It is no surprise that countless studies attest to the accelerated digitization of companies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not least due to the increased number of employees working from home, digital communication channels are being used to an ever greater extent. When a prospect or a customer comes into contact with your brand digitally, we speak of a digital touchpoint.
Depending on the respective phase of the information or purchase decision process, these can be encounters in social media, search engines, or e-mail, for example. The linchpins of these digital communication channels are predominantly domains that serve as signposts and should be meaningful and trustworthy.
A large part of the communication can shift to platforms that are outside your control. This often results in a competitive situation with retailers, customers, or partners for the communication sovereignty of your brand.
In addition: If your company secures a spot on external platforms, the possibility to generate meaningful and speaking links is not always given. Surely you have noticed almost cryptic links in social media from URL shorteners like bit.ly or goo.gl. Very confusing – for prospects, customers, but also your own employees, as it is not recognizable where these links lead to.
Structure of good domains
Four points that you should consider in terms of the communicability of your domain names.
The special features of a dotBRAND top-level domain
With your own top-level domain, a dotBRAND, you have exclusive access to the complete namespace. While with classic top-level domains like .com or .net domain names can be registered freely, your own top-level domain can only be used after an application process, including a strong verification mechanism. Misuse is consequently impossible. In addition, companies and organizations can only apply during fixed time windows – most recently in 2012. A second application phase is currently in preparation.
Partially confused current situations
The following are just a few of the most common digital platforms that a prospective customer can use to find you. The column on the left not only looks visually chaotic, but also reflects the reality of many companies. The appropriate short address could not always be registered and alternatives had to be found.
The right column shows a recurring pattern. Besides the fact that the term to the right of the dot cannot be forged, the length is reduced and thus increases the overview. The use of your own top-level domain is very flexible: You can set up redirects to your own or third-party content or have your own digital presences delivered directly via the dotBRAND TLD. It is recognizable that these are addresses of your company at first sight. Only domains ending with .brand belong to your brand!
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