Regardless of whatever industry a business operates in, if it really wants to succeed, it is essential that it develops brands with the internet in mind. Ignoring the new internet reality is a recipe for disastrous failure.

One of the fundamental steps to take In embracing the internet is to develop a domain name strategy that will empower and strengthen your brand. Getting your domain strategy right is like obtaining warehousing facilities before receiving inventory.

Most companies will have an existing brand. However, securing your brand as your website name is simply not enough, unless you wish to spend excessively, and sometimes unnecessarily on marketing and promoting your not-so-well-known brand name.

You need to think like your customers think. When your customers want to buy your products and services, what is that first comes to their mind? How do they go about searching for your product and services? The best way to find out is to talk to them and ask them. Conduct surveys and entice comments via online quizzes.

You want to be the clone of your perfect customer. You want to be one of them. To think like they do. Share their emotions and thought process. You need to be able to anticipate their every move.

You will then need to shift the focus onto your competitors. You want to know what they are doing to get your customers. Why would your customers buy from them instead of doing business with you? What are their techniques and strategies? What is their biggest asset?

Become alert and know what the trends are in your industry. Learn how to anticipate changes before your competitors. Be ready to switch from things that don’t work and gain market advantage by adjusting to new trends and technologies.

Now let’s talk about domains. You need to let domains work for your business. You can have as many domain names redirected to your main website as you wish.

By knowing how your customers think and conduct search and subsequent transactions via the internet, you can acquire the domain names which could help you achieve the credulity and market advantage you need. Get domains that describe your products and services.

For example, if your company manufactures/distributes a cream that prevents men from going bald or helps those that are already bald, you may want to acquire AntiBaldCream.com, even if your company or brand name is Blova. You will want to acquire as many product-related premium and generic domain names as you possibly can.

By having as many domains as possible redirecting to your website, you will get tall the free traffic that these domains get from direct navigation or from back-links.

Domains are the single biggest, best, and cheapest way to connect with your customers, and help them reach you, with significant long-term returns. Some 30-40% of online searches skip the search engines and type in a meaningful keyword domain name directly into their web browsers when researching products and services.

You don’t want to lose out on those 40% customers. Premium domains are rare, and you will want to the ones applicable to your industry before your competitors. With more people choosing to shop via the internet at an a rapid rate, you will want to sit tight with the best shopping outlets on the internet. Achieve this by investing in as many premium domains as you possibly can.

Acquire the domain names that mean something to your customers. Get all of them. Period. Get the categories, and even the misspellings.

Acquire the domains that describe your products, state your slogans, new variations and even future potential slogans.

Get the domains that your competitors would get, except the ones that would infringe on their trademarks.

In Part II, we will look at how you can creatively utilise these domain names for maximum marketing advantage.

Other Resources that you may be interested in:
Learn About Domain Names
Choosing the Right Domain Names
Buying Premium Domains
Why Domains Are really Important