A company's domain name is its first handshake with customers. For B2B software entities, a clever domain isn’t just a digital address, but a branding powerhouse. While the .com realm is saturated, a slew of other domain extensions offer a playground for creative and strategic branding.
This listicle explores compelling domain extensions and how B2B tech magnates can employ them ingeniously.
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Explore Frictionless.io:
This extension, initially the country code for the British Indian Ocean Territory, has been adopted by the tech community owing to its resemblance to I/O (Input/Output).
.ai:
Tailor-made for companies in the artificial intelligence arena.
.tech:
A straightforward choice for technology-centric firms.
.saas:
Perfect for Software as a Service (SaaS) providers.
.cloud:
Ideal for cloud-based solution providers.
.digital:
A versatile option for digital solution enterprises.
.app:
Designed for app developers or platforms.
.dev:
A haven for developers showcasing their portfolio or projects.
Brand Amplification:
Utilize domain extensions to reinforce your brand identity. E.g., a cloud service provider could opt for brandname.cloud.
Product Highlight:
Spotlight a flagship product or sub-product by integrating it with a relevant domain, like productname.saas.
Community Building:
Build a developer community around your product with a .dev or .tech domain, fostering a sense of belonging and innovation.
Geographic Targeting:
While not tech-specific, geographic extensions like .nyc or .london can localize your digital presence.
Educational Hub:
Create an educational repository related to your services on a .academy or .education domain.
Event Promotion:
Promote events or launches on a .events domain to centralize all related information and boost attendance.
Support Center:
Establish a support hub for customers on a .support domain, streamlining assistance and improving user experience.
Blog or Content Hub:
Foster a content-rich hub with a .blog or .media domain, nurturing a community of engaged readers.
Innovative Campaigns:
Launch marketing campaigns on whimsical or unexpected domain extensions to stir curiosity and engagement.
SEO Boost:
Some domain extensions are recognized for their SEO benefits; judicious use can potentially improve search visibility.
Domain Hacking:
Domain hacking involves creating a domain name that combines the domain label and the domain extension to spell out a word or phrase (e.g., inter.net or chocola.te). This can provide a creative, memorable way for B2B companies to brand themselves online.
Descriptive Extensions:
Utilizing descriptive domain extensions such as .coupons or .discount can help in creating specific landing pages aimed at promoting discounts or special offers, which could be effective in grabbing customers' attention
Marketing Campaigns:
With the release of many new top-level domains (TLDs) in the recent years, there's an opportunity for B2B companies to get creative with domain extensions like .ninja, .travel, or .club to name a few. This could be particularly useful in creating memorable, and descriptive campaigns. Such as Slack buying Slack.Ninja for a unique campaign about improving your skill in using their APIs.
Aurora Innovation, Inc. and Innoviz Technologies: Both of these tech startups have adopted the .tech domain extension for their online presence, with domain names www.aurora.tech and www.innoviz.tech respectively. They opted for this extension to resonate with the global tech ecosystem and to stand apart from the competition.
Shadow and Lightly Technologies: The founders of these companies, www.shadow.tech and www.lightly.tech, share that the .tech domain was a perfect fit for them, aligning with their brand's technical orientation and helping them stand out with a modern URL
Brilliant and Next Energy: These companies utilized .tech domains, www.brilliant.tech and www.nextenergy.tech, to provide a keyword-rich and meaningful online identity, making it clear to their audiences what industry they belong to.
Paramount Pictures: This large-scale company adopted the .tech domain extension for its domain www.paramount.tech, illustrating that even established companies in the tech industry find value in using unique domain extensions to represent their brand
Totem, CoinFlip, NoCode, and William Bent Technology: These businesses have also leveraged the .tech domain to better represent their technical offerings and create a unique online identity. The domains www.totem.tech, www.coinflip.tech, www.nocode.tech, and www.williambent.tech each provide a clear indication of the company's focus and industry3.
Alphabet Inc. (Google's parent company): Adopted the domain abc.xyz to underline its innovative and unconventional approach in the tech industry, also inspiring other businesses to adopt .xyz as a fun and tech-savvy domain extension
.PRESS Domain: A public relations agency has creatively used the domain extension .PRESS to signify what they do through their domain name WeGet.Press
.SPACE Domain: In a case of branding a co-working space, a domain name like www.worktogether.space was used to reflect the business's nature and to help with memorability among customers.
.attorney Domain: Although not a marketing campaign, a legal firm in Detroit utilized a unique domain extension, having the domain name Detroit.attorney to make their service offering clear and to possibly improve their online brand presence.
Fresh Brew Coffee Loyalty Program: A local coffee shop called Fresh Brew Coffee launched a customer loyalty program and registered a .club domain name - freshbrewcoffee.club, which was linked to their existing website. They also created loyalty cards with this easy-to-remember domain listed on them1.
.buzz Extension for Product Buzz: If a business wants to create buzz around a new product launch, a .buzz domain extension can be used for the product's domain and site - yourproductname.buzz
Paris Fashion Week .buzz Domains: Access Fashion Media created .buzz domains for Paris Fashion Week and its other Fashion Week websites to drive engagement, branching out beyond their original .com extensions
Black Friday Sale Domain: Businesses participating in Black Friday sales can create domains like yourstorename.blackfriday or yoursalename.sale to promote sales
Contest Promotion with .win Domain: For promoting a contest, a domain such as yourcontestname.win using the .win domain extension can be created and promoted across social media networks and other marketing channels
Google AdWords Campaign with .diamonds Domain: An AdWords test campaign utilized a .diamonds domain, finding that the .diamonds clicks were cheaper and initially converted better than the .com domain clicks in the campaign