Why I Continue To Stress The Need For A Short URL For Ones Landing Page
Lately, I have been sharing information about building a mailing list, and in various areas I have stressed that one should use a short URL for their landing page.
I would like to explain why I feel that a short URL is very important, so that others can better understand the purpose of it.
I have a website that is being used to promote WA. This site was built following the online entrepreneur training.
I will not share the URL to the site here, but I will say that it's rather long with 15 characters + the .com which totals 19 characters.
Because of its length, it hinders many online and offline marketing methods I plan to utilize to promote mailing list. And since my mailing list is going to be the main tool I utilize to earn my trip to Vegas, I want to be sure that I cover all bases thoroughly.
My website URL is way too long for Pinterest Pin Graphics, much too long for business cards, horribly wrong for a car decal I plan to put on my car and way too long to keep typing over and over in text messages.
It's also a name I do not wish to place on my other websites, simply because it's not relevant to those niches at all.
So what I did, was I purchased another domain name, this one has 4 characters + the .com for a total of 8 characters in all.
It has no numbers, and is actually a 3 letter word with a hyphen so it's very short, catchy and super easy to remember.
I can use this shorter URL as a car decal without taking up too much room on my car, it fits perfectly on business cards and pinterest graphics, and is very easy to text to others.
It is also short enough to be used for offline classified ads, and many other traditional "offline marketing methods".
This domain name is suitable for any niche, so I can create awesome banners using Canva, to be displayed on my other websites, to inform site visitors about my mailing list.
This is why I stress the importance of a short URL for one's landing page. It's a necessity if you wish to implement many various marketing methods to build your mailing list.
I know many here have one website only, and do not wish to create another, but if you do wish to build your own mailing list, then you can simply create a page on your existing website, and use any of the popular URL shortening services to create a short URL.
If you look at the bulletin board that I have shared with this post, notice that all the words are short. Coca-Cola .... TDK ... Samsung ... Hyundai
Now consider the Billboard. It is huge, and it has many "ads".
If one considers all the platforms that can be used as billboards (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Online Forums), then it just makes sense to use a short URL so that it can be easily placed, and easily remembered.
It's all about the traffic, and branding. When people see your Pinterest Pins, what do they "remember"?
Do they remember a great article, but not your name? If so, how will they find you again? Yet if they see the same URL, in a discrete location in your graphics, then they will start "recognizing" it, and hopefully get curious enough to visit the URL to see what you have to offer.
Curiosity can acquire some amazing results!
Your mailing list is a very important key to not only being remembered, but also to building your brand and name. So of course, you would want to try to make the URL for your landing page as "Marketable" as you possibly can.
I just wanted to share this quick post to further explain the "why's" of having a short URL for your domain name.
Quick Tip:
GoDaddy has a lot of .99 cent domain names that are not .com but where one can easily acquire a very short (non .com of course) name that is catchy and easy to remember.
If you create a landing page on your website, then you can register the more affordable .99 cent domain name (where it will also be easier to acquire a catchy one since most great dot coms are taken), and then spend a year building your mailing list, using various marketing methods, before the name is set to renew again.
You can then use the redirect feature that GoDaddy provides, to have the URL redirect automatically to your landing page on your website.
Just be sure to note that when a year is up, the name will cost more than 99 cents to renew it, so after you register it, be sure to login to your GoDaddy account and set it to not auto-renew. You can choose to renew it when it's due for renewal, if your mailing list has taken off to a success that satisfies you.
This tip is shared, for those of you who are uneasy about using a shorten URL service. I do not know much about sites that offer those services, but I assume that the URLs from those sites remain active indefinitely?
I could be wrong, but if this is a worry, then a 99 cent domain will do to show you that it is in one's best interest to have a short URL, especially if they are planning to utilize free or offline marketing methods to build their mailing list.
301 Redirects: A 301 Redirect is where you setup a domain name to be redirected to another URL that is set in another location.
GoDaddy provides a feature where you can "redirect" your domain name, to another URL. This service is free, and a tutorial on how to use this feature can be found by searching "godaddy 301 redirect" via google.
So basically you can register a .99 cent domain name, and setup the redirect it to a page on your current website, if you choose to host your landing page on your current domain. This way, you can still advertise your mailing list, using the shorter URL.
Recent Comments
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I completely agree with the "short URL concept". I have had several nice, descriptive-but-lengthy sites in the past. However, I have also created short, pithy alternative URLs. Typically, these have used the first letters of each word. For example, TheInstitute4TrafficSafety.com can be accessed using TI4TS.com.
It is important to realize the short attention span of our readers. Though WE may use a lengthy URL as we lovingly build our site. The world could care less! Keep it Simple S....! is worthy of remembering and applying.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Dale, I got a bit of a chuckle with your example, your short URL is certainly easy to remember, yet the longer URL has pertinent keywords, so you have killed 2 birds with one stone. That's a GREAT example of what I explain to Una below, thank you for sharing!
I agree. I would love to use shorter domain names.
Like you I've seen that dot coms are usually taken. But, thinking that a visitor may be curious about the don't com and wander away; or habitually attach .com when completing a url, I've stayed with the dot com name.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this?
Una, I too once thought the same, back when other extensions were not as popular, but these days, people have been more conditioned to "take in" the domain extension.
I weigh the pros and cons of each, I have about 60 sites that all have different extensions other than .com, and to be truthful, for google traffic that does not matter.
I have 3 very short URLS of my own, 1 is a .com, which is actually my best domain name, despite it having a hyphen in it. It took me hours upon hours to find it using an expired domains search tool.
The other 2 are .co names, one I use for redirects, the other sits unused for a rainy day.
As for your question, I do prefer dot com over any other, but then again, I landed a fabulous .club domain name that is so totally awesome that I am building a weight lose site here at WA that I do believe will generate massive traffic.
I wouldn't trade that .club for many .coms at all, because it's just perfect for the weight lose niche in a way where I can utilize it for something great.
It's not about the extension so much as it is about "How best can you brand this into another person's mind so they will remember it".
In my opinion, a short URL where the non dot com extension is highlighted in vibrant teal or yellow, will be more easily "branded into another's memory" than a name that has a slew of words, even if those words end with dot com.
When I do get my business cards printed, I do intend to bring extra attention to the hyphen, because this is a character that is not typical, therefore I will want to bring it more to the attention of people whom I hand my cards out to.
Now if it's for a persons main website, and not a landing page (or one product sales page), then one is relying more on search engine traffic than anything else, so it truly does not matter either way.
My landing page is sitting on a domain with just a few pages:
My Policies Pages
The Subscription (Landing Page, Main Page) Page
A "Confirm Your Subscription" Page
and a "Thank You For Subscribing" Page where the thank you page also provides a link where subscribers can download a bonus gift.
So a site like this will never gain search engine traffic, it will have to rely solely on other marketing methods in order to build my list.
I do have a sign-up form on my WA website, and will have banners on my other sites, but there are literally thousands of creative ways one can market a simple, small website such as this.
So for that purpose, the short URL is key, but it's not important what domain extension is used, so long as it's short, catchy and makes sense.
I could have placed my landing page on my main website, as a page, and used a redirect as well, BUT I created my landing page to be a "Catch-All" for any niche, so that I can also advertise my mailing list on my other, none affiliate marketing related websites.
For those who do not wish to use a second website, then a simple page on their own website is sufficient enough.
Again, the short URL is for small websites only that will not be updated (such as I am using for my landing page).
One should still use a keyword rich domain name for their main websites, regardless if it's a long or short domain name.
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Hello Maria,
I have read this several times now, there is so much info here, most of which has never occurred to me. I need to go through it again and make notes in terms of my own websites and how I can improve my email list.
Thank you
Louise (mindboggled :-))
You are welcome Louise, I am glad to know that you are finding the information useful!