The other morning on the ABC I heard the announcer advise that the story just broadcast was available online. He did not give the expected URL but rather told listeners to simply search “AM ABC”. This is the first time I have heard a URL replaced by a simpler, more easily remembered search term. And it works. Ballsy ABC.
Instead of remembering and typing, “abc.net.au/am”, simply put “AM ABC” into Google, click, “I’m Feeling Lucky”, and there you are.
I must admit that I don’t by any means know the complete history of URLs but my URL primer required “http://www” as the must have prefix.
People wanting a web presence scrambled to find a relevant, memorable and short name for their URL. BCM wanted “BCM” but found it taken so was initially stuck with “http://www.bcmpartnership.com.au” – 32 keystrokes.
Many companies and entities had similar issues.
We eventually bought the “bcm” URL which cut 11 keystrokes and the made the new address, “http://www.bcm.com.au”.
Then we were all able to drop the clumsy “http://” and key in only the “www” prefix. Winner! Another 7 keystrokes hit the dirt.
Next, most URLs were able to drop the “www” so BCM landed at “bcm.com.au”, 10 keystrokes – 22 less than the original 32. Pretty good although we all resent the Americans needing no “.au” country suffix, don’t we.
So home page URLs are well sorted by most but what about complex sites with many links to key landing pages?
Looking for a Canon digital camera, the following is not too snappy:
“http://canon.com.au/products/cameras/digital_compact_cameras.html”
Where is all this leading?
Is the ABC onto something? Are there search term options unusual enough or SEO seeded well enough to be advertised simply as search terms instead of clumsy URLs?
Might Canon set up, “GO CANON GO” as a primary search term that would deliver the surfer direct to the desired landing page?
Just a tactical thought anyway.
Bill Bristow is a Partner at BCM
I’m all for it Bill.
Even though any search term (which isn’t for a short term use) could be easily ambushed, why would anyone?
Sounds like each would require testing, but anything to simplify is worth it.
I like it, especially if you have done the hard yards on your Google ranking. The other thing to consider is how easy your name is to spell. For example, Allianz encouraged people to Google Allianz rather than type it directly. I’m assuming this is because people spell it so many different ways and it is likely Google will direct them to their desired destination. That TVC is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_PCNoHWgQQ
Good point Nathan, play your cards right and Google may even correct for syntactical errors. I did a “feeling lucky” search for “alianz” – deliberately misspelling it – and was taken direct to their home insurance calculator landing page. Could do worse.
Totally agree. Something I have been looking to bring in this year. It’s good impetus to get your SEO up to scratch as well!
A lot of research has been done by the major search engines and what they found was that people don’t easily remember URLs, even if they are simple.
In Australia, that is why you will hear TV ads for Bing and Yahoo!7 saying to “got to Y!7/Bing and search for x”. You see it often for TV shows for channels 7 and 9, given the joint ventures.
Search results can be easy enough to change, so, to counter this search companies will use (well marked) ads in the north position. A good example is Special K in the US – http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkks..wFLiqMAgv6l87UF?p=special+k&fr=sfp&fr2=&iscqry=
So, it makes sense for ABC to use this type of instruction.