#3 URLs

The impact you make on your visitor starts even before they read your content. Your URL, or Universe Resource Locator, that users access to enter your website can attract and can also deter visitors. The address of websites tend to be overlooked when registering for domain names or account names, because we always tend to think that content and easy-navigation matters the most in generating high traffic in a website. As part of making your website user-friendly, you should start with giving serious considerations to your website's address or URL.

Fasthosts surveyed 615 small business throughout September and October 2007 and results showed that the average company spent between 6 and 12 hours selecting a domain name, while a staggering 41% did so under an hour! Few businesses asked for a second opinion regarding their chosen domain name, and only 10% considered the long term effect that its web URL could have on its business.

Even if you do feel that the URL of your site does not really matter, then do consider that the first thing search-engine spiders crawl is your URL. Hence, it makes sense to include keywords related to the trade of your company in your site address. For example, if your company deals with printing, you may want to take notice of the popular keywords people will search for when looking for printing companies and ensure that it is in your URL. Of course, the most common way to think of a URL is just the company or organisation's name. Hence, if you lose out in the first round of the crawling process by search-engine spiders, do make sure you have important and relevant keywords highlighted in your site's meta tags.

Another tip is to keep your URL simple and easy to remember. Avoid using abbreviations that can result in spelling errors, or words that can be easily mistakened for other words to ensure that your visitors and customers can remember your website address at the tip of their fingers. Also, try keeping to the more conventional and popular Top-Level Domains (TLDs) like .com, .org, .net, .biz, or country-specific TLDs like .uk (UK) and .sg (Singapore).

Think carefully when you're getting yourself or your company a new site address. A good URL will give your website at an edge over others, so do spend more time when selecting your domain name!