Pros of Short Domain Names
Life is a good teacher. Up to now, it has never occurred to me a short domain name could be an advantage. I have always assumed, because I do it that way, people could bookmark a site when they like it regardless of the length of its name.
Though I do not use it, social networking sites like Twitter changed my mind. I suddenly realized how difficult it must be to write a tweet about an article on this site without the aid of URL shortener services. Just writing the part "experimentsincyberspace/2009/04/" with the protocol prefix consumes 52 characters. I am not saying you will not be found. I am talking about the extra step, often tedious, of the necessity of shortening the URL. A very good idea could be having a short URL handy beneath or above your articles so that people can easily use it. Rather than having your visitors do it, you can take the extra step and place a short link yourself.
In addition, keeping your URL intact can be a marketing and branding advantage. Now that a myriad of domain names will be available with ICANN's new proposal for top level domains, it can be beneficial to keep that in mind. If you are planning to buy a domain name in the near future, think about it.
Short URL for this post
Though I do not use it, social networking sites like Twitter changed my mind. I suddenly realized how difficult it must be to write a tweet about an article on this site without the aid of URL shortener services. Just writing the part "experimentsincyberspace/2009/04/" with the protocol prefix consumes 52 characters. I am not saying you will not be found. I am talking about the extra step, often tedious, of the necessity of shortening the URL. A very good idea could be having a short URL handy beneath or above your articles so that people can easily use it. Rather than having your visitors do it, you can take the extra step and place a short link yourself.
In addition, keeping your URL intact can be a marketing and branding advantage. Now that a myriad of domain names will be available with ICANN's new proposal for top level domains, it can be beneficial to keep that in mind. If you are planning to buy a domain name in the near future, think about it.
Short URL for this post
Thank you that was a very informative post. I have never thought about the size of my URL and need to check out how to shorten it myself for twitter. I am glad you listed the links to check this out.
ReplyDeleteAlso thank you for visiting my EC marketplace I appreciate that.
Most popular shortening service is tinyurl.com, check it out.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in the context of almost limitless top level domains, domain name is really something to think ahead. One example that comes my mind - if we consider your name, how about "me.roger" or "blog.roger?"
I think that while shortening domain names is important (nobody wants to type out http://www.thisismyreallycoolblogbylinkmandx.com), more important is that your domain name is rememberable. Delicious's original domain name (del.icio.us) had trouble with this because the placement of the periods was vague. You'll get more returning customers if your domain name is easy to remember.
ReplyDeleteAnd ICANN's proposal will just deliver that. How about "link.man" as your domain name? It is short, easy to remember and fits like a glove.
ReplyDeleteAnd, delicious. Have always thought "del.icio.us" as a cool name but I remember myself frowning when I was trying to type it. They did themselves a favor by changing it.
Thank you that was a very informative post. I have never thought about the size of my URL and need to check out how to shorten it myself for twitter. I am glad you listed the links to check this out. and also thanks dude the information proved me good . i today thought to write comments as i use to read your blog and the information on your blog is fabulous i will give 5/5 the first blog i have seen with quickest updates and articles the Experiments in Cyberspace is a very good blog . i Would like if others would come front who leave in the dark light as they just come read and go but as i am reading this blog it help very much and i encourage it . i would like if others will come forward and appreciate the author for this and all other good posts
ReplyDeleteHaving a short but easy to remember domain name is key. People may book mark it, but they also hopefully will tell thier friends which is way easier when it is spelled easily and easy to remember.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see how the new ICANN domain names affects the domain market.
I have also found a good domain name for you: "i.survive". Come to think of it, it really is good and fits your theme.
ReplyDeleteI believe the proposed scheme will have a positive impact on the domain market as it will induce more people to get domains of their choice.
Short urls are necessary for twitterers, but they don't help a bit for branding purposes or seo. Do you think Twitter should expand to 180 characters so that links don't need shortened?
ReplyDeleteFollow iAloha on Twitter
Though the URL length is irrelevant for SEO (even cryptic sites will rank if they are pertinent to user's query), I think it is helpful for branding. Let us assume you buy a new domain for yourself, e.g. "go.oahu" or "go.hawaii".
ReplyDelete1- Both I think can be considered good brands; easy to remember and type.
2- You do not have to shorten them now, even for Twitter plus your brand name is visible to Twitter users.
Expanding Twitter's message size, I believe is a technical issue. I do not know the story behind the current limitation of 140 characters but it is probably related to mobile phone SMS pricing and constraints (a wild guess). However, even in the case of 180 char/message, short URLs will have an advantage.
For what it's worth, I have never used Twitter. As long as I have a PC, e-mail, mailing lists and Usenet will be my preferred way of communication. I do not belong to the Twitter generation. Oh, this is not to despise Twitter or its users. I simply don't get it, that's all.
I think that it's always the owner's desire to have a domain name that is short (one or two words max) so that it can easily be remembered and typed just in case someone wants to visit the page directly. But with today's great influx of bloggers and website owners, not to mention other people who horde domain names to monetize it, purchasing a short domain name would be VERY difficult. My blog's name is composed of three words so I wouldn't be surprised if people prefer bookmarking it rather than remembering the whole name and typing it manually.
ReplyDeleteOne purpose of this post and the one about top level domains is to warn users, a great opportunity will be available provided, of course, they can come forward and claim their domains. For example "wealth.now" seems very suitable for your subject.
ReplyDeleteAs for twitter, yes the shorty the better. I have a real short twitter ID (ebkie) it use to be long but I changed it for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteFor a URL to a site such as a blog. I'm not to sure if the same thing applies. Yes short is nice, but a catchy phrase could be just as productive.
First of all, excellent post! Joining Twitter is using good judgment in today's social networking world. The five top social networking sites are Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Squidoo. If all you can do is Twitter and Facebook, however, you'll be fine. Time is short for most of us, so it pays to focus only on those social networking sites that bring in the most bang.
ReplyDeleteI use tinyurl.com to shorten my links on Twitter. However, I rarely have to do that. Twitter forces you to write tight. Writing tight is an excellent skill to learn not only for Twitter, but for all other writing endeavors.
To tell you the truth, among the social networking sites mentioned, my favorite is Myspace. Always interesting people, writers, artists, musicians, etc. Twitter can be a very good complimentary service in this regard; short updates, coming events, project info, other trivia, so and so forth.
ReplyDeleteshort domain names are also easy to remember
ReplyDelete