Choosing the Right Domain Name:

a Marketing Perspective

all you need to know about domain names

(and some you don't need to know, but is interesting anyway)

CHAPTER 3.07
CHOOSING THE RIGHT DOMAIN NAME FOR A PRODUCT

This is, perhaps, the easiest of the domain name decisions because the domain for a product should match the name of the product itself. Not withstanding any grammatical issues (such as possessive apostrophes and question or exclamation marks), any difference between product and domain name will dilute the brand of that product.

Whether you are a global corporation like Procter and Gamble or an owner-manager working from home, you should have trademarked all of your product names and so it is that name that you should register as a domain name. An added advantage to having existing trademarks is that you may have the right to those domain names.

However, if you are a small manufacturer that trades only in your own country or region, the problem of existing domains in the name of your product might be more difficult - something that is common if your product carries a generic aspect to its name eg 'excellent carpet cleaner'. If you cannot resort to the law, then other options might be available. Simply adding a country identifier to the name might work; excellentproductuk.com for example. Or maybe use hyphens if your product name is more than one word, excellent-product.com, for example.

However, if you have a new product that is yet to be named, then the availability of a suitable domain name should become part of the decision-making process. As with company and brand names, this is - I think - one of the main reasons for invented words being used as product names.

Go to the next section, return to the contents page