For some businesses, the first domain name they register might not be the most beneficial for their business or brand. Especially with popular extensions like .com, perfect-match domains are hard to secure. New domain extensions like .inc allow established businesses to upgrade their domain with ease, and new businesses to start off on the right foot with a name that impresses at first glance.
Here are a few of our favorite examples of businesses that have leveled up their domain names with the .inc extension.
Opte Network had more characters in their original domain extension than their brand name. Originally limited by a geographic restricting domain, opte.us.com, they dropped the geotag and upgraded to opte.inc. Simple. Classy. Business-card ready. All made possible with .inc.
Olivier.inc Olivier is a drilling company that has been based out of the Netherlands since 1949. They previously relied on the name, olivierindustrie.be — utilizing the country code extension and a superfluous descriptor. Their new domain, olivier.inc, is an instant brand enhancement that celebrates brevity and widens the accessibility of their site.
Future Media Group previously used ftrmedia.com for their corporate site. While they get added points for creative abbreviation tactics, the domain name didn’t scream professionalism. After scrapping the awkward short form, they swapped out their old name for a new instantly-memorable 3-character abbreviation of their brand.
If your audience is startups, and your business is startups, then it doesn’t get much better than the domain name startups.inc. For a brand that boasts industry knowledge, Startup.inc definitely came out swinging with a name that proves they take their own advice.
E Inc was able to secure the single character domain name as an exact match to their brand name. That’s the dream! As they just recently went public, E.inc made for a professional and simple domain that encouraged a wildly successful launch.
To kickstart your next great idea, or revitalize a recent success, find and secure your own .inc name today.
Today’s online shoppers engage with countless brands every day. Utilizing technology and adding special features to your online presence can help make your brand cut through the clutter and create a lasting impression in the minds of your audience. Enhancements to your online presence can make your brand’s personality shine through, help you communicate your offerings, and create a memorably enjoyable user experience. Delight your audience and they may even choose to spread the word about your brand or business with friends and family.
In today’s digital landscape, using the latest technology is one of the best ways to stay ahead of your customers’ needs. That’s the reason we’re sharing how to stay ahead of the curve by enhancing your online presence with technological features, as part of this year’s XYZ Quarterly theme of Staying Ahead of the Curve with .XYZ. We’ll offer you seven helpful technological ideas that you can use to create a lasting impression on potential customers, as well as seven .xyz websites that serve as prime examples of these tips.
Tip 1. Feature collectible NFT badges to build excitement for your event or product launch
Brands and businesses in various industries are finding innovative ways to utilize blockchain technology, including creating digital assets for fans and customers interested in growing a collection of NFT badges. Blockchain platforms like Ethereum create a verifiable public database that can be used for tracking event attendance. You can create an event or product launch that provides attendees with a collectible NFT badge that tracks participation and provides an opportunity for your customers to start, or add to, their collection. This NFT badge can serve as a unique and branded digital promotional product that your customer can have forever. Promotional products can also generate increased brand awareness and recognition of your business. A custom NFT can spark curiosity and drive new customers to your website to learn more.
POAP.xyz is an example of a platform that can help your organization provide unique collectible NFTs to delight your customers. The platform is a decentralized application, also known as a dApp, which helps clients create NFT badges to be collected for attending activities and events. POAP.xyz claims that a collection of their custom NFTs is the best way to keep a visual diary of your life events. You can use POAP.xyz to create a memorable and technologically advanced experience for your customers by allowing them to earn a POAP badge at your next event. Collectors can store their branded badges online to be viewed and admired, potentially introducing viewers to the branded organizations. We found a POAP collector who has obtained over 500 badges by participating in virtual events such as Pride parades, reggae dance parties, art releases, and even the launch of xDollar, a new cross-chain cryptocurrency lending platform. POAP.xyz uses blockchain technology and NFTs to help enhance their client’s event and generate more brand awareness.
Using blockchain technology to create collectible NFT badges for your events can provide your customers with a truly unique and modern memorable experience.
Tip 2. Create a podcast for your business
As our desire for new and exciting entertainment options continues to grow, the podcast format is still becoming increasingly popular. A podcast is an episodic audio program that listeners can stream or download to their computer or preferred device for easy listening. This type of audio content can allow your customers to listen to interviews from your founder, the story behind your latest launch, or discussions about your events while they’re at the gym or driving to and from the office. Starting a podcast for your business can reach your customers in a new, more intimate way. As traditional marketing channels are carefully curated, podcasts can be incredibly casual and spiked with real personality. Customers can opt in to listen to your podcast regularly, which can educate your customers about your products and services and keep your brand and your website at top of mind.
SpiritGuideSociety.xyz is an example of a brand that created a podcast to extend their educational and entertainment value to a larger audience, and forge a more intimate connection with their followers. The Spirit Guide Society is a community developed by the Seven Grand bar group of Los Angeles, CA. For nearly a decade, popular global spirit brands have been visiting the bar group (Seven Grand, Caña Rum Bar, Las Perlas) to teach whiskey, rum, tequila, and mezcal enthusiasts about the drinks that they love. In 2018, SpiritGuideSociety.xyz began sharing that knowledge in podcast form. Episode topics include discussions with representatives of leading liquor brands, mixology lessons from their own roster of bartenders, and recordings of the group’s live tasting events. Since its debut, their podcast’s Instagram following has grown to nearly 11,000 followers! Comments from followers range from positive reviews of their events, questions about their featured spirits, and shared excitement about upcoming episodes. SpiritGuideSociety.xyz’s podcast listeners can learn more about their favorite spirits directly from brand representatives and gain increased awareness of the Seven Grand, Caña Rum Bar, and Las Perlas bars in Los Angeles.
By extending your educational offerings to a larger audience with the creation of a podcast, your customers can learn more about your brand’s backstory and gain a stronger understanding about your products and services.
Tip 3. Incorporate the latest in AR and VR technology
The engaging addition of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology can fascinate your audience and take their user experience to an interactive new level. AR is the use of text, graphics, audio, and other virtual enhancements integrated with real-world objects, like the appearance of a new table in your dining room when looking through your phone’s camera. VR, on the other hand, is the technology that uses software to produce images and sounds to create a virtual landscape. AR can place virtual items in your customer’s actual surroundings, and VR can place your customer in virtual surroundings. AR and VR can be especially helpful for businesses and brands that conduct a fair amount of online sales. With AR and VR additions like interactive dressing rooms, virtual color renderings, online customer support, and 3D details of your product, your customers can better understand how a product is going to look and feel in their space. Providing this increased understanding of your product to your customers can inspire them to make a purchase with confidence.
Lune.xyz is a Poland-based digital marketing agency that helps their clients apply this technique to their websites. They specialize in the use of interactive, cutting-edge AR and VR technology to connect consumers with products. Their clients can delight their website visitors with interactive applications and games, pyramid holographic visualizations, interactive mappings, and more AR and VR tools to build consumer trust and promote their ideas. When a brand’s customer is shopping online for a chair and AR technology can show them how it will look in their living room simply by aiming their phone’s camera, it can increase customer confidence in the purchase and leave minimal room for disappointment. When a virtual tour of a brand’s showroom is available through VR technology, a customer can be inclined to see more of what you have to offer from the comfort of their own living room. AR and VR technology like this create a highly interactive and engaging experience for customers that can leave a lasting impression and generate a lot of discussion. In fact, global consumers listed AR/VR as the top technology they’re seeking to assist, amplify, and augment their daily lives, according to a Nielson IQ Global Survey
Utilizing interactive AR and VR technology on your website can enhance a visitor’s experience, extend their stay on your site, and increase your chances of earning a loyal customer.
Tip 4. Develop a low carbon website
Customers today are paying more attention to the environment and sustainability. Your company or organization may already be making sustainable efforts in your business model, but you can take those efforts a step further with a low carbon website. With electricity powering data centers, computers and smartphones, energy consumption and emissions from the internet are rather sizable. Approximately 1.6 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions are produced in the manufacturing and running of digital technologies. Developing a low carbon website can reduce your website’s carbon footprint. A low carbon website is one that uses limited energy-consuming resources, including typefaces, logos, and high-resolution images. Your efforts may leave a lasting positive impression with your environmentally conscious customers.
MADC.xyz is an example of a sustainability-minded business that furthered their efforts with the development of a low-carbon website, hosted by a green hosting company. Miguel Ángel Díaz Camacho (MADC) & Partners is an international architecture firm established in Madrid, Spain who assert they operate under a succinct philosophy: “Design without sustainability is no longer design.” To extend their sustainability efforts, they designed their website using energy-reducing efforts with the intent of low environmental impact. They chose a green hosting company that uses renewable energy to power the data centers it uses. To limit their use of energy-consuming resources, MADC.xyz’s website is absent of custom typefaces. Visitors of MADC.xyz will instead see the default typefaces of their browser, a sans serif and a serif font. MADC.xyz also limits the usage of high-resolution color imagery on their website. Their website features black and white imagery, with an interactive option that lets visitors temporarily view full-color versions. MADC.xyz is demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and have positioned themselves to leave a lasting impression on visitors of their website.
Aligning your online presence with your brand’s sustainability efforts through a low carbon website can intrigue, impress, and inspire your customers, as well as better serve our planet.
Tip 5. Utilize the latest in social media platforms that may resonate with your target audience
Social media marketing can help increase brand awareness, brand loyalty, and increased traffic to your website. Customers also enjoy the engagement aspects of social media, and can respond favorably to personalized responses to their comments and messages. Embracing the latest social media platforms that most resonate with your target audience can excite your viewers and demonstrate your adaptability as a brand. One new platform is TikTok, a video-sharing social networking service. Another example, Clubhouse, is an audio-only social media app where users can communicate in chat rooms that can accommodate thousands of people. Sharing content that is entertaining, educational, and engaging on the newest social media platforms can help spread your brand’s message and route your audience back to your website.
ForceofNature.xyz is an example of an organization that has embraced the latest social media platform aligned with the interests of their target audience. This youth-led non-profit organization is dedicated to helping fellow young people realize their change-making potential in the face of climate change. Initially sharing their informative climate change posts on Instagram and Twitter, ForceofNature.xyz has created a TikTok account to stay on top of the latest popular social media platform enjoyed by their target audience. In the months they’ve been active they’ve even used the platform to launch efforts to recruit a climate-minded content creator. They have shared clips of speeches from their founder, Clover Hogan, focusing on topics such as intersectionality when promoting environmentalism as well as clips of discussions they’ve had with featured guests, such as environmental lawyer Farhana Yamin. Joining this new, widely-adapted social media platform to share an inside look at their organization can inspire viewers and drive them to ForceofNature.xyz to learn more.
Using the latest technology in social media can help you reach and engage with your target audience.
Tip 6. Use 3D printing to make customized items
One way to truly set your business apart is to offer your customers the ability to modify or customize your offerings to meet their specific needs. Many customers love a one-of-kind customization. Your ability to offer exactly what they want can leave a lasting impression on your customers, which can lead to repeat business. For example, if your business sells sunglasses, you can delight your customers by providing the option to add a special emblem or message in the design of their choice to the pair they order. You can achieve the specially ordered request with 3D printing. On-demand manufacturing, also known as made-to-order, is a production model when products are only made as they are ordered. 3D printing is relatively fast, and makes on-demand manufacturing, regardless of order size, extremely accessible.
Womp.xyz is an example of a 3D printing studio that can help your business provide unique customizable offerings to delight your customers. This Brooklyn-based business aims to bring 3D technology to the masses. With their personalized service and DIY 3D modeling approach, any organization can transform an idea into a 3D reality. Starting a project for your customer is simple. Just send a description of the desired object’s form and function, and Womp.xyz’s custom software will generate a 3D model you can preview and modify. Once your 3D model is finalized, you can select from over 80 materials to be used. 3D printing studios like Womp.xyz can make it quick and easy to provide customized, unique options for your customers, which can leave a lasting impression.
Using 3D printing to provide customized offerings to your customers can make your business stand out.
Tip 7. Send more secure messages with blockchain technology
Making efforts to increase security when messaging can provide peace of mind to your customers. Electronic messaging like email, live chat, and SMS texting are increasingly popular modes of communication between businesses and customers for their efficiency and immediacy. Authentication and security concerns also continue to grow as new security threats surface. Studies indicate that over 90 percent of global online users have had at least one significant concern about data privacy. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology can allow users to exchange messages while preserving a high level of security.
Mailchain.xyz is an example of a platform that can help your organization securely send email-like messages on various blockchain protocols. This decentralized application encrypts email messages so that only the recipient can decrypt and view them. Mailchain.xyz allows users to send and receive HTML messages, including messages with media. The platform’s services included sending strongly encrypted messages, managing payments, and handling internal support requests, but the most comforting aspect is its decentralized nature and enhanced record-keeping ability thanks to blockchain technology. Mailchain.xyz can use records logged in the blockchain to verify transactions and the parties involved without needing to know their identity, which enhances the privacy and security of their service. This can be of great benefit to you and your customers, as the greater sense of security can increase engagement and business opportunities.
Secure messaging can alleviate the potential privacy concerns of your customers and increase the likelihood of continued engagement.
Conclusion
Businesses that stay ahead of the curve recognize the importance of providing a stellar experience to their customers. It is helpful for your brand affinity to have an online presence that gives your customers something to be impressed with or excited about. Enhancing your website or app with creative and entertaining technological features, whether big or small, can encourage them to stay on your website, become a loyal customer, and even become a brand advocate. Adding a feature to inspire, delight, and excite your customers can help to ensure that they will stay. Take advantage of the latest technology to increase your website’s offerings and reach, including blockchain technology, podcasts, AR/VR technology, low-carbon websites, and the newest social media platforms.
Following the example of these users and making use of these technological features on your website or app can help to create a unique and memorable experience for your customers which can extend the success of your brand.
Consider this a love letter to domains. Especially given the current circumstances, where would we be without them!? Take a read through what our partners at .ooo have to say about the necessity of domains and their impact on modern business.
by our partners at .ooo
More than a year into the pandemic, we continue to witness a new pace of business and technology. Companies are developing strategies to strive no matter what comes next. And if we’ve learned anything, it’s that we have no idea what’s around the corner. The pandemic has transformed the face of modern businesses as most startups enterprises continue to advance their image digitally. While most of us recognize immediately the importance of a domain name in that effort to expand online business, let’s take a moment to review the basics!
Why You Need A Domain Name
Connect With The Global Marketplace
Beyond simply giving customers a resource to access your business online, a personalized, well-branded domain name helps you speak directly to your specific clientele by setting precise expectations for what you have to offer. Having a unique domain name saves your customers time and enables you to connect with them quickly and clearly.
Creating connections that span the globe is not an easy task, but an accessible online presence is your first crucial step. Your business needs a unique domain name to stand out from the crowd and begin to build upward momentum.
Control & Manage Your Brand
Another main point to consider is if you do not secure your domain name, you risk somebody else purchasing it first, potentially resulting in losing control of your brand. Getting a domain name ensures that no one else can steal your name and siphon your potential customers. Maintain control of your brand and your business by securing your name at the first opportunity.
Get Discovered
A unique domain helps potential customers find and remember you. With increasingly more domain names available, you can include brand-related keywords directly in your URL, so customers can easily recognize your services from their first search.
Stay Memorable
We’ve all been there — trying to remember the correct name or spelling of a website. Creating a domain name that It is a nightmare when your customers face a hard time remembering your business URL. Getting a domain name can help you get discovered online.
Maintain Credibility
Your website’s name allows you to communicate with your visitors about your products and services. It also helps explain the core message of your business. When used correctly, a domain name contributes to the overall reputation of your brand. A good reputation means more customers and more sales. Improve your online visibility and set a vision for your business. Having a personal domain name is a good sign that you take your business seriously, so your customers will do so too.
Gain A Competitive Edge
A personalized domain name helps give your business a competitive edge, while situating your brand amongst the world’s largest companies. A domain name helps you compete alongside every one of your competitors, even if they are bigger with several products and services to offer.
The Takeaway
In a nutshell, every reported business has an independent domain name. And to successfully launch your business online, a unique domain name is your first non-negotiable step. With a seemingly endless slew of domain name opportunities, choosing the right one may feel a bit daunting. Fear not! We’re here to make that exploration a fun one!
Consider how to best differentiate yourself, with something besides .com. You can opt for an equally generic extension with much wider availability, increasing your chances of securing your perfect match. Take the domain .ooo for instance — easy to remember, easy to quickly type, and brimming with opportunity! Start your domain search today to get online and keep your business growing.
You don’t need the most expensive equipment available, or even millions of subscribers, in order to make money with video content. Nowadays, we can all be video creators simply by using our smartphones and talking to a niche group of people that share our interests. If you’ve found yourself intrigued by YouTube (do content creators really get paid per view?), but have no idea how to begin — or you think you simply don’t have the audience or video creation chops to cut it — we’re here to help.
Whether you’re angling to be the next vlogging superstar or you just want to supplement your income with a video-creation side gig, read on for simple steps to achieve video greatness.
Starting is the Hardest Part
This advice may sound self-evident, but hear us out: if you want to make any amount of money through video content, you need to actually create and upload videos. For many of us, there just isn’t enough time in the day to shoot, edit, and upload; it’s yet another task on an ever-increasing list. The good news is that your videos don’t have to be perfect, they just need to be authentic. Remember, the only person who can offer your unique voice and perspective is you. So come from a place of authenticity, and just start making!
If you already know what you want your videos to be about, you’re already ahead of the game! If you don’t, let’s start with a small brainstorming task. What are your interests? What are you passionate about? Is there some skill, craft, or advice you can offer others, like how to draw or how to build a website? Make a list of everything you enjoy, everything you’re good at, and any gap in knowledge you could potentially fill. You’ll start to see where your skills, interests, and greater public needs intersect. The more truthful you are with yourself during this process, the more authentic your video content will be.
Once you’ve honed in on your video content, it’s time to create a schedule for yourself to stay on track with regular shoots, edits, and uploads. Remember, you don’t need a fancy, state-of-the-art camera, or even the latest video editing software to do this. Most smartphones today offer picture quality and editing capabilities comparable to sophisticated film equipment. Especially if you’re just starting out, you shouldn’t need expensive gear. Commit to regular uploads, so your audience knows what to expect. When in doubt, forgo the glitz and glam, and opt for consistency.
Build Your Audience
Once you’ve developed and maintained your content schedule, now let’s figure out how to grow those subscriber numbers so you can monetize your YouTube channel.
This is where your hard work in the first step really comes in handy — if you have a specific thing you can offer through your videos, you are more likely to find an audience. Don’t worry about trying to cater to every taste, just speak to what you know and your audience will naturally find you. Stick to your voice and your content will inevitably be much stronger compared to those simply looking to placate the masses. Specialization doesn’t need to come at the expense of growth! You can continue to reach new people by trying some of the following:
Engage with your audience: Read and respond to comments you receive both on the YouTube platform itself and on other social media platforms you use to promote your content.
Use a unique domain name to stand out: .tube domains are a great way to shorten your YouTube URL to something easy-to-remember and easy-to-promote. A .tube domain provides an unprecedented opportunity to brand yourself and makes it easy for people to find your videos online. Search for your perfect domain today.
Customize your video thumbnails: The thumbnail is the first visual people see before they even click on your video. If it’s boring, they’ll just keep scrolling. So make it count!
Porkbun customer Franko Dean found a unique way to promote his YouTube account and grow his audience with a custom .tube domain that redirects to his personal YouTube channel. By using franko.tube on his Instagram and Twitter profiles, Franko made it easier for people to find his videos and remember his name.
To monetize your YouTube account and become a YouTube partner, there are two important milestones you must first achieve. You will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past year. Once you have hit those marks, simply enable the monetization option within your YouTube account to start earning money.
A common misconception regarding the YouTube partner program is that you earn money for every video view — that is not the case. Through this program, advertisers will be able to overlay their pop-up ads on your videos and, if a viewer clicks the ad, then you will get paid. So, in order to monetize your videos further, you will need to leverage your audience in other ways.
Making Money Outside of YouTube
Once you have built up your audience on YouTube, you can create alternative revenue streams for yourself. Start selling merchandise with an online store. Ask your audience to support you through “fan funding” (think of sites like Patreon, where users pay a monthly fee to support their favourite creators). Leverage your knowledge to work with like-minded brands and promote their products to your audience. License the use of your videos to the media. Explore affiliate marketing opportunities where you advertise products through a link on your website, newsletter, or video description and get paid either per click or per purchase.
Streamlining Your Brand
To get started on developing your website, simplify your domain search, and start here. From there, it’s easy to set up a website using our range of site builders and hosting solutions from personal brands to established companies alike. Choose your preferred hosting plan, and try it out for free. After the free trial, you could even be paying a very low cost of $3-$5 per month!
It’s never been easier to set up a website and personal brand. And with a custom email address that matches your .tube domain, no longer do you have to use that generic yahoo or gmail address. Elevate your professionalism and streamline your online presence around your .tube domain to create one seamless brand.
By combining several of these tactics, you can start making money both within YouTube’s platform and outside of it. Before you know it, you’ll be able to supplement your income simply by being yourself and sharing your video content. And who knows? Perhaps you’ll become the next Jeffree Star and be the richest YouTuber in the world.
So, you’re ready to publish your website! You’ve done your research, thoroughly mulled over your content, and are on your way to establishing a cohesive brand. Overflowing with excitement, you hit that publish button (!!!) and immediately expect to see your website appear in Google. That’s how it works right!? Well, maybe, but it isn’t a guarantee.
Search engines first have to “crawl” and “index” your site — simply the process of analyzing and categorizing your content — in order to include yours in relevant search results. This process will happen automatically in time, but to expedite and ensure results, you’ll want to manually submit your site to each search engine.
Our partners at .US domains have put together a beginner’s guide to walk you through each step in the site submission process. Read on to get started.
From our Partners at .US Domains
Search engines are the largest source of traffic for most websites, especially if you’re running a new venture. Think about it: if you’re a brand new, local jewelry shop, customers are more likely going to type in “local jewelry store” or “jewelry stores near me” instead of your actual business name. That’s why it is important to make sure that these website giants can easily identify and list your site pages in search results.
While most search engines can automatically find your website thanks to built-in bots, submitting your site manually will help you get discovered by search engines much faster.
Especially if you’re a new business owner aiming to boost your company’s online presence, getting listed on search engines is basically a free marketing move. This will save you from having to spend on online ads. Leverage the power of organic search.
Let’s get started.
For the sake of simplicity and practicality, we’ll start with how to get your site listed on Google, the largest and most important search engine of all. More than 90% of the world uses Google for search engine purposes. That’s a stat that simply cannot be ignored by business owners. If you haven’t already, reserve your business domain now to ensure you land a short and memorable URL for your business.
Submitting your website to Google
If you’re launching a brand-new site, first visit the Google Search Console and follow the steps to verify that you own the site. Google will require you to add a small snippet of code to your site to prove ownership. Once you’ve verified your site on the Google Search Console, follow these next steps:
Index new pages. Log into Google Search Console and select “URL Inspection” from the left side menu. Add your specific URL string to get Google to crawl your new page.
Then click enter and select “Request Indexing.” After Google processes the URL, it will say “Indexing requested.”
Click “Got it” and give it a few hours to complete the process.
This is a beginner’s approach to submitting your website to Google. If you need additional resources, visit Google’s guide to submitting a site.
Creating a Google Business Listing
Once you’ve added your website to the Google Search Console, you will also want to create a Google Business Listing for your property. Google My Business is a core element of SEO, especially for brick-and-mortar business. Think about those “coffee shop near me” searches. In order to ensure your business is included in local search results, create (and maintain!) an accurate and up-to-date Google Business Listing. Thankfully, Google has made this process quick and painless for busy business owners. Steps include:
Set up a Google account (if you don’t already have one).
Follow the steps to enter your business information including: Business Name, Address, Phone Number, Website and Hours of Operation.
Note: If you are an online only business, you can leave the address field blank, and check “I deliver goods and services to my customers” and then check the box for “Hide my address (it’s not a store)” option that appears below.
Choose your geographical service area and business category.
Then click “verify.”
After verifying your business, be sure to optimize your listing by adding photos, video, and a thorough business description.
Once you’ve gotten your website on Google, be sure to get on the other major search engines as well (including Bing, which is powered by both Yahoo and Microsoft).
Submitting your website to Bing
Similar to Google, the process to submit your site on Bing is even more streamlined. If you’ve already verified your website via the Google Search Console, simply import the work you’ve already done.
Log onto Bing Webmaster Tools, then click “Get Started.” You can verify your website using the Google Search Console Option or re-verify manually through Bing.
Once your site is verified, log back into your Bing Webmaster Tools account and go to “Configure My Site.”
Select “Submit URLs.”
Paste in the individual URLs into each line, then click “Submit”
Remember that it can take a few hours or even a few days to get indexed. But it’s worth the wait, and well worth the benefits.
Most importantly, to get indexed and stay indexed in a search engine’s results, make sure you are creating high-quality and purposeful content. Anything subpar will be marked as spam.
Ready to get started!? If you’re looking to launch your first site, make your message count with right extension. Secure your perfect domain today.
Over the past year we have seen digital innovation take center stage as we continue to transform into a digital-first economy. One of the popular domain extensions leading that digital race is .cloud. Is .cloud for startups? Yes. It is for household names? Yes. Is it for nephologists!? Obviously, yes!
Check out these 7 modern businesses using a .cloud domain name to highlight their innovation.
powercloud is the energy industry’s leading platform for simplified processing and billing services. Say goodbye to inflexible and outdated IT and hello a new energy standard you won’t soon forget.
By combining the strong keyword such as “power” with the domain .cloud, the brand successfully created a pretty unforgettable domain name — one that sounds like a modern-day superhero and packs an energizing punch! POWERCLOUD! BLAM!
A global leader in cloud solutions with an exceptional focus on innovation, blue.cloud helps enterprises migrate to the cloud. They offer the full sweep of services to simplify, modernize, and digitalize businesses.
As far as domain names go, blue.cloud is short, memorable, and comes with a satisfying visual (a sweet little blue cloud drifting by simplifying all your operations). Plus, the color blue in the tech world has come to be associated with trust and intelligence. Think of all the leading tech brands you know well, there’s a good chance blue is at least part of their logo (and if not, just think of another so my point still stands). I could lead you down a lengthy road of reasons why brands often opt for blue, but I’ll leave that for another post.
All to say — blue.cloud is a noteworthy domain that hits all the industry marks with just two compelling words.
ScreenCloud provides digital signage for smart organizations. Makes sense right? Digital screens. ScreenCloud. We love to see it. Insider knowledge: screen.cloud was the first ever .cloud domain to go live back in 2015 as part of the .Cloud Registry’s pre-launch campaign.
Watching this early stage startup transform into a sustainable and global business shows just how far the right domain name can take you. They weren’t afraid to select a new top-level domain over a more traditional domain choice, and for them, it definitely paid off!
Alchemy is an enterprise SaaS company that develops software to help modernize the specialty chemicals industry. As a company that powers the digital lab of the future, a modern domain name was a must.
Here’s another example of combining a powerful keyword with a tech-forward domain extension like .cloud to create a highly memorable domain name. As a company that accelerates digital transformation in the chemicals industry and is built on modern technology such as AI, Alchemy.cloud is equal parts magical and modern. Cue the bubbling beaker.
ReportingCloud enables developers to create documents with simple HTTP requests. We love to see .cloud leveraged for the developer audience.
ReportingCloud is the brainchild of Text Control, a leading vendor of word processing and reporting components for Windows, web and mobile development technologies. As a SaaS product specializing in reporting and templates, it makes perfect sense to brand their product Reporting.cloud. Simple, straightforward, and highly effective — that’s what the best domain names are all about!
This one is for all our internet-lingo-savvy folks (and Reddit aficionados). We had to include one objectively fun domain name into the lineup, and tldr.cloud was our top pick.
For those unfamiliar with the acronym, “tl;dr” (with or without the semicolon) is internet speak for “too long; didn’t read,” used to signal a summary of the original lengthy post.
Tldr.cloud has morphed this Reddit-born concept into a browser extension that offers concise summaries of the day’s top news. Now that’s one domain name that just makes perfect sense.
Here’s another promising personal app that‘s currently in beta. Golf.cloud is your all-inclusive clubhouse for everything golf — including stats, analytics, coaching and news. That’s all we know for now! But we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on this one. Did someone say, “Fore”!?
Your Domain for Digital Transformation
Whether you’re looking to start your own .cloud enterprise, or just browsing for general domain tips, hopefully you now know right where to start. That button below awaits 😉
You have a marker in hand and a whiteboard in front of you, yet you’re completely stuck on what to name your new business. Don’t let the blank canvas overwhelm you. Here are some tools and techniques from our partners at .biz domains to help you name your next big business idea. A couple of pointers before we get started:
First, don’t brainstorm alone. It’s tempting to be a lone soldier and keep your ambitious goals close to your chest. But having a select number of trusted people to bounce ideas off of will open the floodgates. Involve your team or close friends with creative prowess.
Second, the web will be your best tool. That doesn’t mean you have to do away with your trusty whiteboard (or napkin) but do leverage the web for endless creativity.
Now, let the brainstorming begin:
Dust Off Your Dictionaries and Thesauruses
Well, thanks to the Internet, just go to both websites and save yourself some page-flipping. Before arriving at your brainstorming session, make sure everyone, including yourself already has a working list of ideas and terms. As each person shares an idea with potential, have the following websites ready: Thesaurus.com and Dictionary.com and Google.com. These easy search sites can help you arrive at a plethora of synonyms and related words for your brainstorming session. If you come up with a business name, Google it and see what comes up. Is the business name already taken or trademarked? Is the domain available?
From Google To Glossary
Every industry has its own set of lingo and jargon. Let’s say you’re opening a new seaside bar and want to appeal to surfers. You make a mean fish and chips and can whip up great happy hour drinks, but you don’t have a clue about surfer-talk. Before settling on calling your beach bar something lame like Cowabunga or Hang Ten, you can Google “Surfing Terms” or “Surf industry glossary” or “Surfer’s lingo” or “surfing slang.” You’ll find an abundance of terms like Grey Belly (an experienced surfer) or Endless Summer (a classic surfer’s movie). Surfer’s Endless Summer already sounds much better than Cowabunga.
Envision Board It
We’ve all heard of vision boards for your life goals. No, you don’t have to start cutting up magazines and quotes to envision your business name. Instead type your business ideas into Google Images or Canva or any stock photo site. What kind of images come up? The photos of scenes and subjects can help spur further creativity.
Get Outside!
As much as a roundtable in an office seems like the traditional setting for creating the biggest of ideas, naming a business is something that will require more time, heart and soul. A catchy, memorable name can determine so much about your company’s path, so it’s something that should not be done hastily. While the web can be your best friend, bring yourself to step away from the conference room and laptop, and immerse yourself in the real world. If you want to start a clothing company, walk the malls or an outdoor bazaar for inspiration. Sometimes even a nature walk or long drive can also help clear your head.
Back To The Drawing Board
Ah, so you’re back to that vast whiteboard. Boil down the best ideas from group brainstorming sessions and check which names are not yet taken. Which results spoke to your gut as the business founder? And because your company’s digital presence is more important than ever, consider which name options might work best for web, social media and search engine optimization purposes. This includes looking into the domain name availability. Nothing is worse than landing on the perfect business name only to find the domain is already taken. A short, memorable domain name will be key to driving traffic (and business) to your store. Consider domain extensions that can grow with your business like .biz.
Factoring these items can determine so much about your business’ future, from branding, to web domains and of course, how easily a customer can find you online. Now, get started!
Still have that @hotmail account you created in 2002? Believe it or not, these days, even having a generic @gmail or @yahoo account is considered passé. Create a personalized e-mail address that you choose and control in order to establish your digital presence, amplify your personal brand—and appear web-savvier than the rest.
Business owners are not the only ones who need a custom e-mail address. Your friendships, family relations and overall “personal brand” exist in the real world, but also live on and persist in the digital realm. This is great news for those who want to build their personal relationships online and simplify communication in as little as 10 minutes.
Below are the top reasons you should dump your generic email and get a custom email address.
1. This Time, It’s Personal
As mentioned, a custom email does not just benefit professional and business correspondences. It can serve a much higher (and more personal) purpose. Consider this: you’re planning the first family reunion in years, so you secure a domain name that reflects your family name, and as a New Yorker, naturally, you choose a .nyc address – thejohnsons.nyc. You’re not interested in setting up a website (at least for now), but in an effort to easily stay connected with your relatives and streamline communications during the planning process, you decide to create a personal email address for everyone in the family:
You create an online event and email the invites from your new branded email address. Not only is your email going to stand out in their inbox, but you’ve also made it easier for everyone to stay-in-touch. Does Grandma want to attend? She can send to sophia@thejohnsons.nyc and email her attendance confirmation to rachel@thejohnsons.nyc. Maybe Grandma wants an email address of her own? With your custom email address, you can also create a variety of addresses based on your needs. For example, you can create one for each member of your family or extended family. That should make color-coordinating for the long overdue family portrait much less stressful.
2. Simplicity — Less Is More:
Unless you’re lucky enough to have an uncommon name, any address you can get at the big free mail providers is likely to be some complex variant of your name. You may have noticed that a family member uses Gmail or Yahoo to send you those virtual Birthday card greetings, or annual Holiday party announcement. Did you also notice that most of those emails include numbers, hyphens or symbols in addition to the name (example: rachelj1993@gmail.com)? A complicated email with extra letters and numbers will only increase the chances of someone mistyping your address and sending a personal note to the wrong person.
Simpler is always better. With your own domain name, you’ve got complete control. You could even rely on a single letter such as r@johnson.nyc. This should make sharing your email address a breeze. With your own domain, it’s far more likely that typo-ed addresses will get bounced, and the sender will notice the mistake.
3. Be The Most Interesting And Memorable Person In The (Digital) Room
Think about it, you’re networking at a (virtual) industry happy hour or Zoom conference, and you pass your contact information—rachel@johnson.nyc—to a promising job lead. When you have a custom domain email address, it is easier for people to contact you. Your audience will find your personalized email address easier to remember when they need it, and, needless to say, much more professional than a jumbled Gmail or Yahoo address.
The goal is an easy and memorable way to brand yourself online so that you stand out. Being proactive puts you in control of your career development and increases your attractiveness in the marketplace.
4. Get A Grip Of Your Inbox
This is the big one: get more control. Creating personalized account helps you stay organized and automatically direct the stream of emails that seem to flood our daily lives. Once you register your domain, you have control (not a 3rd party), of how to direct and channel your mail as well as your online brand. Don’t like your current email interface? Or maybe you’re tired of ads cluttering your inbox. You can take your custom email to any provider of your choice.
In addition, owning an independent domain gives you the ability to direct different types of mail to different addresses. Tired of spam? Create an email for all your advertising and marketing emails shop@rachel.nyc. Want a dedicated inbox for all your networking efforts? Try meet@rachel.nyc
The point is, by using your own domain name, you retain more control and have access to set up as many email aliases as you like.
5. Easy As 1, 2, 3…
With the rise in digital communication, setting up a custom email address (i.e. hosted email) has never been easier. You can manage your email and your domain all in one place to make life easier. Prefer to manage your inbox on your Gmail account, Outlook, Yahoo? Don’t fret. You can keep your preferred email platform and use your new custom email. Check out the simple steps for creating your new email on any preferred account here. Setup is as easy as the 3 steps below:
Third, you add your new custom name to wherever you normally check your email! View our quick setup guides for Gmail, Outlook and more, here.
6. It’s Affordable!
New Yorkers are known for being ahead of the curve, especially when it comes to good deals. You can get your custom .nyc email address with our NYC offer, for only $6.65! This is a minuscule price to pay for being in control of your own online identity.
Since its launch in November 2015, the .earth domain has focused on creating a unique place that unites like minds – brands or individuals – and allows them to promote their passions, causes, businesses, brands and stories for the overall betterment of our planet.
Over the past five years, the .earth domain has evolved into a growing community that expands well-beyond green/environmental organizations. Today’s users include geospatial companies, trade organizations, travel companies, engineering firms, new technology innovators, authors, artists, holistic healers, and much more.
The .earth domain also prioritizes web security, while allowing organizations to elevate their brands enhance overall awareness and revenue generation, expand their memberships, and grow their donor bases.
Top Ways .Earth Can Help Your Organization
1) .Earth is Your Platform for Change
It allows all environmentally conscious citizens to share their voices about enriching life on Earth.
2) More Meaningful Than .com
Brand yourself “Right of the Dot,” and expand beyond the traditional “dot com” or “dot net.” A .earth domain extension is a simple and highly effective way of sharing your organization’s mission is to save the planet.
3) Make “Earth” Part of Your Company Name
Consider changing your branding to include “earth” in your organization or campaign’s name. Catalog.earth and Access.earth are prime examples of organizations that effectively use .earth as part of their overall brand.
4) Share Your Passion
The .earth domain reinforces the passion that many organizations and individuals have for the planet.
5) Opt for Affordability
Securing a new .earth domain extension will not break the bank – even for premium names.
6) Establish Trust
.Earth domain names convey a higher level of trust to your customers, partners, and constituents when they are seeking out information about your organization.
7) Put Earth First (Always)
In this day and age, it’s always good to remind ourselves that the earth does come first. Show your audience.
Creative .Earth Domain Users in Action
Space: While the .earth domain is all about promoting the betterment of life on our planet, many of our users are focusing their efforts in the stars, and beyond. From space-based educational organizations to astronomers, scientists, artists, and entrepreneurial visionaries, here’s our list of the top 10 space-related .earth domain users.
Reforestation Visionaries: A number of reforestation organizations are using the .earth domain to enhance their overall marketing and brand awareness efforts, and they are very passionate about the domain.
Geospatial Imagery and Mapping: In today’s world, “where” matters, especially when it comes to obtaining driving directions to locating key assets for forestry management, utilities, and even for oil and gas exploration. This is why the geospatial technology arena has grown tremendously over the past 20 years.
Healers and Organizations Spreading Positivity Around the World: Since the .Earth domain is all about uniting individuals and organizations to make the world a better place, check out a few organizations dedicated to just that. Here’s the definitive list of the top 10 .earth users who making a positive change in our world.
Join the .Earth Community: Voices.earth Podcast Series
.Earth domain users are happy to share their stories about how the domain helps them advance their companies, brands, and causes. Take a listen to the Voices.Earth podcast series to hear their stories and learn more about their impact.
The “content is king” adage isn’t going away anytime soon, and there’s a good reason for that – content marketing works! Large corporations and hot tech startups leverage this marketing approach often. But small business owners can benefit just as much, if not more, from content marketing efforts.
What is content marketing exactly?
Content marketing is a category of marketing that focuses on the creation and distribution of quality and relevant content. Think of it as a way to connect with your customers in an authentic and relevant medium, to form a genuine relationship. You are offering your customers value, perhaps solving a problem they may have and you’re making a lasting connection in the process. Interested? Read on to discover industry insider tips from our partners at .us domains, and get this strategy working for you.
When starting a content strategy, focus your attention on your immediate products and services. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel or conduct massive hours of research. Think about what you do every day, knowledge that may seem second nature to you could be very valuable to your target audience.
Let’s say you’re a local pie company. A great idea is to share quick blog recipes like “how to create an easy pie crust,” or “the perfect whipped frosting in under 10 minutes.”
What about a small social media agency? Create a cool infographic about “how to make your Instagram page look beautiful.”
Interior designers should consider creating a video series featuring instructions on simple ways to spruce up your home.
You get the idea. Strategic content empowers businesses to share their brand story, enlighten their audience and establish themselves as industry experts.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you get started:
1) Keep content valuable and engaging.
Sit down and brainstorm ideas and blog topics that you can confidentially speak to as a small business owner. Think about educating your target audience and answering their most pressing questions. Quality blog content should position you as an expert in your field.
Plus, quality content written about your business, products and services, provide natural keyword relevancy to help boost your visibility in search rankings.
2) Go beyond the blog.
Create resources that can help you gather information about your customers. This might require more in-depth, specialized content like whitepapers, checklists, and guides that can help your audience learn more about your industry, company, and services.
Also, think of going beyond the written word. Our smartphones have become great tools for recording high-definition quality video, so consider posting an instructional video to your website and/or social media channel. Give locals a video tour of your new brick-and-mortar. Again, get creative as video has become a dominant digital medium and an effective way to keep people engaged.
You don’t need to be a big company with a massive ad budget to create these resources. Small business owners often underestimate themselves. If you’re a local florist, for example, think of creating a seasonal gardening guide. If you’re a nutritionist, consider creating a keto recipe booklet. These helpful resources might entice your customers to trade in their contact information for your valuable, gated content (see more below).
* Because this type of content is more resource intensive, consider gating these resources behind a contact form so you can collect your customer’s names and contact information for email follow-up and building your newsletter list. This means, visitors will be required to enter the contact information in order to download your content.
3) Let the small business marketing campaigns begin.
Once you gather your leads’ information you can engage with them further, be it to alert them about a sale/deal, product launch, fundraiser, etc. For example, if you capture a customer’s email, you can store it in your customer database. Then, when it comes time to build a newsletter or e-mail marketing campaign, this customer will automatically be among the subscribers, and up to date on all your business has to offer, especially when it comes time for a sale.
As you create these emails, just be sure that each has one call to action that leads recipients back to your website to engage with you further or prompts them to schedule a call. A critical step for any email marketing campaign to work is to ensure you are sending from a business email account. This is not the time to leverage your @gmail or @hotmail personal address. If you haven’t already, secure your custom business email address with a domain as unique as you.
4) Bring your content to social media.
While blogs, whitepapers and videos will result in a resource-rich business website, you must also think of larger distribution. In addition to e-mail campaigns, look to social media as a great (and usually free) vehicle for sharing your small business content.
Post and share any new blogs or content pieces on your social channels to draw more eyes (and potential visitors) to your content-rich website.
5) Be consistent.
Whether you start small with a free blog or have a long-term plan of building up to a gated e-book or podcast series, make sure you’re consistent in the publishing, sharing and distribution of your content. In other words, don’t leave your audience hanging. Think of a packaged content series that covers a given topic in depth.
Also, as an entrepreneur, time management is everything. Allocate a set number of hours each week to content creation.
6) Be authentic.
Again, content marketing is an indirect form of advertising because it’s encouraging the business and the customer to form a connection beyond the transaction. As business owners we invest so much time to convince people to buy your product, but if we invest time and effort in educating and helping them to solve problems, overtime you’ll build greater brand loyalty, which is absolutely priceless for small business survival.
Looking to launch a new blog site? Get online with a domain as unique as you are.
Porkbun Blog 