State Farm® used a new domain name last night in a TV advertisement with SF2Save.com that I had to shake my head at! If I can remember correctly, I think it may have matched the 800 phone number displayed in the ad as well but domain names are not always meant to match a phone number.

The systems are very different. Phone numbers are hard to remember, most domain names are not unless you use one like SF2Save.com!

State Farm is simply using SF2Save.com as a tracking tool to see how it’s ad is doing and how many people visit the domain in the ad. SF2Save.com uses a 301 redirect to statefarm.com/discountdoublecheck/ . I think using a domain like SF2Save.com can and will affect this tracking because it feels scammy and is simply hard to remember!

I would suggest….

Do not try and match your phone number with the domain name you use. They are two different things!

Your domain name should not be thought as a licenses plate! You are better off having a longer domain name that makes sense because it will be easier for your customers to remember and doesn’t have a shady feel to it. Since the domain is only used as a forward, you can still use a "good" domain name for this or I think by using an iffy one like SF2Save.com you will not get an accurate tracking of people who attempt to use it. The domain simply can have a reverse effect and people not comfortable with the domain will not visit.

Using the combination of an Acronym (SF) for State Farm, a number (2) which could be remembered as To, Two, Too or 2 and then a full word (Save) all together confuses people! It doesn’t look very professional either.

According to Whois records, State Farm owns over 2,300 domain names and hand registered SF2Save.com on December 29, 2009.

State Farm could of done much better with the choice of domain name to run with this recent ad campaign and I think the web traffic to it will prove that. If you are spending the money in advertisement, use a better domain name because it will make a difference!