I adore bath products (maybe “addiction” is a better word). One of my favorite soaps is named Bob Soap (after Bob Hope). Pretty easy to remember. It’s a green and orange soap with the most vibrant fruity scent. I could get all creative here and say something like:

When I get ready to take a bath, I grab Bob and yell, “I’m going to take a bath with Bob.”

But, I won’t do that. My partner, John Alexander, would be mortified if I said that on a blog. So I’ll behave.

Bob is made by Lush, my favorite bath product line. They name all of their products with unique names. Bob is actually a Christmas soap, so it’s no longer available.

In any event, the name is certainly memorable. Bob. It’s simplicity as its best.

Let’s move on to your Web site. When you buy a domain name, are you so worried about getting keywords in the URL that you don’t make it memorable?

Listen to me carefully. Having keywords in the URL is just one piece of the SEO pie, and it’s not a very big piece. It’s just one of Google’s 200 different factors that make up their ranking algorithm. If you don’t have your keywords in the URL, you still have 199 other factors to “worry” about. (You shouldn’t be worrying at all–calm down and focus on creating CONTENT instead!!)

Let’s look at some really cool URLs that you won’t ever forget:

IWantOneOfThose.com

Very cool site–contains stuff you don’t need but stuff you want. My kind of place.

And . . .

UseIt.com

This is Jakob Nielson’s site on Usability and Web Design. If you’ve never been to this site, GO. He’s the world’s expert on usability issues. Notice how plain and simple his site is. No graphics, no fluff. Notice his PageRank. His site is an authoritative site in the eyes of Google. (Keep in mind that PR is just ONE of the 200 factors when determining relevance/ranking.) Sign up for Jakob’s newsletters. He’s an amazing guy.

But check out his URL. Again, simplicity at its best. You won’t forget it.

Now, let’s talk about what we name our products and services–Bob Soap, for example. Lush could have named Bob something more appropriate like “Orangey Soap.” That would have more accurately described Bob. But Orangey Soap doesn’t have the same punch that Bob does.

“Bob” makes it a total contradiction. The soap is far from simple, yet it’s given a totally simple name. Even giving the soap a person’s name is unusual. The whole experience is quite creative and memorable. You can bet I’ll be watching for Bob next year around Christmas.

Let’s talk about human nature. Do we name our cars? Our surfboards? Skateboards? Computers? What else? Many people do, and you know what I mean. I named an ink pen I had after the person who gave it to me. Davy Crockett named his favorite rifle “Betsy.”

If you sell a cat bird feeder, rather than call it a “Cat Bird Feeder,” give it a name. Why not Blobcat Bird Feeder, then describe the feeder, making it clear that the cat’s name is Blobcat? That’s sure to make your potential buyers smile. Get them to smile, and they’re more apt to buy. (Remember that buyers buy when they’re emotionally charged. That’s when they pull out the credit cards!)

(We need a mascot for this blog: Blogcat. A big, chubby, long-haired cat named Blogcat. What do you think, Martin?)

Do you have a mascot on your site? What’s the mascot’s name?

Are YOU the prevailing personality throughout your Web site? If so, put a picture of you on your Web site, and put Q&As from you, tips from you, articles by you, etc. A great example is Radar Roy at his radar detectors site. He’s done a great job of branding his name (Radar Roy). The picture on the front page of his site couldn’t be better. His site is loaded with excellent information.

Have something on your site that makes it memorable. Is it the content that’s constantly being added? Are your users able to post their experiences somewhere on your site? Is the URL easy to remember? This URL:

http://www.english-bulldog-puppies-for-sale-in-mississippi-in-february.com

just doesn’t cut it. Neither does:

http://www.bookcollectorsbookfindersantiquebooks.com

People will never remember those URLs.

I’ve heard people say that “branding is marketing that doesn’t work.” I’ve heard other people say that “it’s all about branding.”

The bottom line is: make YOUR Web site memorable so people will come back again and again. Call it whatever you want: branding, marketing, the stickiness of your Web site, getting people to bookmark your site and tell others about your site, etc.

Get them addicted to YOUR site. Make it easy on your customers to become addicted to you, your URL, your name, your content, your content freshness, etc.

You’ll be the one reaping the benefits with new customers, return customers, and link popularity. What will it take from you? A little “elbow grease.” But a little elbow grease never hurt anyone.

Robin