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VOICE OVER MARKETING
When you’re starting out in voice over, or even when you’re going through a rebrand, the temptation to get "creative" with your website URL is strong. You book a few big promo gigs, and suddenly you think, "I’m going to buy ThePromoPowerhouse.com." It sounds catchy. It sounds cool. It sounds like a brand! It’s a mistake. As the VO Strategist, I see voice actors fall into this trap constantly. They build a "brand" based on where they are right now while completely forgetting that their career, and the industry itself, is going to look very different five years from now. THE 'GENRE PIGEONHOLE' The biggest risk with a descriptive URL is that you paint yourself into a corner. If your URL is EducationalVoiceMom.com, you are going to have a tough time convincing a casting director that you are the right choice for a conversational automotive spot. You have created a cognitive disconnect before they even press Play on your demo. Voice actors evolve, and the market evolves right along with them. Remember when the "In a world..." movie trailer read was king? If you branded your URL around that style in 2005, your website and its branding would be a relic. On the other hand, your name is agnostic. It fits Commercial, Corporate, e-Learning, Video Games, and whatever the next big genre turns out to be. SEO RESET BUTTON (AND WHY IT HURTS) This is the boring technical part, but it affects your wallet, so listen up. Google loves longevity. The longer your domain exists and provides helpful content, the more "authority" it has. When you have TomDheere.com for 20+ years, Google trusts you. If you get bored and decide to change your URL from CoolVoiceDude.com to ProfessionalNarrator.net, do you know what happens? You hit the reset button. To Google, you are a brand new website with zero trust. You break your links. Every directory, social media post, or client bookmark that pointed to your old site is now a dead end unless you are a wizard with 301 redirects. You are effectively throwing away years of digital reputation building. THE 'WHO ARE YOU?' FACTOR In the age of AI voices and faceless content mills, clients are craving E-E-A-T ...
Hiding behind a generic brand name like TopTierVoices.net creates a barrier. It feels corporate and impersonal. But JaneDoe.com is different. That’s a person. That’s a human being I can direct. That’s someone I can trust. WHAT'S YOUR QUESTION? I know you have specific "Yeah, but..." questions popping up in your head. Let’s answer the ones I hear most often. "What if my name is already taken?" You don't need to change your name. Just add a modifier. For instance:
"My name is hard to spell!" If your name is difficult to spell, you have two solid options.
Tip - Buy the misspellings of your name if they are cheap and forward them to your main site. "Should I use a .com or a .voice/.audio extension?" Always aim for .com first. It is still the gold standard for trust and memory. If .com is taken, .net is a decent runner-up. Extensions like .voice or .audio are fun, but some corporate firewalls still block "non-traditional" domains. Plus, clients might instinctively type .com anyway, landing on someone else's page. "Can I buy a brand name and just forward it?" Yes! This is the best of both worlds. If you really love ThePromoPowerhouse.com, go ahead and buy it. But set it up to redirect to a genre-focused landing page like tomdheere.com/genre/promo. This way, you can use the catchy name on a postcard or in a specific marketing campaign, but your SEO "juice" continues to build on your permanent home—your name. Brands have shelf lives, but your name is your legacy. Don't force yourself to rebuild your SEO house every time you want to paint the walls a different color. Keep it simple. Keep it real. Keep it you. Web: www.VoiceOverStrategist.com |
By Tom Dheere
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