The key to having the right address in a storefront business is the ability for customers to find you. If the directions to get to your storefront are confusing or difficult, customers will turn around a go somewhere else. The same holds true in the virtual storefront. If your URL, or uniform resource locator, is hard to remember or is too long, people will go somewhere else.

It is imperative that merchants understand the importance of having an effective URL. You need a URL that will catch people’s attention, is easy to remember and is not so long that it will lead to typographical errors. With a knowledge of search engine optimization techniques, merchants are able to create URL’s that will be remembered and ultimately drive sales up.

The first variable in creating a URL in regards to search engine optimization is understanding how customers use URL’s. Almost everyone understands the www that goes at the beginning of a URL. However they are much less familiar with what comes after the second dot. It can be a com., biz., org., net., or as well as country codes.

If you have an understanding of SEO you need to know that you need to have as many variations as possible directing to your homepage. If you are a widget supplier in Long Beach and you want a URL that is a good match for your business you might register for www.wilsonwidgets.biz . You need to know that many people searching on the internet assume that all websites end in .com. www.wilsonwidgets.com will not take you to www.wilsonwidgets.biz. The Long Beach business doesn’t get that potential business because it would be going to the wrong URL. A SEO consultant can work with the webmaster to make sure that in addition to the .biz, there is a .com, or even country codes like .co.uk and make sure all of these go to your website.

Search Engine Optimization processes don’t just stop there for the webmaster of Wilson’s Widgets. One of the techniques that used to apply in regards to search engine web crawlers was the use of underscores. Using underscores made it easier for search engines to find and rank new websites. As the internet became more advanced technology wise, this no longer became necessary. The underscores actually can be problematic because many times people don’t’ remember them when they are searching for it. Wilson’s Widgets won’t be selling much of their product if their potential customers can’t remember the URL.

What you need to remember with SEO techniques in relation to URL’s is to keep it as simple as possible and cover what you do as much as possible. This will help with your company branding and act as an easy way for your customers to find your virtual storefront. Making sure you have all your angles covered means that when your customers are looking for widgets in Long Beach, it will be your widgets that they find. You have put an enormous amount of time into building your brand. You don’t want to lose it to someone with a similar business. In some cases, large businesses will even register and redirect URL’s with letters that are transposed to increase the possibilities of finding their site, even if it is by mistake. Remember that your customers can’t buy from you if they don’t know where you are whether it is a storefront or virtual storefront.

Call Blue Sand now to speak with a SEO professional!