Want to give your brand that edge in the crowd?
When it comes to online marketing, every business wants to have a high degree of brand recognition. The trouble is that some of the best tools for getting it are some of the most neglected.
Take domain names, for example.
Here’s the thing… the domain name is one of the first interactions between a customer and a business. Do it right and the brand feels instantly professional and trustworthy. Do it wrong and the potential customer will head straight for the exit.
The evidence is there too. Recent statistics from Hostinger found that 77% of consumers find a domain name important in their assessment of a brand online. That’s a huge number of people forming an opinion about your business in seconds based on your web address alone.
In this article, we will show you how to use domain names for business marketing and achieve business brand recognition.
Let’s dive in!
What You’ll Learn:
- Why Domain Names Matter for Business Brand Recognition
- The Importance of Picking the Correct Domain Extension
- How to Choose the Best Domain Name
- Keeping Your Brand Secure with Multiple Domains
- What to Do Next
Why Domain Names Matter for Business Brand Recognition
It’s just like a sign on the front of a physical shop.
Before people enter the premises, they can see who the business is and what they can expect. A good domain name does exactly the same thing online.
The right domain immediately builds a sense of trust and professionalism. Customers are more likely to make a purchase if they land on a website with a clean, professional web address. A cluttered, hard to remember, or misspelled domain name will raise suspicion.
In the same way, a strong shop front on the high street will draw in foot traffic. But a boarded up building with spray-painted lettering will send passers-by in search of their product or service elsewhere.
And it doesn’t get any easier.
Statistics show that every day, over 33,000 new domains are registered worldwide. That’s one registration every 2.6 seconds. If you put off applying for your ideal domain, the chances are that it will be taken by another business long before you make a decision.
The smart strategy is to register your domain with CLDY early. Locking in a domain that perfectly matches the brand name provides consistency across all your marketing materials. It also makes the business much easier to find online.
It seems an obvious truth when you spell it out like this.
The Importance of Picking the Correct Domain Extension
It’s not just the name of the domain that is important. The extension matters, too.
.com will always be the default option for domain names and most people will instinctively type .com when they try to remember a website. It’s the gold standard and remains the easiest way to build trust in a brand online.
However…
Domain extensions such as .sg, .co.uk and .de are becoming popular with businesses. Country-code extensions are a great way to signal local relevance to a customer. If the primary target market is a specific region, a ccTLD (country-code Top Level Domain) is often a better choice than battling with other businesses for a .com.
Extensions like .shop, .tech and .ai provide other branding opportunities for businesses. They can be a useful way to stand out in a saturated niche. But be warned – these extensions are not nearly as universal as the more established options.
The key takeaway? Match the extension to the overall business strategy. If the intention is a global reach, then .com is the clear winner. A local business will find more relevance with a country-code domain. A niche tech start-up could benefit from .ai or .io.
How to Choose the Best Domain Name
This is where most businesses fall down.
A domain name has to be short, simple, and easy to spell. Anything more complicated creates friction for customers.
So what are the characteristics of a good domain name?
- Keep it short – As short as possible, two words is best
- Use real words – Correctly spelled words that are familiar and easy to trust
- Make it pronounceable – If someone can’t say it, they can’t tell someone else about it
- Avoid hyphens and numbers – These are distracting, off-putting, and difficult to remember
- Stick with the brand name – As close a match as possible for consistency across marketing materials
Statistics show that 74% of consumers feel more comfortable when a domain name matches a brand name exactly. For the same reason that someone searching for the bakery Sweet Treats feels immediately at home when they see sweettreats.com, a mismatched domain name could make a customer suspicious.
Perhaps a scam site, they might think.
It’s important to do the mental math too. Businesses spend huge amounts of time and money trying to acquire new customers. It doesn’t make sense to drive away visitors through choices as simple as a domain name.
Keeping Your Brand Secure with Multiple Domains
Top brands don’t just register one domain name. They take the time to protect their brand by registering multiple domains.
This should include common misspellings, alternative extensions, and country-code versions. The reason for doing so? Bad actors online are always looking for an opportunity to make some money.
Cybersquatters buy domain names that look similar to existing brands. They then either re-sell them at an inflated price or use the domain name to attempt to mislead customers.
Registering domains that protect against these tactics is an inexpensive way to prevent a very expensive problem in the future.
A few examples of domains to register would be:
- The primary .com domain
- Country-specific versions for the key markets
- Common misspellings of the brand name
- Alternative extensions such as .net and .org
All of these domains are then parked. This not only helps to protect the brand, but it will also capture traffic from any customer who types a URL incorrectly. Instead of losing a sale because someone makes a typo, the business can be redirected to the correct website.
What to Do Next
Let’s take a look at the harsh truth of domain names today…
The best ones are being taken rapidly.
With almost 368 million domains already registered, competition to find an available match is fierce. Waiting is never a good strategy.
If businesses are serious about building brand recognition, they need to be proactive. Fortunately, the process of applying for a domain is quick and easy. All it involves is:
- Brainstorming a list of domains to match the brand name
- Checking availability with a reliable domain registration provider
- Registering the primary domain and protective variations
- Setting up automatic renewal to prevent future loss of the domain
The last step is essential. Thousands of domains are lost by businesses each year simply because they forget to renew the registration. Automatic renewal prevents this from happening in future.
Once the domain name is in place, the real work starts. It’s time to build a professional website, design consistent branding materials, and use the domain in every piece of marketing collateral. A domain name becomes the foundation for the entire online presence.
The Final Word
Domain registration is a vital business decision that should not be taken lightly. The correct domain name directly influences brand recognition and customer trust.
A domain name that is well chosen can be memorable and help to set a business apart. It builds confidence before a customer sees a single product or service and lays the foundations of an online identity that can be used across all marketing materials.
A bad domain name – or no domain at all – leaves a business at a major disadvantage. Competitors with more professional web addresses will always be a step ahead when it comes to trust online.
Domain registration is one of the best ways to build brand recognition for your business. It’s not just another item on a checklist, it’s a strategic move that can influence the success of a business for years to come.
Invest in a quality domain name that reflects the business. Protect it with multiple registrations. And use it across all marketing materials consistently.
With a strong domain name, businesses can harness the power of online presence for enhanced brand recognition.
