There are two very good reasons why you should own more than your company’s primary domain name 1) To protect your brand and 2) To promote it.
The best offense is a good defense: You wouldn’t want one of your competitors to own a domain name that is very close to yours, which could cause confusion (intentionally or unintentionally) with your current or potential customers. Claim your domain and others that are close to it, but only in the .com versions. Forget about .net, .biz and the other extensions.
Creative domain marketing will also help you Be Visible so you can Get Found online. When you own (and use) domain names that include key words that are important and/or relevant to your target audience and your company, you are going to come up in search results more often. Owning a variety of strong, brand-related domains that point to key parts of your website will build brand value and visibility. You will rank higher in searches, legitimately, and you will be found more often. Focus on the most meanging key words — they could be products, services, types of audiences, etc. — and you will get the most meangingful results.
How to get started:
Look for domains that use key words which describe your core product or service offering, or your target audience. Think the way that someone would think if they were starting an online search to find a company tha has an offering like yours. Owning and using domains that capitalize on key words and terms will make you more visible in searches and to potential customers.
Owning the domain is not enough. Point it to a relevant page on your website, or create a landing page (think of it as a one-page website) that becomes a gateway to your greater website. Reinforce key words and phrases on your landing page so that people who find it, know that they are in the right place. If you don’t point a domain name to an active page, it will not help you in any way.
Domain names are cheap to own. Take your list to your preferred online domain reseller and see what’s available. You will likely be surprised at HOW MANY great domains your competitors have left on the table for you to claim. If you need some help coming up with a list of brand-building possibilities, let us know. …. Lori Martinek, Branding Expert & Author, https://edcgrow.com