- Welcome to The Journey!
Today, we're gonna talk about
why need a business domain name.
- All right, so digital marketing
is not just an option anymore, it's a necessity
for your business to thrive in today's world.
- But what's a domain?
- What is a domain, Emma?
- One of my favorite ways,
and my co-host, Nealey, you taught me this to remember,
one of my favorite ways to look at it is the domain
is like your address, your street address,
and your website, that's like your house.
- Yeah, it's where you live and it's where
your website lives; right?
So let's talk about why
your business needs that domain.
The domain name is essentially
the building block of your online presence.
We've talked about what a domain name is.
We're gonna go over just a few little points
of choosing the right domain name
and why it really matters to you.
- Let's dive in.
So when thinking about domains,
thinking about what is that actually going to be,
I know it comes up a lot
when speaking to local heroes,
is SEO, search engine optimization.
- Right.
- What words should you use because there are keywords,
depending on your industry and your business,
and there are relevant words that your customers
are going to be searching.
So you wanna make sure you're paying attention
to that and including that
when thinking about your domain name.
- Yeah, and on the flip side,
you also don't want it to limit your business; right?
Like, if you're a coffee shop
and you put coffeeshopchandler.com,
that Chandler is a city.
What if you wanted to expand?
And now, you're no longer in the Chandler area.
So when you're choosing your domain name,
figure out are you going to expand?
Do you want to or are you just
gonna be in that one little city?
It's up to you.
- And just as important when thinking about
the word choice that you're using with domain name,
also be sure to do a similar approach
when thinking about your email address.
I know, for me, when I see an email coming
from a business and it's @Gmail,
not as professional as if it's @
and then their business name.
- You need a domain name to be able to do that,
and that's why it's super important.
Your domain name is going to let you have
that professional email that's gonna let you communicate
back and forth to your clients.
And not only let you look more professional,
but it's going to add credibility.
It's like you said, if I was emailing someone
and I got a response back from a Gmail,
anybody can make a Gmail.
I don't know if this person is legitimate.
I don't know if they are who they say they are.
I'm scared, I'm going home, I'm not talking to them.
Shuttin' the door.
All that fun stuff.
- So you're likely not going to get his business--
- None of it.
- With the Gmail.
- I'll save my money for pizza.
- You know what I love about websites?
- What?
- They're open 24/7!
You gotta have one.
You gotta have one to be found by customers.
Without a website you don't exist.
- Right, and what I always like to say
is your website is your hardest working employee.
Think about it, it never sleeps, never takes a sick day,
it's always there, it's dependable.
You have that website and really show off your brand.
And when you don't have a website
and you don't have that domain name
it's really hard to earn someone's business.
I was in Iowa over the past couple days,
and literally almost--
- How was that?
- It was fun.
- I didn't even ask.
- Yeah, it, I had a blast.
- I've never been.
- Iowa, it's cool.
They have some cool bars there.
I checked 'em out.
- Cool.
- But I was trying to find a, just a steakhouse
to go with the friends I was with,
and most of the restaurants did not have a website.
They linked me to a Facebook page, some of them,
if, that was at best, or there was nothing at all.
- Yikes.
- It was super frustrating trying to find a steakhouse.
- You just wanted a steak.
Imagine me trying to find a tofu meal in Iowa.
- Oh.
- I'd starve.
- You'd be done; right?
And it was super frustrating for me.
And to think about your customers
that are looking for your type of business,
now if they find you on Google My Business
or Yelp or wherever else,
and there's nowhere else to link to to get more information,
they're going to be frustrated
and you're going to lose their business forever.
- Don't be at the mercy of just your customer reviews.
Get a website.
- Yeah, and there are plenty of places to get that website.
Now you technically don't need a domain name
to build a website.
You can have temporary domains like
GoDaddy's Website Builder.
You can have yourname.godaddysites.com.
Wix has yourname.wix.com.
But it goes back to that professionalism
and that credibility.
- Mm-hmm.
- If you don't have your own domain name.
They're pretty cheap, like, 20 bucks a year,
give or take; right?
- Yeah.
- Have that there and show your customers
that you mean business.
- So, Nealey, speaking of websites,
another thing that I want to talk about
with our audience, copyright.
Keeping it protected.
Whatever you put on your website,
correct me if I'm wrong,
whatever you put on your website, you own.
That's yours.
- Whatever you put on your website that you create is yours.
- Thanks for clearing that up.
What he said.
- Right, so the content you put up,
especially if, like, you're a designer or a photographer
or things like that.
- Or a musician.
- Yeah, the content that you create and put on your website
is protected by copyright laws, so that your information
is safe and it's yours.
So cool little tidbit,
you have to have a website and you have to have
a domain name to be able to do that.
Now I know social media is all the rage right now.
Everyone's on Instagram.
Everyone's on Twitter and Facebook,
and everyone just wants to be there.
But what I'd strongly urge everyone to really think about
is those platforms can come and go.
What happened to Vine?
- It came, it went.
- It went, and people built up large, large followings
and spent a ton of time on Vine and it's gone.
All those subscribers, all those everything, it's gone.
But you know what won't go away?
Can you guess?
- Well, I'm biased.
I think social media is here to stay,
but I know what he wants me to say.
Websites.
- Yes, so social media is always going to be here,
but the profiles and the websites, themselves,
may change or they may change in a direction that doesn't
really work with your business anymore.
- Mm-hmm.
- But your website will always be there.
You control all the content on it.
You control what goes on with it.
It's all yours.
- Another important thing that I want to bring up
that I often advise with your website
is the importance of including your customer reviews there.
Now sure, they already exist over on Yelp and Google,
but having them on your website, as well,
acts as social proof.
So I'd strongly encourage that.
And plus, think about it,
let's say I land on your website first
and I'm deciding if I want to use your business to go to
to get my car washed,
and I see all these great testimonials from your customers,
I might be just a one and done.
I hit your website.
I don't even need to go anywhere else.
I'm gonna go to your business.
You have won me over with your social proof on there.
- Absolutely, and with your website, too,
it really makes customers or potential customers
just have an easy way to contact you.
There's usually a contact form there
and a phone number or social handles or everything else
that they need to contact you.
Now when it comes to domain names,
let's give them a couple pro tips on how to really
select the right domain name; all right?
We talked about keywords, things like that.
- Mm-hmm.
- But there's some things that we should avoid.
First and foremost, you should avoid hyphens
in domain names; right?
You don't want this-is-a-really-long-dash-domain-.------
- Yeah.
- Dash.
- You'll make your customers dash.
- (laughing) Right, so avoid those dashes.
And I always like to talk to the local heroes
about the radio test.
- Mm-hmm.
- Do you remember the radio test
in one of the earlier videos?
- Yes, you did enlighten me with that.
It was short, I was sweet.
How long?
- Yeah, so if I gave you a ten-second radio ad.
- Ten seconds.
- And just to talk about your business,
and you had to end with a call to action
of your domain name, would that person remember
your domain name in that little ad spot?
Now if it's super long or complicated or they can't
remember how to spell it or whatever it might be--
- Mm-hmm.
- That's gonna be a bad domain name.
So try to keep it short, sweet, memorable,
and something that someone like us would remember.
- (laughing) What do you mean by that?
- We're millennials, we're everywhere.
- All right, that's a wrap.
Go ahead and comment below on what you learned
for the benefit of your domain name.
Also be sure to like this video and subscribe,
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- This is The Journey.
We'll see you next time.