You take the good, You take the bad, You take them both and there you have the facts of life... on the Web.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
www.IN.gov
Unlike the Department of Transportation, the state of Indiana is blessed with an abbreviation that is both easy to recognize AND verbalize. And strategic use of CAPS makes the most of the small space here. As Heidi Klum might say, this URL is in.
It's good, but a serifed "I" would make the URL just that much clearer. As it is (with its use of mixed-case), it would just as easily be "LN.gov." A person unfamiliar with USA's state name abbreviations could be confused by this.
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!
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.
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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!
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.
2 comments:
It's good, but a serifed "I" would make the URL just that much clearer. As it is (with its use of mixed-case), it would just as easily be "LN.gov." A person unfamiliar with USA's state name abbreviations could be confused by this.
At least briefly. ;)
Good point, Travis -- especially with "gov" in lower case. Not going to go thru the trouble of re-labeling it but point taken sir.
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