What’s common between one of the world’s biggest airlines and a local yoga store in England? They both chose to brand their online identities smartly with the use of powerful domain names. While the former owns www.emirates.store as their merchandise website, the latter’s primary website is www.yogaclicks.store.
Both these brands chose addresses that are short, unique, relevant and memorable. The good news is, you too can brand your eCommerce business equally well with a strong domain name. All you need is an idea that sells backed with a new domain extension such as .STORE which is perfect for eCommerce and retail.
What’s the importance of a domain name?
Do you think that your website is the first point of brand experience between you and your new customer? Think again. Even before the customer lands on the website, s/he has already experienced your brand through your website address! Your domain name is literally the first handlebar that the customer will hold if they were to go on a long journey with your brand. How willing are you to make that first brand experience an impressive one? That’s how important your domain name is in the fabric of your overall brand strategy. An extraordinary domain name:
Builds your brand
Your web address is your business’ first aspect that a customer is exposed to. This is your chance to get them hooked. What do you want your first impression to be? Do you want to come across as creative or trustworthy? How about innovative or classy? A good domain name is your chance to build this impression and etch your name in the user’s mind. It’s your opportunity to be memorable.
Builds credibility
With the variety of options available and ease of access, a majority of the shoppers do a Google search before making a purchase. If your name isn’t showing in the search results, then you’re losing business. Amongst a majority of other factors, Google prefers a short domain name and websites that are user-friendly.
Build strong customer relation
One of the many ways an eCommerce business interacts with its potential and existing customers is through email. With a branded email id, the chances of your email being read and not going to the spam folder increases by tenfold. A business email indicates that you are a legitimate brand that takes its work and its customers seriously.
How to get a good domain name?
A good domain name has three main attributes – it is short, simple and memorable. If a domain name can indicate who you are, which industry you belong to and what you do, then you have a winner. Moreover, a good domain name is intuitively understood by customers. Now the question is how do you get a domain name with all these characteristics? By following these simple tips:
1. Include your business or category name in your domain name
Let’s understand this with our earlier example. www.emirates.store uses the name of the brand in its domain name. However, www.yogaclicks.store uses its business category name. While the former is a fantastic way to promote your brand name and strengthen your brand positioning, category names can help with SEO because they are keyword-rich.
2. Avoid irrelevant words, numbers, acronyms or hyphens in your domain name
When deciding on a domain name, see if it is radio-test friendly. That can help you select a web address that is simple and the chances of getting it wrong are minimum. While including hyphens or numbers or extra letters in your domain name may make it look cool, it could cost you good business. If a customer gets confused between ‘4’ and ‘for’ then they’ll end up on a webpage that doesn’t belong to you. An effective domain name is easy to spell and pronounce.
For example, between www.bagz4u.com and www.goodbags.store, the latter will perform better than the former.
3. Keep your domain name less than three words
This one is rather simple. While your domain name should be descriptive, it shouldn’t be a sentence. For example, instead of going with www.urbandictionarystore.com, the brand got creative and chose to go for www.urbandictionary.store.
4. Be careful about trademark and copyrighted names
As a new eCommerce business, a legal hassle is the last thing you have the time and finances for. Before you finalize your domain name, do a thorough search of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission online database if you are in South Africa, or its equivalent in your country, to ensure that your domain name choice is safe from all copyright issues.
Final thoughts
Finding a domain name for your eCommerce store is not rocket science. All it takes is a little bit of creativity and forward-thinking to pick a name that not only makes your brand stand out but helps it stay strong against the competition in the long-run.
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Author: Alisha Shibli
Alisha is a Content Marketing Specialist at Radix, the registry behind some of the most successful new domain extensions, including .STORE and .TECH. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
