When I came across the following domain name today, I initially thought to myself, “what could the owner be thinking?? this is a double trademark whammy!!”
AndersenStormDoorsAtHomeDepot.com
The domain owner appeared to be TM squatting on not one, but two major corporations!
However a quick whois search revealed that the owner of the domain is actually Andersen Windows, who are also a major manufacturer of storm doors.
Why would Andersen bother to register and develop another domain name besides its primary corporate domain AndersenWindows.com, is a question some business owners may want to ponder.
This could be a head-scratcher for some, but what are the benefits to this type of strategy? Some would think, “We already have a domain name for our company site, why would we need another one?”
Think about a commercial fisherman. Whoever uses the bigger net is likely to catch more fish. The advantage to this type of strategy is in widening the online channel for your business, through which to funnel more eyeballs (read: visitors, traffic, leads, etc.)
What other developed domains does Andersen Windows own? Here is a list of a few that I found while quickly searching the net
- AndersenWindows.com
- RenewalByAndersen.com
- StormDoors.com
- AndersenStormDoorsAtHomeDepot.com
As one result, when you search for Andersen Doors on Google, Andersen controls the top 6 spots on the first page. They are not giving any ground to other sites that may carry offers from competing door and/or window manufacturers.
Additionally, their generic domain StormDoors.com captures the number 3 position on a Google search for storm doors.
I am positive though that through their network of sites they are also capturing a much greater share of long-tail search traffic than would have nearly been possible from the central site alone.
This is just one example of how a company can use multiple domain names to target more business online.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
When it comes to domain names you either get it or you don’t get it. Andersen Windows gets it!!!
yup. the only thing that hurts them is more people type in Anderson then Andersen. even I did it and I used to be a contractor! I was actually really surprised