Using domain names to increase usabilityI have been domaining for a long time. For those of you who don’t know - domaining is buying and selling domain names, building them out, etc. It’s a very nice, profitable, niche business. Some people can’t stand it because they think of domaining as cybersquatting - others don’t mind it. Often, the people that don’t mind it are the ones doing it!

Why redirect users with a domain name?

Using domain names to direct people through a website is a very effective way of navigating and focusing a user’s attention. For example, eBizITPA is a local economic development agency that has a lot in terms of classes, grants, seminars and other things. One of their grant programs is called “IT Kickstart.” It’s a $5,000 grant available to small businesses looking to implement some form of IT development (in Pennsylvania). But since it is a popular program, rather than navigating through the jumbled site, you can access the page by simply typing in ITkickstart.com!

You’ll notice that once you type ITkickstart.com into the browser, it immediately takes you to http://www.ebizitpa.org/programs/itkickstart/index.asp - which is a subpage off of the main site. You can get to it the long way by going through ebizitpa.org, but who has the time?

What are the benefits of redirecting by domain name?

Domain names are brandable. It’s easier to remember one domain name that it is to remember the path it takes to get somewhere in a website.

With the above example, I was talking to the director of the department about the grants, and I asked where I could get more information. Rather than go through a long set of instructions, he just told me about the shortcut. “Just go to ITkickstart.com and you’ll find all your answers.”

How about that for customer support!

Is it better for SEO?

Having multiple domain names that redirect users quickly through a website doesn’t affect SEO by itself. It can aid you in getting better SEO scores if you use the domains correctly, though.

First and foremost, search engines usually list only one page per domain for any keyword search (This is becomingly increasingly untrue due to Google advancements in listing individual pages - but is still accurate). Your site might have information that is related to a search in more than one area, or pertaining to more than one product.

Secondly, directories usually only accept home pages in their listings. Since you are redirecting the domain, wherever it is pointed will be your home. This allows you to have more directory listings!

Using domain names to lock up the market.

Personally, my favorite excuse to buying multiple domain names for one site is to lock up the market. If I have a product launching and own the domain name, I can do two things: redirect it to my site internally or build it out on its own site. Either way, it allows me to brand the domain name while keeping my competitors out.

And for $10 a year, who can NOT afford to buy all the domain names that relate to your own business?

Does anyone have any great domain name stories? Or can you think of other reasons to use domain names to redirect users?