Property ManagementUse The Word "Realtor" With Caution When Naming Websites
Some words are trademarked and as such they cannot be used in other non-owners" marketing materials without some form of permission or recognition. Even though you are a Realtor, if you want to use the word "Realtor" in your domain name, beware! The National Association of Realtors owns the rights to this word and has rules about how it may be used in members" marketing.
You can use your company name or your name and include the word Realtor, but you cannot use the word Realtor to point to a location or concept. Here are some clear examples of what is acceptable and what is not:
www.YourNameRealtor.com = Acceptable www.YourCompanyRealtor.com =
Acceptable www.YourCityRealtor.com = Not Acceptable
www.AnthingElseRealtor.com = Not Acceptable
So JoeSimonRealtor.com is okay, as is SimonCompanyRealtors.com, but
SeattleRealtor.com and JoeSimonSeattleRealtor.com is not. Nor is
GreatRealtor.com, nor BestSeattleRealtor.com.
A domain name squatter is currently selling RealtorGod.com and RealtorGoddess.com,
which they claim are "Four Star Locations on the Internet". They want you to
"Make them an offer". Sooner or later, someone from the legal staff at the NAR
is going to send the "owner" of this domain a cease and desist letter, as they
will to all those using their trademarked word improperly.
Actually, NAR"s rule makes perfect sense. If you were a Realtor in
Seattle, would you like it if one of your competitors was able to register
SeattleRealtor.com? For more information, contact the NAR directly:
Trademark@Realtors.org.
Other trademarked words
RELO® is also a word that someone else owns, and which you cannot
use in your web site name indiscriminately. Contact generalinfo@relo.com for
more information. I"ve also seen agents use trademarked words such as RE/MAX, Century 21, and Coldwell Banker in their web site name. Better check with those organizations first, because it is a hassle to change web site names! It"s not a good idea to use your company brand in your domain name anyway - what if you change companies?
Beware of words that are trademarked by others. Domain squatters
generally lose when they go to court over the rights to a trademarked name. You
can check on trademarked words for "free"
here.
Forget About Search Engines
I used to recommend that you get one domain name for marketing, and one
for search engines, each name pointing to the same web site (yours!). The web
site name for search engines generally looked something like this:
Mobile-Alabama-Real-Estate-Homes-Properties-Houses.com. Packed full of key
words that are clearly differentiated with dashes, the idea was that a domain
name like this would help you in the search engines.
Like I"m always
saying, search engines change all the time. Every day they get wiser
to all of our tricks. Well, they have wised up to the trick of having one web
site with multiple names. 90%-100% of the time they"ll ignore every name but
one.
It is true that a few search engines "index" (pay attention to) the
words in your domain name. But it is just the tiniest part of the search engine
puzzle. All things being equal, the minimal positive effect that key words
might have in a domain name is far outweighed by the negative effect that a
clumsy key word stuffed web site name can have. Would you rather visit
La-Jolla-San-Diego-California-Beach-Homes-Luxury-Properties.com or
LaJollaForever.com? Which would you remember?
Some people say there"s another reason that domains stuffed with key
words are good for the search engines: When the name appears in any
search results, it tells people what they"ll find there. I find this logic
specious. With reasoning like this, Amazon.com should have been
BigOnlineBookSeller.com. The HTML Title tag, the META Description tag, and your
overall marketing should have the burden of fully describing what your site is
about, not the name alone. Don"t saddle yourself with an awkward domain name just for the search
engines.