Aftershock Web Design Blog

When I first started making web sites it was for my own business at the time; SWO, Inc. was my baby and we manufactured bicycle child trailers (many of our innovations are still copied by others today.)

With the SWO web site, we quickly learned that selling on the Internet is very different than selling to directly to a wholesaler or bike shop. We learned easy site navigation and management of a web site was critical to the success of the site. Simple things, like a F.A.Q. page can be indispensable and a huge productivity enhancement.

One of Our Most Important Discoveries

We learned selecting a good domain name is very important, and in fact that was one of our mistakes with the SWO site, but fortunately it was a mistake of inconvenience and not of functionality as the Internet was still very young and forgiving. We tried to obtain the domain swo.com, but it was taken in the early 1990's. The mistake we learned was never to use numbers or words that could be confusing in a domain name. Our domain name matched our toll-free number 2go4swo.com which seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was a nightmare telling a customer on the phone our website address and they would try: togoforswo.com, toogoforswo.com or twogofourswo.com, well you get the idea; don't use numbers.

Here is a list of do's and don'ts:

• EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Always use your most import keywords/phrases in your domain name.
• Short simple names are best, though they can be hard to find.
• Try to avoid including confusing words such as: to, too, two, and 2 or for, four, 4. The problem with these types of names is when you try to verbally tell someone your domain name
• Try to avoid hyphenated domains names (They are legal, but again can be confusing. However a hyphenated domain name can actually according to some be a good thing for search engines.)
• Try to avoid using the letter "O" or the number zero "0" when it is not part of a word so not to be confusing.
• Try to avoid using the letter "l" or number "1" when it is not part of a word so not to be confusing.
• Try to have your domain name start with the letter "a" if you can or as close to the beginning of the alphabet as you can. The reason is because many online directories (not search engines) are sorted alphabetically, so in the case with the Aftershock Web Design name and domain aftershockweb.com automatically moves us to the top of the lists sorted alphabetically. Notice in the free directory at Provo.biz we are listed at the top, see: http://www.provo.biz/category/provo/Computers-and-Technology/Web-Site-Services.html
• Always try and find a ".com" domain name because they are more easily remembered, unless your business is country specific then choose a domain name(s) with specific country extensions.
• Name your company [domain name].com
• Purchase misspelled versions of your domain name and have your webmaster make sure they redirect all users to your correctly spelled domain name.
• Register domain names with 3-5 years prepaid. Google and other search engines take a closer look at web sites whose domain name is registered for more than a year at a time.

While this list is not a guarantee it will push your domain to the top of every list, this is a good foundational start to building a successful web site.

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