A URL is sometimes compared to a phone number in modern business, but in reality, a URL is much more important than a phone number for a business. A short, easy-to-remember URL can be an excellent tool for marketing for a business; however, a poorly-thought-out or too-long URL can be devastating for the Internet presence of a business. Although most businesspeople recognize the importance of the Internet and the importance of maintaining a good Internet presence in the business world today, some are still struggling with implementing good business practices in the virtual world. Choosing a good URL for a business’s website is nearly as important as choosing the proper business or brand name: it is something that people will continue to associate with the business for long periods of time (Anything Digital, 2005).
One important thing to remember when choosing a URL for a business is that URLs are not necessarily case-sensitive, so words that are strung together can become problematic. For example, www.childrenslaughter.com, originally a website for a children’s charity called Children’s Laughter, was famously the subject of public ridicule for looking too much like “Children Slaughter” (Kent, 2008). Often, URL faux pas occur when words look fine separately but become problematic without a space or hyphen. In the case of www.childrenslaughter.com, the problem could easily have been avoided by hyphenating the URL: www.childrens-laughter.com is nearly as easy to remember, with much less likelihood of being misunderstood.
An example of a good URL is one that is easy to remember and catchy. Amazon.com is an excellent URL, because for marketing purposes, the name is both easy to remember and catchy. The fact that the URL almost rhymes makes it easy to say when speaking aloud, as well; this is important for organic word-of-mouth advertising. Another company that became famous as a result of their URL is Google; today, “Googling” something has become synonymous with “searching on the Internet for” that thing. Without the catchy, unique. and slightly quirky URL, Google could not have grown into the Internet sensation that it is today.
References
Anything Digital (2005). Do search engine friendly URLs really matter?. [online] Retrieved from: http://anything-digital.com/sh404sef/news/do-search-engine-friendly-urls-really-matter.html [Accessed: 14 Jul 2013].
Kent, P. (2008). Search engine optimization for dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Tech Terms (2011). Friendly URL Definition. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.techterms.com/definition/friendly_url [Accessed: 14 Jul 2013].
