After a lengthy domain search, your domain registration is finally complete, and your website is set up and optimized for leads. But registering your domain name and building a website are only the first steps in marketing your business. To build awareness of your new business and let the world know it exists, you need to promote your domain name as much as you do your business name.
Maybe you got lucky and your business domain name is the same as your business name — like Facebook.com or Amazon.com. But depending on what domain options were available to you during the domain registration process, there’s a good chance that your business domain name will be different than your actual business name. (With over 146 million .com and .net domain registrations alone during the last quarter of 2017, it’s not easy to get your first choice.) Either way, there are several steps you can take to make the most of your business domain name.
Make the most of your domain registration in your traditional marketing
1. Include your domain name in all your print marketing materials. Your business domain name should be displayed prominently close to your actual business name in your marketing pieces, such as brochures, business cards and sales sheets. These days, your URL is more important than your business’s physical address, so make sure customers know exactly where to find you online. This is especially important if there are other businesses with similar domain names, perhaps differing only by a .biz extension or a slightly different spelling. If your domain name is KidStop.net, you don’t want your prospective customers going to KidStop.biz by accident.
2. Include your domain name in spoken/audio marketing. Your company’s recorded phone message, voicemail greetings, radio advertising, and any type of verbal marketing or advertising should say your domain name out loud. If there’s any chance that the domain name could be misunderstood or misspelled, take the time to spell it out at least once during the message.
3. Display your domain name on cable TV or theater ads. Are you running a commercial before the movie starts at your local cineplex, or purchasing some cable TV spots in your local market? Be sure that your domain name is prominently displayed throughout the commercial. Since 88 percent of millennials regularly use mobile devices while watching television, there’s a good chance your prospects will take the time to visit your website on their smartphone, tablet or laptop.
4. Display your domain name on promotional products. Does your business purchase giveaways like baseball caps, T-shirts, notepads or tote bags? Don’t forget to include your domain name on these items as well.
Make the most of your domain registration in your online marketing
5. Brand your social media accounts with your domain name. Social media sites will assign your business account a domain name that includes their domain name (as in twitter.com/mybusiness). Put the focus on your brand by using domain forwarding to change what the visitor sees to your domain name. (Visit the social media site’s Help section to learn how.)
6. Set up a professional email address. That way, every email you send is working to promote your business domain name. What’s more, your new business will look more credible when your emails come from a professional email address instead of a generic, free email address.
7. Include your domain name in your email signature. Be sure your domain name is part of your email signature and have your employees do the same. Make it a clickable hyperlink for good measure.
Author information
Rieva Lesonsky
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship.
