Of course, it's better to use your brand name as your domain name - even if this can sometimes be complicated, with many predators practising cybersquatting; however, brands and URLs respond to different logics.
A domain name should be short and easy to remember; here, web host OVH sets out the '10 rules' for making a good choice: easy to understand and write, short - '5 characters' whenever possible - etc.
Finding THE right URL is the number one challenge for any start-up launching on the Web today. And because you have to move fast, without necessarily taking the time to think about it, that URL quickly becomes... a brand.
However, as many entrepreneurs confuse domain names with brand names, 43% of the 90,000 brand names created and registered each year in France are of English origin (*), because a global URL works better in global competition.
Only 32% of the names have a French origin, while Latin is used for ... 19%: why this reluctance to use the language of Voltaire? Not modern enough - whereas conversely, Latin would transmit less dated values?
It's amusing to see French-sounding brands flourishing in many countries: in these parts of the world - Japan, China or Korea, but also Great Britain or the United States - a French brand evokes know-how, culture, luxury or delicacies, and so on.
Evoke: because that's the function of a brand, to evoke - or in semiotic terms = connote. And the choice of language always carries a lot of meaning.
Anglicisms 'speak' immediately to consumers - at least to those who speak the language. as a minimum More complicated for terms of Germanic or Latin origin: what Audi driver knows that their brand means 'listen'? In fact, it's a play on words between a Latin imperative and the name of the founder, August Horch, which means 'listen' in German: obviously, no firm would dare make such a suggestion these days!
A name with little connotation will require heavy advertising investment to build an attractive brand image... but will easily withstand multiple repositionings: Axa has established itself around the world, while Allianz remains very Germanic.
A domain name will remain eternally fixed - we'll avoid moving a site whose referencing we've patiently optimised; a brand will more easily follow societal trends, taking on new values as advertising campaigns... and consumer expectations change.
Lastly, it should be noted that the confusion between domain names and brand names at the time of their creation has stuck some brands in bygone eras, such as Yahoo! and Wanadoo: brands that were already vintage - or out of fashion - just a few years after their appearance.
(*) Census carried out by the Créads agency.
Illustration: photo taken in the Gyeongheuigung district of Seoul.
