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.Brand Domains are Getting Popular: What does this Mean for Businesses?

Everyone is familiar with the “.com” extension at the end of a URL. There are many others that come to mind such as “.org”, “.net”, etc. These Top Level Domains or TLDs have been the staple in terms of company URLs. Now, there is a seeming shift in the way companies can brand their websites, mainly regarding the placement of their brand in the URL. The ending suffix such as .com can be replaced with .brand now. These suffixes are facing some competition with several new options for companies to choose from.

Some companies are applying or have already applied for their own top level domains such as “.apple”, “.walmart” or even “.nike”, etc. This will be a great change for companies since branding strategies will be looked at differently. The difference between .brand and brand.com may seem only like an aesthetic change at first, but the newer option provides greater benefits overall.

The idea of .brand provides less clutter in the URL space. Nowadays there are hundreds of pages in well established and powerful websites. These could include various products, services, articles, and just content in general. Rather than using the URL: www.brand.com/product/variant… this process can be simplified as “product.brand” or “blog.brand”. Notice the difference? Main pages on the site will no longer be an extension to the entire domain URL. The most powerful organization in technology; Google applied for hundreds of TLDs for its well known products like .gmail, .chrome, .youtube, .android and others. Google even started using domains such as www.blog.google or www.environment.google as the first steps in its .brand TLD strategy.

The implications of this strategy for small to medium sized businesses could mean the same thing in the future. Simplification of the domain URL could be extremely beneficial to your internet marketing strategies and efforts. Things like paid advertising & search marketing and organic optimization would shift based on your brand marketing strategy. As technology continues to change, it is crucial to adapt to these situations. That is one of the things we know all too well. Brand awareness & management is very important to a business’ success, which means staying in tune with new trends should be a key factor in your company strategy. For more information on how we can help you succeed, head over to contact us or fill out the form below.