Seven North Web

(Via ReadWriteWeb)

The ReadWriteStart Channel has up-to-the-minute advice for new and re-visioning small business-people. Here is their much-referenced advice on URLS and company names.

Relax (But Avoid Really Horrible Ones)
URLs matter a lot less than it would seem when you are starting out. One can think of plenty of terrible names that did great and vice versa. We are now moving away from destination sites. Search engines and browser capabilities, such as Firefox’s awesome bar, will help people find you.
If you are relying on a great name to build traffic… don’t. Unless you have a lot of money to buy an existing domain — and that is probably not a good use of your cash — there are cheaper ways to build traffic.
So then, “okay” is good enough. Don’t obsess over the URL. Save your obsessing for usability design. But avoid the real stinkers, the names that make people laugh at you and then ignore you. We live in a global world, too, so do check that your great URL does not mean “Your mother is a mangy dog” in Chinese, French, or whatever.

Read the whole piece at ReadWriteWeb.