What Does Your Domain Name Say About Your Business?

With such a variety of domain names on offer, you should be thinking about the implications of whichever web address you opt for.

There are now over 1000 domain names for you to choose from when looking to house your business website, blog or personal site. As expected, that leaves a lot of room for you to choose the perfect one to reflect your operations. Nowadays, the freedom that gTLDs offer your business means that many brands are moving away from the generic .coms and .nets, and opting for a more original top level domain to showcase what it is they do from the beginning of their site visitors’ user journey.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is the web address your site visitors will use to access your online content. For us, that domain name is UK2.net, which you may have entered into your address bar to reach our website. Your domain name is important as it is the online representation of your brand: it must be professional, brand specific and easy to tap into a search bar. For more information about the properties of a domain name, visit this blog post.

A domain name can speak volumes about your business, both before and after the ‘dot’. Following the release of hundreds of industry and geographically specific gTLDs, the web address possibilities available to your business are now significantly broader than they were a couple of years ago, and you should take advantage of these new web endings that could speak volumes about your business.

What is a ccTLD? And what does it say about your business?

A ccTLD is a country code top level domain name. Unsurprisingly, by adopting the TLD of your country you indicate to site visitors just where it is that you’re based, and where your business serves.

There are a whole host of these domain names available to register; some have stricter registration rules than others. For example, .nyc domain names are available solely to businesses and individuals who live in or operate from New York City, whereas .wales domain names can be registered by anyone and everyone.

Be careful when considering a geographically-specific ccTLD, as the use of a ccTLD as your primary domain name could potentially deter customers from other corners of the globe. Consider pointing your ccTLD at a section of your website which focuses on the roots of your company, such as your ‘About Us’ section, and utilising an industry specific domain name for your primary domain.

What does an industry-specific gTLD say about your business?

A slew of generic top level domains have been released over the past two years, many with the intention of allowing businesses to outline their services in their web address. These industry-specific domain names allow you to shorten your web address, as your industry falls after the ‘dot’. For example: a local plumber may wish to register the domain name localplumbing.com, but the shorter, sharper local.plumbing is easier to input for site visitors and simpler to remember. Indeed, with many .coms safely registered the .com you would like to own may have already been snapped up; a gTLD is a great alternative.

In addition to this, gTLDs imply a degree of professionalism and highlight your business as technically savvy: be sure to build a killer website to continue the seamless customer experience we have come to expect from online services!

What of the other miscellaneous domain names?

Google hit the headlines recently when their new parent company Alphabet opted for a .xyz domain name to house their website. This is a sign of the times: businesses on the internet are becoming more accepting of these fresh new domain names.

Be wary of domain names like .sucks: it’s wise to protect your brand and register yourbrand.sucks before an unhappy customer uses it as an environment for the public to slam your service. Don’t worry though, as on the other end of the spectrum a .rocks domain name could do wonders for your online image! Be sure to encourage positive feedback from your customers.

A strong domain name strategy says a lot about your company: you are technically competent and business minded, you care for the reputation of your brand and are willing to embrace the future of the internet wholeheartedly. Manage your online reputation by visiting our domain name search page and checking to see if your domain name is available.