(ED. One thing I have learned over the many years I have been in this industry, just like the old E. F Hutton ad … when Bill Sweetman talks … I listen. Simply, he has never steered me wrong.)
Startups without the optimal domain name face an uphill marketing battle. Choosing a hard-to-spell name that fails the “Radio Test” is the number one problem, followed by not having the exact match
Seventy-nine percent of the startups participating in the Collision startup conference in Las Vegas on May 5-6, 2015 may not be using the optimal domain name to market their business, according to domain name consulting firm Name Ninja.
More than two-thirds (68%) of the startup domains failed the Radio Test, meaning the names are not spelled the way they sound. Other startup domain problems include not having the exact match .com domain or having a .com domain that appends other words to the startup name.
“If your startup is named Fashion Ferret then the optimal domain name is the exact match .com domain FashionFerret.com,” explains domain name expert and Name Ninja President Bill Sweetman, adding “Using anything else is risky because it’s likely to confuse your customers and drive up your marketing costs.”
Fostering dialog about the domain name challenges facing startups, domain name consulting firm Name Ninja (www.nameninja.com) analyzed the domain names of 491 startups attending the upcoming Collision startup conference (www.collisionconf.com).
Name Ninja found that 386 or 79% of the startup domain names were counterintuitive and likely pose marketing challenges. Only 21% of startup domain names were the most intuitive domain name.
Name Ninja has published an infographic that summarizes the results of its analysis:
(See below)
Bill Sweetman, who has helped hundreds of startup founders get their dream domain name, sympathizes with the challenges entrepreneurs face when it comes to acquiring the optimal domain name: “I get it. Most startups don’t have much cash to spend on their domain name. But let’s not forget that your domain name is a key marketing asset. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a memorable domain name. There are lots of free tools and service providers that can help you no matter what your domain name budget is.”
Thankfully for those 386 startups attending Collision with the “risky” domain names, help is on its way. Name Ninja's Bill Sweetman is attending the conference and will be available to any startup founder that wishes to discuss their domain name challenge. Startup founders that wish to book a complimentary in-person meeting with domain name expert Bill Sweetman can do so by emailing collision[at]nameninja.com.