How a .STORE Domain can empower your eCommerce Business

How a .STORE Domain can empower your eCommerce Business

One of the dilemmas that eCommerce entrepreneurs often face is which domain name to register when they are about to launch their new product or service in the online space. This is one of those aspects of business development that should not be taken lightly, as your domain name can make or break the success of your business.

One of the tried and tested tools that work for businesses when it comes to marketing and branding is storytelling. Stories help create a lasting impression in your consumer’s mind. Coming up with a domain name, therefore, is a strategic decision because of the story it tells.

So, are domain names important?
You bet, they are. Domain names are more than just mere web address that brings your customer to your website. They play a larger role in a business’ overall marketing and branding.

How to find the right domain name for your eCommerce Business?

Often entrepreneurs choose the brand name depending on the corresponding availability of its matching domain name. And when the domain name is not available, they tend to compromise on the brand name and settle for something less than perfect. However, that should not be the case considering the way the Internet has been expanding to new domain extensions that are more suitable for specific industries. For instance, there is .TECH for technology, .PRESS for media and publications, and .STORE for retail and eCommerce.

Since these domain extensions are fairly new, chances of you finding your desirable domain name on them are significantly higher. Moreover, these extensions allow your domain name to be short, meaningful and memorable. For example, www.xion.com does not convey what the website is about. However, www.xion.store tells you that it’s an online store.

Now that you are sold on the idea of new domain extensions, use these simple tips to find the right domain name for your eCommerce store.

  • Meaningful: New domain extensions add an extra layer of meaning to the domain name which helps build a visual story in the mind of the user and helps them better connect with the brand.
  • SEO-friendly: New domain extensions make it easier to get on-topic backlinks which are great for your website’s SEO. For example, it’s more relevant to get a backlink on www.kindle.store for anchor text ‘Kindle Store’ than to the original link to the Kindle page on Amazon’s website. Such backlinks give a green signal to Google about the relevance of the page.
  • Short: Chances of you finding your desirable name on the new domain extension eliminates the need for adding unnecessary characters and words in your domain name. That helps keep the domain name short and short domain names are easy to remember.

How you can integrate .STORE domain to enhance your eCommerce Business

Often entrepreneurs underestimate the marketing power of domain name. When used correctly, a good domain name can get you all the exposure you need to make your marketing campaign a hit. Here are some ways how you can do it:

1. Make the most of Offers and Discounts

One of the most engaging ways to entice your customers is to create a dedicated page for all your ongoing promotions and sales. For example, if your offers page has a long complicated link, your users won’t remember it and that’s a missed opportunity.

Sure, they can always visit your website and go to the page, but wouldn’t it be easier if they could directly access the page they want? A domain redirect such as www.newdiscounts.store will be easier to remember and will entice the user to visit it often to check the discounts.

2. Integrate online and offline marketing using .store domain names

Domain names are the bridge between your offline and online marketing. They seamlessly connect the two to provide your customers with a more holistic experience. For example, if you are advertising your store in a local newspaper or through a pamphlet, you can include a short and memorable domain name to that specific category page instead of giving the website’s primary web address.

For instance, if NBC wanted to promote Jimmy Fallon’s official merchandise page, the actual link would look something like this:

https://www.nbcstore.com/shop-by-show/the-tonight-show-starring-jimmy-fallon.html

Now a link like this is difficult to remember. Instead, NBC can include an easy domain redirect such as www.nbc.store/Jimmy which is easy to remember and can effectively drive offline traffic online.

3. Improve your backlinks and SEO game

Contextual domains are wonderful marketing tools for eCommerce businesses especially when it comes to product reviews on outside publications. For example, if you are encouraging your customers to leave your product a review, instead of sharing the deep link such as

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B725M81/ref=s9u_ri_gw_i5?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_w=cZbIK&pd_rd_wg=jfDI4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=X2DB89PP57F73YJ9PAYQ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=a2d79bc4-36f0-49c9-96ee-f7d75fc12c45&pf_rd_i=desktop,

you can share a domain name such as www.aquawear.store/beach to redirect to your product page.

This helps enrich your product page SEO in two fantastic ways:

A contextual, pronounceable domain name reduces the risk of broken backlinks.
Since the product name ‘Aqua Wear Beach’ is included in the domain name, it helps in getting on-topic backlinks. Over time, search engines will establish a positive connection between the words and the domain name rewarding it with good organic rankings.

4. Social media marketing

Social media is hands-down one of the most effective mediums to engage in meaningful conversations with customers. To make this conversation more fruitful, you can share branded links in your social posts. Not only do branded links stand out, but they also present a great opportunity to increase the visibility of your brand name and build link-trust.

Look at these examples:

  1. nyti.ms/2PDIsJs
  2. pep.si/BV
  3. apple.co/2MSQU9K

Just by looking at these links you can guess the brand they belong to. There are multiple link shortening services that allow you to have branded links for your content.

Wrapping up
Memorable domain names work as an effective tool in a brand’s digital marketing plan. As the fight for customer attention increases, every brand detail must be used in enhancing the brand’s visibility. Whether you are launching a new product or looking to make your current eCommerce marketing plan more effective, integrate domain names in your strategy to win more customers.

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.

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