs and billboards — especially new top-level domain extensions (new TLDs).
While meeting a friend for a long overdue lunch at good ole’ Rudy’s BBQ here in Austin, Texas, I stumbled upon an interesting advertisement.
As most of you know, emoji have nearly hit every corner of the earth as one of the hottest forms of communication, especially amongst Gen-Xers, millennials and younger.
In fact, emoji have not only found their way into email marketing for businesses, but are even making a splash as domains. Yes, emoji domains are real!
But as for this particular ad, it appears that “Talkin’ Texan Just Ain’t Gonna Be The Same” with the latest release of Texas Emoji Stickers app (released February 22, 2018).
I have a rather short 3-minute commute from my home to my office here in Northwest Austin, occasionally encountering a variety of domain names in my short travel time.
Most of the domains encountered are the same ole’ ones due to the number of small business or professional office strips along Pond Springs Rd.
Nevertheless, I was headed home this evening when I stopped to get gas at the corner of Hunters Chase and Pond Springs.
It’s heating up in Texas, and things are getting quite active around Volente Beach.
As I work the days away, I often see party buses to and fro with intense beach laughter and frolicking.
There’s a bit more loud music playing throughout the day than the norm, and the marina island is always packed with a party barge or two in full effect.
Truth be told, it’s quite a refreshing view to experience new ownership spicing things up around the sleepy village of Volente.
It’s Friday. It’s May. And the Texas heat is beginning to usher Spring out and Summer in.
We’ve had quite a few showers and thunderstorms over the past months that have filled our lakes beyond capacity here in Austin.
There’s only a few more weeks before schools out for summer, and our lakes are filled with boating, water skiing, jet skiing, laughter, swimming, and splashing.
In addition, there will be quite a bit of swimming pools, spas and hot tubs put into service this summer too.
Speaking pools, spas and hot tubs, I happened to catch a late night commercial in between the news and Jimmy Fallon that caught my eye.
Most companies looking to create and launch their digital presence use their company’s name as their domain name.
Although I know there are nearly 350 million domain names currently registered and counting,
I wish I had specific numbers on how many businesses currently operate a domain name that is an exact match of their business name.
I see a variety of partial match, exact match and brandable domains on a daily commuting between work and home.
For instance, I encountered a company, Business Communication Solutions, using the shortened domain bcs-ip.com, yet they don’t own BusinessCommunicationSolutions.com nor do they own bcsip.com.
But this question of how long is too long for a domain name really hit home this week as I was on my way home from DevOpsDaysAustin.com.
As I was waiting at a light, a vehicle caught my eye. The coupe was wrapped with advertising for an Austin-based cleaning company.
I know you’re already wondering what type of company I’m referencing today, right?
I can hear you as I type, “What is atrial fibrillation treatment?”
In short, atrial fibrillation is an irregular, often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow.
Untreated, atrial fibrillation leads to two major complications: stroke and heart failure. Not good by any stretch of the imagination.
Now that you know, there are quite a few companies that specialize in atrial fibrillation treatment.
Recently, I’ve seen a certain company’s commercials, as well as its competition, more than a few times.
In total transparency, I highly dislike some, if not all, of the commercials and medications because of the side effects seeming to cause more harm than help.
But that’s a personal opinion and I’m digressing as a fast rate.
Today’s domain find I’m sharing is about a neighbor’s lost four-pawed family member. This story hits too close to home for me.
A few years back, our two boxers got out for half a day on the town and ventured six streets over without my wife and I ever knowing until the latter part of the evening.
It wasn’t until my parents called to check on my wife who was pregnant at the time. It never fails, my parents call and eventually ask about the dogs and how they are doing. When they asked, I went to show them they were outside either playing or napping.
That wasn’t the case this day. The dogs were no where to be found in the backyard. This didn’t seem odd to me. We tend to bring the our dogs in for a late afternoon nap. It wasn’t until I came in and found their custom-made kennel empty that I begin to wonder and panic a bit.
I asked my wife had she let the dogs in. She stated they were outside in the backyard. And I did as Scooby would, “Ruh Roh”. Houston, we have a problem as the dogs were not in the house or the backyard.
So, I checked the gate closest to their dog house and it was locked. Then, I checked the other gate to find it had been left open.
Truth be told, it was an Austin City Inspector’s fault our dogs escaped. The city inspector was to inspect our sprinkler system. He inspect the sprinkler system, yet he left the gate open for the dogs great escape.
Well, let the search begin. My wife and I got in the truck and begin to drive around the neighborhood.