Key takeaways:

• 35% of people say the presence of a hyphen impacts their trust in a website.
• 54% of people say the same for domain names with numbers.

Objective: Previous research has revealed that a majority of consumers consider domain name important for the brands they choose online. We wanted to explore how the presence of alternative characters — hyphens and numbers — in domain names impacts customer trust.

Alternative characters included in the survey:

• Hyphens, e.g., business-name.com
• Numbers, e.g., businessname1.com

Question: How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? Choose for each of the following options.

• It doesn’t affect my level of trust.
• I trust them somewhat less.
• I trust them significantly less.
• I don’t trust them at all.

Audience: A representative panel of American consumers aged 16 – 64.

Overall Results

• 35% of people say the presence of a hyphen impacts their trust in a website.
• 54% of people say the same for domain names with numbers.

How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? 

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Gender Breakdown

• Men were significantly more mistrustful of domains using alternative characters.
• Hyphens affect trust for 49% of men vs 22% of women.

Men

How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? 

Women

How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? 

Age Breakdown

• Younger consumers are more mistrustful of domains with alternative characters.
• 65% of 16 – 34s mistrust a domain with a number, vs half of 55 – 64s.

16 – 34

How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? 

35 – 54

How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? 

55 – 64

How much does an alternate character impact your trust in a website? 

Conclusion

Numbers are particularly offputting for consumers and affect trust for a majority of respondents in all demographics. Women and middle-aged consumers are more forgiving of a hyphen in a domain name, but a significant minority (up to 10% for 35 to 54s) say they have no trust whatsoever in such a domain.

To instil trust and build credibility, brands must be sensitive to consumer perceptions when choosing a domain name in 2024.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into our findings, or asking your own questions on consumer, branding and worklife topics, contact thom@atomradar.com to learn more.

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About The Author

Thom Davies

Thom Davies is a researcher at AtomRadar and content strategist for Atom.com. His background in quantitative and qualitative analysis is the foundation for data-led brand strategy.

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