Direct Navigation: Ticket to Success
It’s no secret that I think we have the best domain name in the domain space: Name.com. How can you go wrong as a domain name registrar with that name?
Coming off the SES show in NYC I’m more convinced of the importance of direct navigation than ever. The SEO and SEM professionals who spoke at the various sessions I attended face an uphill battle against any company who spends the money to acquire the category killer domain name for the space of their client’s company.
I’m not saying branding and marketing aren’t important. SEO and SEM are both vital spends as far as I’m concerned. But imagine how much less a Chicago used car dealership would have to spend if it owned chicagousedcars.com which, inexplicably, forwards to a FSBO website. Not only is that a direct navigation dream, but it’s SEO gold.
I was recently looking for die cut stickers for a show we’re preparing for. What was the first result in Google? DieCutStickers.com, of course. Sweet! Exactly what I was looking for and I could have saved myself the step of Google.
Google, Yahoo! and the thousands of SEO/SEM professionals at the SES show don’t want their clients relying on direct navigation. But when companies like Barnes & Noble (books.com), CaptainMorgan (rum.com) and DiscountTire (tires.com) are utilizing direct navigation as part of their marketing mix, how can you argue with that?
They’ll continue to try. I think SMB owners are smarter than that.
