Issue 4, January 3, 1996
This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on miscellaneous Internet marketing strategies.
Happy New Year! Welcome to Issue 4 of WMT. You are among 1,750 subscribers. It's been almost 4 weeks since we sent out WMT. Who would look at it during the Christmas holidays anyway? Well, the new year has arrived, and it's time to seriously consider marketing your business on the Internet's World Wide Web.
In this issue you'll find:
- Does Your Business Need a Custom Domain Name?
- Case Study in Web Marketing: Sierra Digital Communications, Inc.
- What Can Web Pages Do for Your Business?
Does Your Business Need A Custom Domain Name?
By Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
The short answer: Yes, unless you expect to do a minimal amount of business on the Internet.
Isn't A Domain Name Basically Vanity?
As I see it, these are the reasons for getting a custom domain name:
- Increases name recognition
- Makes it easy for customers to remember your address
- Indicates you are a serious Internet player
- Protects your Internet advertising investment from failure of your Internet Service Provider
- Allows your Internet address to go with you, even to your own in-house server if necessary.
An Instructive Story
My own story illustrates some of the issues. I began on the Web in March 1995. It was new and exciting. I used my Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) domain name (garlic.com)-- a name that stuck in people's minds. Great!I developed the "Wilson Internet Services" Web site and began to let the world know I was there. My articles and service Web pages - "Small Business and Effective Web Marketing" (http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/) -- began to be discovered. I advertised on the 12 to 15 most common Web search engines with considerable success, and wherever else I could.
This morning I searched the powerful AltaVista Web Search Engine (http://www.altavista.digital.com/) and found that here and there out on the Web are nearly 4,000 links to just one of my Web sites. I am very pleased, but unfortunately those 4,000 links are all to my ISP's domain name. Can you imagine how much work it will be to induce 4,000 Web Masters to change their links? To get Web Search engines to change all their references? Oh, I still get connected when someone clicks on each one of these links, but only so long as I keep my same Internet Service Provider.
Now I really like my ISP, and have no plans to change. But one of these days, the "big boys" will decide to move into the Internet Service Provider business in a large way. There will be price wars, and those who don't have the capital to outlast the war are likely to either fold or be bought out. What happens when cable TV and telephone companies provide Internet service through their installed network? What happens to you and me if we don't have our own domain names? We're at the mercy of the new owners, unless of course our ISP went belly-up during the price war. Then we start all over.
How Do You Register A Domain Name?
InterNIC (Internet Network Information Center) is in charge of registering domain names in the US. Once fully-supported by the National Science Foundation, they now supplement their operations from the businesses that seek domain names.
Renewal is $50 for each successive year
Right now there are about upwards of 130,000 unique domain names, with more being registered each week. Sometimes a registration request goes through in a few days. I've got one client, however, who has been waiting about three weeks. Figure on 3 or 4 weeks and you won't be disappointed.
Registration of domain names takes place through your Internet Service Provider. While the forms are available on the net (http://www.rs.internic.net/), you can't really do it yourself. Your ISP will probably charge you a one-time fee of $25 to $50 for the trouble of registering you. The $100 InterNIC registration fee you may pay to your ISP or, more likely, be billed by InterNIC. Tip: Don't let an ISP charge you a monthly fee for domain hosting; that's a rip-off. Insist on a single, reasonable, one-time fee. Make sure that you are listed as the administrative contact, not your Internet Service Provider. It is better for you to receive a bill two years from now than your Internet Service Provider, who just might forget. This is one bill you don't want to get lost.
Choosing A Domain Name
Most of the best names (one-word domain names) have been taken. But you can still identify your business clearly by either making a single word (i.e., yourbusiness.com) or a hyphenated word (i.e. your-business.com). To find out which domains are taken and which are still available, check out the Web interface for InterNIC's WHOIS query function, linked from Wilson Internet Services Web site, and at InterNIC (http://www.rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/whois/).Can You Reserve A Domain Name?
Yes, if you can convince an Internet Service Provider to apply for the name for you on those conditions. InterNIC doesn't hold names unless you pay to register them.What Kind Of Name Should You Choose?
One which is:- Memorable
- Short
- Fairly immune to misspelling
- Pronounceable
- Directly related to either your business's name or core field.
I now have a domain name for Wilson Internet Services (http://www.wilsonweb.com). If I had it to do over again, I would have applied for it when I first began my business.
Case Study in Web Marketing - Sierra Digital Communications
How does a Web site benefit a small high tech manufacturer?We put Sierra Digital Communications, Inc. of Rocklin, California, on the Web (http://www.sierra-digital.com/sdci/) in late August 1995.
Their Web site consists of about 45 pages, which includes technical spec sheets for each of their products--short-haul microwave radios which carry data across freeways and other obstructions where trenching for hardwire connections is impossible. Each product sells for several thousands of dollars, and is worth every penny.
The company's Director of Strategic Marketing, Hal Tenney, sees about 100 hits per week on the company's welcome page, resulting in one to three inquiries per day about the company's products.
"Just about every question people can ask is available on our Web site," says Tenney. "We've had inquiries from around the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere. A substantial number of calls and letters start out with the words, 'We saw your Web site pages ….'"
"Of the modest amount of advertising we do," says Tenney, "our Web site is by far the most beneficial. It caused inquiries to go up three-fold. We are on a limited budget, but the money we spent on the Web site is less than a full page display ad. And the ongoing cost is only about $50 per month to the Internet Service Provider. It's got to be the best value since sliced bread."
"When someone calls me not having seen the Web site already, I can just give them the Web site address," he says. "Most people with interest in our products have access to the Internet. Not only does it save me time and trouble getting materials together for mailing, but it gets them the information in the shortest possible time."
But how has the Web site affected the company's bottom line? "You can't expect to sell something which costs as much money as our products with just one phone call," Tenney says. "The gestation period from the first inquiry to the sale may be several months." In addition, Sierra Digital's far-flung network of VARs and dealers may take the order initiated by viewing the Web site.
In other words, Tenney doesn't find it easy to quantify the sales initiated by his company's Web site, due to the nature of the sales process. But he is a strong believer in its value, since he sees inquiries multiplying dramatically because of the company's exposure on the Web. He also uses inclusion on the Web site as an inducement for representatives to sign up as VARs.
Wilson Internet Services is proud to point to Sierra Digital Communications as its first commercial Web site, and happy to see the company's investment paying off handsomely in increased inquiries.
What Can Web Pages Do For Your Business?
- Increase inquiries
- Promote your company image
- Open up your products to a global market
- Provide full information about your products to potential customers
- Build a prospect list for call-backs later
- Sell products directly over the Internet
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