I’ve been listening to talk-back radio.

I never thought I’d say that, but I stumbled across 2GB and the next thing I know I’m a regular listener. I’ve been listening in the car, but also at home using Radium - a great app for the Mac that allows you to listen to digital radio from around the world.

Anyway, this isn’t about radio. It’s about an advertisement I heard while listening to the radio. And it’s about a lesson this advertisement teaches churches and ministries.

I heard an advertisement for what I think, was a restaurant. The restaurant was in Kirribilli, and my church is in Kirribilli and had never heard of the restaurant, so thought I’d check it out.

The advertisement encouraged me to check out their website. The website wasn’t spelled out, but was something like:

diddiesgroup.com.au.

That URL didn’t work so I tried:

ddsgroup.com.au.

No luck with that URL either.

I then tried:

ddiesgroup.com.au.

Again, no luck.

So I checked out the Advertisers Directory on the 2GB website. I searched under ‘Restaurants’, I searched for ‘Group’ - nothing. I gave up.

The advertising campaign for this restaurant (or whatever it is!) is a big waste of money - if people can’t find their website (and that’s what the call to action is in the radio ad), then they might as well be burning their money on a bonfire.

Churches and ministries - please don’t make the same mistake.

Choose a URL that’s easy to spell, easy to share, and easy to remember. I was more determined than most people would be to hunt down the website for this restaurant. Most web users aren’t that determined, so make it easy for them.

That’s also why you should claim a username for your Facebook page.