Ever wonder why some companies go to great lengths to make sure their phone numbers spell out something catchy?

It’s to make sure that people remember the number if they hear it and don’t have a way to write it down.

Think about it. You’re a small business owner wanting to get a web site up and running. You’re driving down the road listening to the radio. A commercial comes on that advertises professional web design and marketing services. The person in the ad hits all the right buttons - fast turnaround time, reasonable rates and easily updated content.

You’re sold. Then comes the number. 1-800-555-2390.

What are the chances you’re going to be able to pull over and write it down or even remember it when you’re ready to order?

Now imagine that the number is 1-800-WEB-SITES.

Easy right?

The same is true when we’re talking about domain names. When you’re marketing your web site and don’t have a physical object to give people with the address on it, you’re depending on their memories.

The problem is that many domain names aren’t easy to remember AND you most likely already have a web site and simply can’t change the URL.

So what can you do?

Get a second domain name. Domain names are inexpensive now and can easily be gotten for as little as $10. You then use this web site to give visitors a good idea of what your business is all about. How it operates, what it offers and of course, a re-direct to your current site.

The trick with the second domain is to make the URL something that’s relevant to your business and easy to remember.

Taking our small business example you might want to try a domain like www.websitedesignforwomen.com, which directly targets a specific market. This way, whenever you market yourself, whether it’s on the radio or speaking directly to someone, you can give them a name that’s going to stick in their brains without them having to write it down.

And even if they forget the rest of your marketing message, they’re going to remember your URL, which will remind them of everything you told them before AND point them to where they can buy your products or service.

As we’ve discussed, dynamic sites are in, and static sites are way, way out. To review, a static website is one that is much like a catalog, while a dynamic site ideally lends itself to much more updating and interaction.

Then, there’s a site that is compatible with the Web 2.0 style of marketing.

Before you start getting upset about yet another way in which you’ll have to overhaul your website let me be the first to tell you that joining the Web 2.0 evolution is not nearly that complicated. First, let’s talk about what Web 2.0 actually is.

Wikipedia defines it as follows:

Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.

Don’t let this scare you though - it doesn’t mean your site has to have all the fixings of an office productivity suite in order for it to stay relevant. What it does mean, is that your site needs to catch up to the message that comes out of this movement. That message is that the Web isn’t just a place to passively look up things - it’s a place to participate, a place to BE.

Even if you have a site that is strictly corporate in nature, you can use many of the tools used in Web 2.0 Marketing in order to spread the message of your site deeply into niches that previously may have seemed hard to reach.

For example. you can start an RSS feed, a podcast, an internal or external blog, or use trackback and tagging in your online press releases. Doing so will help you reach a more web-savvy, affluent crowd of clients - important if you’re selling a product online, or to a crowd that does its research online, like people in the market for a home. Marketing your site with Web 2.0 methods doesn’t mean you need to change your site around.

It means you need to update your strategy.

What’s a static site? A static site is a web property that doesn’t change. It’s like a catalog or a billboard, it just sits there advertising the company. There was a time when it was appropriate to have a site that basically exiwted to proclaim your dominance over your competitor for being on the web… that time was oh… about 1997.

Today, what you want to have is a dynamic site. Not necessariy just a site that is a super-cool web app or a huge community site with forums and other communication tools, if they are outside the realm of your company. But even if your company doesn’t actually conduct its business online, your site should have the ability to tell someone how to reach people at your company, and offer some level of interactivity with your clients.

Maybe they can look up account information, or perhaps they will be able to see when their next appointment is. You could have video demos of your products, that clients can comment on. Or you could just have an area where you talk about industry news.

Even if it’s just a form to fill out in order to send an email, or customer service buttons that allow your staff to chat with interested parties wh are visitng the site, a little interactivity goes a long way. The more useful your site is, the more visitors will return. The more they return, the more they bond to your brand.

Nina

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