|
The race was on for many companies to register
as many relevant domain names as possible—or as many as they could
afford—all of which usually redirected web traffic to their main or primary
website. The strategy was sound. By locking up the best names—names that
keyed in on the industry—or were easy to remember—they made it more
difficult for competitors to get into the game. The strategy was
cost-effective. When hosting companies have a client with multiple domain
names/sites that don’t occupy a lot of space on a server—they will
negotiate/reduce monthly fees. “Websites do get ‘cheaper by the dozen’ when
it comes to design, development, maintenance, marketing or hosting,” he
adds.
It was only a matter of time until domain
owners recognized that some names were pulling more traffic than others.
Sibai says the company hosting your website is required by law to log
visitors. They keep all sorts of statistics that only the domain registrant
can access. “Many website business owners aren’t even aware of the data that
is available about their site. Sometimes the hosting company will charge an
extra fee for providing the information. That’s one of the justifications
for larger monthly fees. You usually get only what you pay for,” he notes.
The next logical step to capitalize on the
traffic the website was already generating on the strength of name alone—was
to put some content behind it—and a new website evolved. The new site
frequently presented the business owner with multiple opportunities. The
site could be focused on a distinct aspect of the business. For example,
consider the restaurant that focused the site on expanding its catering
business—or the furniture store that expanded a department into a new store,
for patio/outdoor furniture lines. Their business grew off line as well as
on.
Obviously, any “new” site gives a business
owner an opportunity to discover and evaluate “how big” the market is—before
committing other resources—to new facilities, more inventory, personnel or
management in the real world! Viewed in this context, many astute business
owners are using websites as a viable market research tool that can be used
to test not only market segments—but any measurable variables—age groups,
geographies, products, services, anything!
|
Click
here
to share
your
opinion
about
this
article... |
|
