Over and over you will be telling people what your web site address is. Over the phone, in person, in passing... So you had better make it straightforward. You don't want to have to repeat yourself. You don't want people asking for clarification about any part of the name. You want to say it once, and hear them say, without hesitation: "Got it."

Otherwise you risk a conversation that can go something like this:

You say, "Go to my web site, OrlandoREagent.com: Orlando are ee agent dot com."

They say, "Huh?"

You respond, "RE stands for real estate, so it really means Orlando real estate agent dot com. Get it?"

"So your web site is OrlandoRealEstateAgent.com?"

"No! That is someone else's web site!"

"Is their site any good?"

"Arrrgh!"

Instead, give people something memorable - how about LovingOrlando.com? Or YesOrlando.com? Maybe OrlandoInStyle.com? Whether you like these names or not, they are easy to communicate, and memorable.

In the quest to find a unique and unforgettable domain name, you may be tempted to try some of the following ideas, but these domains can also lead people away from you.

Watch out for ambiguous words

Charlie4Columbus.com has a nice ring to it and should be easy to remember. It also seems, at first blush, to be easily communicable over the phone or in person... except for that 4. Is it 4, or is it for? You know that someone is going to type CharlieForColumbus.com into their computer, when what they really want is Charlie4Columbus.com. You lost that prospect. Ouch.

OKOklahomaHomes.com is another unique and memorable name. But what if someone types in OkayOklahomaHomes.com? Whoops.

Numbers are the main culprits here: 1/one/won, 2/two/to/too, 3/three, 4/four/for... Initials used as words also can cause the same problem: OK/okay, Y/why, R/are, C/see, I/eye, EZ/easy, etc. If you can imagine someone not being sure which word you mean, obtain both or all versions, and have all these names point to the same web site. This is not a bad solution at all. When someone asks, "Is it 4 or is it for?" You say, "Either one works!" No Spelling Bees

PreeminentPittsburgHomes.com is certainly unique. But how many people know how to spell preeminent? Don't underestimate the importance of this. I know lots of people who are very smart, but aren't the greatest spellers.

Use words that are straightforward, and commonly used, in speech and in print. If you have the sense that some people might not know how to spell the word, consider choosing a different domain name. If they can't spell the name of your site, how will they ever find it?

Avoid dashes

Why avoid dashes? Because most people use dashes when they couldn't get the generic domain name that they really wanted, as in Dallas-Homes.com. Take it from me; what this agent really wanted was DallasHomes.com (or DallasRealEstate.com). Naming a web site Dallas-Homes.com, in my opinion, helps the agent who owns DallasHomes.com. You tell people Dallas-Homes.com. You know they are going to check out DallasHomes.com, too. Wouldn't you?

I have other issues with the dash. Every time you mention your web site name to someone, you will have to explain it. You say: "Go to Dallas dash homes dot com." They'll ask: "Do you mean slash? Do you mean hyphen? Can I just skip the dash? Where is the dash on my keyboard? Why don't you have a web site name without the dash? How do you spell dash?"

Take it from me; the dash can be a pain. One of my company's original web site names was Number-One.com. That dash always confused people. So did the word "one" for that matter! Number-One.com is a truly confusing name. At first you might think that nothing could be simpler. But think again. There's a dozen ways to write Number-One.com: Number1.com, NumberOne.com, Number-One.com, Number-1.com, etc. The point is, what we really wanted was Number1.com. The domain squatter who held the rights to this name wanted a six-figure sum for it. No thanks.

Don't be too clever

How about B0ise.com, where a zero is used in place of the letter o? You tell people, "My web site is Boise dot com, except you put a zero in place of the o."

Yep, that's memorable. Kind of confusing, too. Do you put a zero in the com? You can’t of course, which is one very good reason to reject a name like this. Another is that the name places being clever above being effective. You see commercials like this all the time. They are clever, but after they're over, you can't even remember what the ad was supposed to be promoting.

Instead, how does YourHomeInBoise.com sound? Or BoiseIsWhereItsAt.com? Here's a few more off the top of my head: BoiseIsThePlace.com, MainStreetBoise.com, BobSellsBoise.com, BoiseBoise.com…

Shorter, not longer

Your domain name can technically be as long as 67 characters (59 if you want it to work with most Netscape browsers). The following is a legitimate web site name: Homes-for-sale-in-washingtondc-and-maryland-and-virginia.com. You still have 8 characters left to use! Maybe you should add "too-long".

This name will never fit on a sign-rider! Nor on many business cards, for that matter. While this is, admittedly, a rather exaggerated example, hopefully you get my point. If the people at Yahoo! thought like this, they might have come up with this name: ItsSoFunToSurfTheWebWithOurDirectoryThatYouWillScreamWith Pleasure.com.

Shorter is generally better than longer. Shorter names are easier to remember, less prone to include confusing elements, and easier to fit on all your marketing materials.

Published: March 26, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Lawrence Schoeffler is Vice President of Dominion Homes Web Services and founder of NUMBER1EXPERT. Dominion Homes Web Services includes Advanced Access, Agent Advantage by Homes.com, and Best Image Marketing, and is a division of Dominion Enterprises. Advanced Access is the industry leader in agent websites. More agents invest in an Advanced Access website than any other. Agent Advantage is the official agent website service of Homes.com, one of the most popular real estate portals in America. NUMBER1EXPERT by Best Image offers America's Top Performing Web Sites, with traffic and leads unequalled in the industry, sold exclusively to Top Selling Agents. Email Lawrence at .