Here's a time when matching the tone and style of the brand is not the way to go. Now can someone help me? I can't seem to find all those different pipes on the keyboard and |||||.com isn't working for me??
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You take the good, You take the bad, You take them both and there you have the facts of life... on the Web.
Your URL, My Passion
I am a nerd. I'm that guy who pronounces URL like the Duke of. I clap when I see a good URL and I cringe when I see a bad URL. My mission here is to give businesses some guidance when choosing and promoting their URLs so they don't waste the money they've already spent on this here Internet fad. Enjoy!
Labels
- _Underscores
- -Dashes
- .Subdomains.
- /Slashes
- Acronyms/Abbreviations
- ALLCAPS
- alllowercase
- Alternate Domains (Non-Dot-coms)
- Alternating Fonts
- Bad URL Display
- Bad URL Selection
- Bad URLs
- Flyers/Direct Mail
- Good URLs
- http://
- Leading Caps
- Logos
- Looooong URLs
- Movie URLs
- NotURLs
- On Package/Menu
- One-of-a-Kind Bad URLs
- Online Ads
- Out-of-Home/Billboards
- Print Ads
- Real Estate URLs
- Retail Signage
- SkewURLs
- Spacing Issues
- SuperURLs
- TV Ads
- URLs on Vehicles
- www (aka Dubs)
ABOUT ME
My name is Aaron Goldman and I'm an URL-aholic. My day job is CMO at 4C, a global data science and media technology company. So, yes, I have a vested interest in Good and Bad URLs.
Blog Archive
Are you an URL-spotter?
Have you recently come across an URL so glorious that even your mom would remember it? Seen any URLs so hideous you wouldn't wish them on your worst competitor? Snap a pic and send it to me at GoodURLBadURL@gmail.com, upload it to the Good URL Bad URL Facebook Page, or tweet it to @GoodURLBadURL. Spot on!
Tweets from @GoodURLBadURL
URL Best Practices
Do's
1. Whenever possible, use YourBrandName.com.
2. If .com is not available, use YourBrandName.net.
3. If .com and .net are taken, find a new brand name. Seriously.
4. Use YourSlogan.com when running an integrated media campaign.
5. CapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord and/or UseDifferentColorsOrBoldToHelpEachWordStandOut
Don'ts
1. Don't use acronyms, abbreviations, or numbers unless your brand is widely known as such.
2. Don’t use YourProduct.com or YourCategory.com as a replacement for YourBrandName.com. They should be used only as supplements.
3. No-hyphens/or slashes.
4. Don't include www (aka dubs) when displaying your URL. We know to go to the World Wide Web to find you.
5. Don't include http://. If your audience isn't Web savvy enough to know where to type the URL, you shouldn't have a website.
6. don'tusealllowercase (canyoureallytellwhereonewordendsandthenextbegins?)
7. DITTOFORALLUPPERCASE
8. Don't
Stagger
Words
On
Separate
Lines
9. DontUseWordsThatllRequireApostrophes
10. Don't bury your URL at the bottom of an ad. I'm the only nerd running around with a 10x zoom lens to find URLs.
1. Whenever possible, use YourBrandName.com.
2. If .com is not available, use YourBrandName.net.
3. If .com and .net are taken, find a new brand name. Seriously.
4. Use YourSlogan.com when running an integrated media campaign.
5. CapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord and/or UseDifferentColorsOrBoldToHelpEachWordStandOut
Don'ts
1. Don't use acronyms, abbreviations, or numbers unless your brand is widely known as such.
2. Don’t use YourProduct.com or YourCategory.com as a replacement for YourBrandName.com. They should be used only as supplements.
3. No-hyphens/or slashes.
4. Don't include www (aka dubs) when displaying your URL. We know to go to the World Wide Web to find you.
5. Don't include http://. If your audience isn't Web savvy enough to know where to type the URL, you shouldn't have a website.
6. don'tusealllowercase (canyoureallytellwhereonewordendsandthenextbegins?)
7. DITTOFORALLUPPERCASE
8. Don't
Stagger
Words
On
Separate
Lines
9. DontUseWordsThatllRequireApostrophes
10. Don't bury your URL at the bottom of an ad. I'm the only nerd running around with a 10x zoom lens to find URLs.
Worst URLs Ever
Additional URL Resources
- A Comprehensive 25 Step Blueprint for Initial Domain Name Strategies to Strengthen Your Brand
- The Dr. Seuss Jumble: Naming Web Sites
- URL Design for Campaign Effectiveness
- A Marketer's Perspective on Choosing the Right Domain Name
- Be The Ruler of Your Domain
- Supercharge Your URLs For Maximum SEO Impact
- Domain Name International
- Domaining.com
- DomainTools.com
- Internet Goldrush
Other Good/Bads (and 2 Bad/Goods)
Blog Roll
- Aaron Goldman - Digital Sea Change
- Aaron Wall - SEO Book
- Andy Beal - Marketing Pilgrim
- Avinash Kaushik - Occam's Razor
- Bill Wise - A Wise Search & Online Marketing Insider Tells All
- Bob Garifeld - The Bobosphere
- Bryson Meunier - Natural Search and Mobile SEO Blog
- David Berkowitz - Inside The Marketer's Studio
- Gord Hotchkiss - Out of My Gord
- Greg Sterling - Screenwerk
- John Battelle - Searchblog
- Joseph Jaffe - Jaffe Juice
- Lee Odden - Online Marketing Blog
- Mark Simon - Search Insider
- Matt Cutts - Gadgets, Google, and SEO
- Peter Askew - Search Bound
- Rand Fishkin - SEOmoz
- Rob Garner - Search Insider
- Seth Godin - Seth Godin's Blog
- Steve Rubel - Micro Persuasion
- Steve Smith - Inside Domaining
- Todd Friesen - Oilman
- Vincent Flanders - Web Pages That Suck
- Yianni Garcia - Social Media Guy
Welcome Visitors
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Disclaimer
Please note: I'm a marketing guy, not a lawyer. I am not aware of any copyright laws I am violating by posting graphics and pictures of URLs that are in the public domain to GoodURLBadURL.blogspot.com. That said, if you own any of the URLs I've posted and feel that I am infringing on your trademark, please contact me and I will remove any offending material promptly.
6 comments:
I disagree. J. Jill is a well known clothing company, and you would not expect their URL to be anything other than jjill.com.
Even if it looks a little pipey, can you honestly tell me that if you saw an ad for J. Jill then later forgot that the URL was jjill.com.
Come on!
I recognized the website immediately, but it's only serving its audience that is already aware of them. It won't pull in new customers that haven't heard of them before.
Point taken, Nexus Rex. But, as Anon says, only those familar with JJill will recognize it. And I'd argue that even a good chunk of those folks (my Mom, who is a JJill shopper, included) would have to do a double-take when looking at this URL to decipher it. To me, in this crazy world of ADD and instant gratification, a double-take is one take too many. You need to make an immediate and lasting impact right off the bat.
I do agree that it's not exactly ideal, but would you really advise having a domain name other than their business name? I always hate when I see a company, for example: XYZ Inc., and their domain is DurableClothing.com. I get home and want to look for xyzinc.com, and I forget their actual domain.
Not at all. I love the URL JJill.com. Just hate the way it's presented here. The characters look like pipes so it's not easy to read and instantly recongizable.
I see! That was not clear in your original post. I do agree that they should have used CamelCase and a less pipe-like font.
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