The Dot-Name Game   

What’s in a URL? A lot.

Consider this: A person needn't recite a station's call letters to watch the news, or spell the name of a newspaper to read it. But Web surfers who don't rely on serendipity--search engines or links--must know and correctly type the URL of the site they want to see.

The name a news site picks is literally the first test of its usability.

Rather, I should say "names." Sites typically have one site name (the official title) and several domain names (Web addresses). Christening a site is exciting, but laden with consequence.

Why bring this up now? After all, every newspaper, TV station and 4-H newsletter in the country hung its virtual shingle years ago. The good URLs are taken--along with most of the bad.

True, but convergence and cross-media partnerships are producing a new generation of sites that will start the name game anew. Moreover, it's not too late to refine marketing strategies or buy safety nets for misguided surfers.

Those safety nets are domain name variations that compensate for laziness, misspellings and finger fumbles. The goal is to help surfers get it right, even if they get it wrong. (To find out whether a domain name is available, visit NetSol.com.) A few tips:

•If your site suggests abbreviations, buy them. Who would type PhiladelphiaInquirer.com when Philly.com does the trick? NewYorkTimes.com works, but NYT.com is a godsend.

•Be a dotcom, even if you're not. In 1999 the BBC acquired BBC.com. The site's native URL is BBC.co.uk--but try getting this lazy American to remember that. (Nonprofits should consider that .com suggests commercial.)

•Sound it out. Last year, Minnesota Public Radio started promoting MinnesotaPublicRadio.org on the air instead of MPR.org – too many listeners had been confusing "MPR" with "NPR."

•Anticipate creative spelling. Sites that involve hard-to-spell words or city names should register as many misspellings as possible.

•If you insist on word play, see above. News4Jax.com is a clever URL for WJXT Channel 4 in Jacksonville, but one needs to see it to spell it. That's why the site also holds NewsForJax, NewsForJacks, etc.

•Beware of strange bedfellows. For several years, a missed digit made the difference between KCBS' Channel2000.com and sex site Channel200.com (both defunct).

•Own your URL. Channel2000.com was held by the company that developed KCBS' site. When the partnership ended late last year, KCBS lost the domain.

•Don't promote a site name if you don't hold the corresponding domain. The Denver Post's site name appears to be "DPO," but another company holds dpo.com.

Now let's look at identity. Of all the domains you hold, which should be plastered on your homepage and coffee mugs?

For single-entity sites, I hope for truth in advertising. In the 1990s lots of news sites expected to become "more" than their parent companies. Many created names that set them apart from their TV or newspaper partners. That divergence didn't happen; the new zeitgeist is collaboration between newsrooms and sales efforts. Call letters and newspaper names usually don't make great Web art, but they do reinforce continuity as users move from one platform to the other. If you are a newspaper or TV Web site, say so.

But sites that blend the content of two or more major media outlets need names that represent the sum of their parts. The Holy Grail of those sites is the city name. Blessed are those who own Madison.com and Miami.com. Almost as good are regional names such as BayArea.com. MySanAntonio.com might be memorable for those who've heard it, but an unlikely wild guess.

While the main URL of these sites leads to the "common" area, each partner usually has a home of its own. TBO.com (TampaBayOnline) is the shared site of WFLA Channel 8 and the Tampa Tribune; WFLA.com and TampaTribune.com are separate sites.

The partner URLs should at least work. FirstCoastNews.com (don't get me started) is shared by Gannett's WJXX and WTLV in Jacksonville. WTLV.com works, but WJXX.com is a dead end.

As long as a reasonable guess doesn't fling a person into space or treat him or her to a peep show, none of this is worth lost sleep. Visitors might be forgetful or hasty, but they're not helpless. They know how to use search engines and make bookmarks. We all understand that today's systems of Web navigation are imprecise.

Still, it helps to have a clear sense of identity--and to hold a few weird URLs.