Before you rush out and choose your domain name or name your website, you might want to consider reading this article and familiarizing yourself with the do’s and don’t of Domain buying/registering, and the ways to better market your business using just a domain name!

So just what is all this hoopla about “DuckEggs.com”? Well, for starters, it is about duck eggs. Specifically, it is about how you can sell just about anything on the internet with the right generic domain name. Even duck eggs.Search engines are very powerful. Very useful. Also, brand names are great. However, search engines and brand names are not the only way that potential customers find products. Many internet users who are looking for a particular product will simply type in the generic name of the product with the appropriate internet extension (like .com) at the end. This is called “direct navigation.” With direct navigation, the potential customer types in the domain name for exactly the product they want rather than going through a search engine or other indirect method. For example, suppose that someone is allergic to chicken eggs or that someone has a special ethnic recipe that calls for duck eggs. They might type the name “duck+eggs+.com” or, in other words, “duckeggs.com” into the URL bar. Voola! - they wind up at a site selling duck eggs. This is direct navigation in action.

For someone who wants to sell something through the internet, direct navigation can be a vital part of their marketing strategy. Further, the best way to take advantage of direct navigation is to have the key generic domain for your product niche. For example, suppose that you want to sell “candy” on the internet? The best generic domain to have is “candy.com.” Suppose that you want to sell “duck eggs” on the internet? The best generic domain to have is “duckeggs.com.” Having the prime generic term for a product is a great way for an entrepreneur to jump start a business and hit the ground running. An entrepreneur can virtually create a business from scratch with the right generic domain name and website.

As valuable as prime generic domains and direction navigation are for start-up companies, their value is not just limited to start-ups. Even established businesses, with established brand names, can diversify their marketing strategy and increase their market share with a prime generic. With direction navigation, they can not only get potential customers who are looking to buy their product by brand name, they can also get sales from potential customers who looking to buy their product by its general name.

By analogy, many politicians focus their efforts on “undecided voters” and “swing states” in political elections because they know that that is where additional campaign effort can have the greatest payoff. Voters in die hard areas have already made their decision, but “undecided voters” and “swing states” are the battleground. For companies with strong brands, they are very likely to get orders from people searching for their product by brand name. The greatest market share growth opportunities are among customers who are search for the product by its generic name. Direct navigation customers are the “undecided voters” and “swing states” of the product space. Having a prime generic domain can help a company boost sales like a whistle-stop tour through a swing state to boost a politicians campaign.

The economics of direct navigation are also appealing. When a company acquires a prime generic domain name and attracts customers by direct navigation — the company only pays for advertising once. This is in contrast with most other advertising avenues in which the company pays for a spot or ad each display it shows — again and again and again - as the months and years accumulate. It is like owning vs. renting. With a prime domain name, the company actually owns the advertising medium. The marginal cost of running a website and attracting customers again and again and again through direct navigation is close to zero.

Companies do not have to put all their marketing eggs in one basket. Even companies with strong brand names can gain from diversifying their advertising channels with the addition of prime generic domains. They can invest in a blend of traditional media/print advertising, paid internet search advertising, and also prime generic direct navigation advertising. They can adjust investment of their marginal advertising dollars across the modalities to get the most bang for their buck overall.

Speaking of eggs in a basket, let’s go back to DuckEggs.com. DuckEggs.com is an example of using a generic product domain to create a business based on direct navigation. But why the press release? Is it more than just an example? If you look up “duck” in Wikipedia, you will see that ducks are viewed as one of the funniest animals across all cultures. There is a lot of humor associated with ducks. Think of cartoons! Think of the Groucho Marx! When people see a talking duck - especially a funny talking duck - they listen! That is why DuckEggs.com is sponsoring this campaign to increase awareness of the value of direct navigation and the benefit generic domains for companies of all sizes. Like the duck says - “You can sell anything on the internet with the right name!”

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