What's in a URL?
I don't know if you have heard about a website called "Good URL Bad URL"? I've been a huge fan of this basic looking but phenomenal website for a long time and I regularly visit it for latest photos of examples with good URLs and not so good URLs. I guess this blog post is a humble dedication to this website.An URL is the company brand which is meant to connect with an audience, most times the connection is spot on but sometimes things go really wrong. "Good URL Bad URL" is a brainchild of Aaron Goldman, on the website he says his aim is to give businesses some guidance when choosing and promoting their URLs.
"Good URL Bad URL" is packed with interesting points and examples. It says whenever possible, use YourBrandName.com. CapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord and/or UseDifferentColorsOrBoldToHelpEachWordStandOut. Don't use acronyms, abbreviations, or numbers unless your brand is widely known as such. Don't use YourProduct.com or YourCategory.com as a replacement for YourBrandName.com.
Here are a couple of examples, all are from the Good URL Bad URL website.
Good URL
This is a very clever URL from Corporate Express, the URL show up properly in the rear-view mirror of the car ahead.
Better URL
This one gets the message across. Spot on. Concise and to the point.
Bad URL
Here the URL is lost in the mass of text and at first view it's actually difficult to spot the URL. The use of different colours and mix of upper- and lower case letter would improve and get the message across.
Worse URL
This is actually not a bad URL but the all lower cases makes it's message look really bad.
Check out "Good URL Bad URL" website for many more excellent photos of URL examples.
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3 Comments
Tanner Christensen said:
That last URL (the worst one) is a perfect example of what a bad URL can do for your brand/website.
Nate at Plasticprinters said:
Great article! Nice reference for us web designers who are typing out urls all day!
Thanks for the post,
Nate
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Great post, and thanks for tip.