Store, purchase, order or buy? Which URL?

[Syneryder]

I'm setting up a new page on my site, but I can't decide which URL to use for it. The page allows you to buy software, music CDs, and also make payments for services rendered. I'm trying to find a single word that is internationally recognized, that people will look for when purchasing/buying/paying, and that I'm not likely to regret in 5 - 10 years time :)

Any suggestions? What do you think of the following?

http://www.namesuppressed.com/buy/
http://www.namesuppressed.com/store/
http://www.namesuppressed.com/purchase/
http://www.namesuppressed.com/order/

Thanks for any advice... and if you want to see the page, it's currently at the second URL in the list above.

[TVB]

How about /gimme_all_your_money_now/ :P

I think either buy or order would be a good choice.

Betsy

[Evoir]

I vote for /purchase

Because that is the action that you are trying to achive. It is a verb.

buy is week, as is order and store because the same words carry different meanings in different contexts.

There may be another meaning to the word purchase, but I can't think of it now.

I vote for purchase. :)

[Jarrod]

According to Overture (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/) out of the words you've suggested "store" is the most commonly searched for term, and is followed by "buy". Purchase and order are nowhere near as common. And at the moment the main reason to search for order seems to be to do with some kid called Harry Potter :)

[Evoir]

why be common? ;)

[Wassercrats]

Purchase and order are nowhere near as common...so, I'd eliminate them from consideration. Also, people might misspell purchace. Shop is a good choice too, assuming the shopping is done only through that page.

[LightGuide]

Originally posted by TVB:
How about /gimme_all_your_money_now/

Betsy

I like that. I think I'm going to change all of ours...

[Andilinks]

Most of your customers like to price before the purchase. I am often put off by the fact that when I just want the price I must click a link that says BUY NOW! So maybe consider a word like price, or price itself which is both verb and noun. I just scanned all the thesaurus entries for price and didn't see anything better.

The shopping cart symbol and those words are well recognized too.

But going with the most commonly searched term is a safe choice and likely to draw the most random clicks.

Andi

[Randall]

While I understand Evie's point, I would go with "buy." It has a more marketing cred, at least in English.

Try to buy something from www.purchase.com, www.order.com or www.store.com and see how far you get. ;) I am often put off by the fact that when I just want the price I must click a link that says BUY NOW! Good point. But if you're trying to use the URL itself as a marketing tool, "price" isn't going to move anyone to act. People will see it as a noun, not a verb.

Randall

[Syneryder]

Wow, cool responses! Now that I've got some honest feedback, I can explain my thinking without biasing responses.

I started with store for the reasons Jarrod mentioned - it's the only keyword that leads to retail sites, and the big players use it (store.apple.com was a big influence). But I can't think of a single time I've clicked on a Store link to pay for shareware. I'd usually look for Buy Now, Purchase or Order. Not only that, my page is more like an Order form, not a shopping cart or store. That might change though.

This page will also be used for payments from clients (after they've received their services), and I don't think you order or buy a payment. You don't really purchase it either, but it seems the most appropriate somehow. Payment would be perfect, but who would look for a payment link?!?

At the moment I'm leaning towards either buy (it's short and easy to spell) or purchase - that's what I was going to switch to in my fit of panic last night. I've just noticed that my main (http://www.flamingpear.com/) competitors (http://www.alienskin.com/) also use purchase. Duhh, why didn't I research that before? But I want to keep an open mind.

Any thoughts or objections to purchase? Does it really matter, or am I being too pedantic again? I'm not worried about impulse purchases (they're a support hassle), and I already display prices on my product pages. I just want people to go to my front page and know where to click to pay for software and services.

Although, I do also like /gimme_all_your_money_now/ :) Spin past my site next April Fools Day, you might notice a change....

[Andilinks]

I like purchase.Duhh, why didn't I research that before? But I want to keep an open mind. When you get over this "open mind" thing you should study your competition very closely, the more successful the competitor the more closely you should watch them. It is a time honored way to learn what works, what challenges you need to meet, and what mistakes to avoid.

Andi

[Jeff]

and that I'm not likely to regret in 5 - 10 years time
That's what symlinks are for ;)

[Syneryder]

Thanks for the advice Andi. That's what has prompted all this, I've realised that my site isn't working as it should and I need to reorganize. I've been looking at big companies like Apple though, instead of looking at sites in my industry. (Though there are some horrific sites out there, even some that are rumored to be successful.)

I'm leaning very heavily on Purchase now - just remembered I used Buy in another section of the site (www.namesuppressed.com/ns/), and because it's such a short word it makes it hard to click on. Far easier to click on Discography than Buy, especially since Buy was only as wide as the mouse cursor....

Perhaps /buy as the URL and Purchase as the linking text makes sense. Gahh. Brain hurts :)

[Syneryder]

That's what symlinks are for
Ooh yes! But how do you remove a symlink again? I have one at the moment but it hasn't been used in months. I'd delete it via my FTP program but I'm nervous that will also delete the original file....

[Jeff]

I know that simply rm symlink via ssh will only delete the symlink not the actual. I'm not sure if there is any 'do the right thing' involved in ftp programs, so I can't offer much advice on that I'm afraid.

--clean up the symlinks or my desk... or read some more threads, hmmm :P

[Syneryder]

I just deleted the symlink via my FTP program and the original file appears to still be there, so I think it worked :)

[Randall]

Originally posted by Syneryder:
Perhaps /buy as the URL and Purchase as the linking text makes sense. If this is for use right on the product page, then "Purchase" is fine for the button/link text. Evie is right.

I don't think many people pay attention to the URL once they've reached a site, so I wouldn't worry about that. It's only when you're advertising a URL off site (or offline) that it becomes important.

Randall