FreeCOVIDTestsNJ.com: Why marketing leader bought this URL — and then redirected it to state site

Kasbo, CEO of Verasoni, said he wanted to do his part after hearing N.J. officials struggle to read hard-to-pronounce-or-remember existing URL

Abe Kasbo was working from his home in Summit on Monday when he heard Gov. Phil Murphy and his team of New Jersey officials struggle over the URL for the free COVID-19 tests the state was giving to residents.

To be sure, learn.vaulthealth.com/nj/ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

As the CEO of Verasoni, a strategic marketing communications advisory, consultancy and agency based in Fairfield, Kasbo knows the value of getting your message out in easy-to-use and easy-to-remember ways.

So, after a quick search showed it was available, Kasbo did what he could to help: He purchased the URL FreeCOVIDTestsNJ.com and redirected it to the state’s website.

“I was listening to Gov. Murphy’s COVID update yesterday and saw the panel was struggling with the URL to the free COVID test, so we purchased this branded domain name to make it simpler for people to say and remember,” he said.

The process was fast, easy and inexpensive — and just $10, Kasbo said. In fact, setting up the redirect was so easy that Kasbo even tweeted at the governor and Department of Health before the briefing was over.

So far, he hasn’t heard back. And that’s OK, Kasbo said. He’s confident the URL will get around. And that was the goal: To make it easier for everyone to get a test.

“We all must do our part to help each other in these tough situations, and this is one small way of contributing on our part,” he said.

Kasbo, who founded Verasoni in 2005, said he posted about the URL on the company’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

“We’re hoping people remember the URL and get tested when they need it,” he said.