Summary: In this comprehensive guide to choosing the best domain name for your business, we presented 12 key questions to a representative audience of American consumers and investors. We explored trust and familiarity in domain extension, how domain name should connect to brand name and the impact of domain on securing funding for startups.

Key takeaways:

• .com domains are the #1 most credible in the eyes of your customers.
• Familiarity varies across alternative extensions: 51% of consumers are familiar with .co domains.
• Tech-employed respondents are more familiar with .io and .ai domains (.io — 77%; .ai — 89%).
• 77% of consumers say trust is damaged when other brands use the same name at a different domain extension.
• 35% of people say the presence of a hyphen impacts trust in a website.
• 77% of consumers consider exact match domains important.
• Add-on words impact trust for 78% of consumers.
• 73% of investors say that a single-English-word domain helps significantly or is a major factor in securing funding.

Objective: Previous research has shown that domain name is an important factor for 77% of consumers when engaging with brands online, demonstrating that domain names are an essential asset in today’s digital world. Because online discovery, trust, and credibility can all hinge on domain name, we’ve built a comprehensive, data-driven guide to choosing a domain name for your brand.

Audience: Our consumer perception questions were presented to a representative panel of American consumers aged 18 – 64.

An audience of private equity investors, venture capitalists, and angel investors was targeted for questions concerning how a domain name assists in securing funding.

Our Results

Domain Extensions

There are over 1600 domain extensions, also called top-level domains, but very few are recognized and trusted by customers. Choosing the right domain name for your brand depends on multiple factors, including industry, affordability and availability; choosing a domain name that is perceived as credible by your audience is essential. 

Rank the following domain extensions from most to least credible for a brand

Audience Familiarity with Alternative Domain Extensions

Choosing a domain name that your audience are familiar with is important for two main reasons. Firstly, it’s easier for customers to remember a familiar domain, ensuring they always find your website in the future. Secondly, familiarity correlates to trust in your brand.

• 81% are familiar with .org domains.
• 51% are familiar with .co domains.
• Just one in four are familiar with .xyz domains.
• Tech-employed respondents demonstrate more familiarity with .io and .ai domains (.io — 77%; .ai — 89%).
• 76% of people agree that familiarity with a domain extension enhances trust in a brand.

How familiar are you with the following domain extensions?

All consumers:

Tech industry:

How much do you agree with the following statement: the more familiar I am with a particular domain extension (.e.g., .org, .co, .ai) the more likely I am to trust a website using that domain extension.

For a full breakdown of how different age groups are familiar with alternative domain extensions, read the full article here.

Country-Code Extensions (ccTLDs)

Country code top-level domains, such as .uk, .de, and .jp may be considerations for brands with strictly local markets, but can hold you back with a global audience.

• 82% of Americans find .coms more credible than ccTLDs.
• 78% of UK consumers consider .co.uk domains more credible than .com domains.

For a company’s website, which domain name is more credible?

American audience:

UK audience:

Owning Multiple Domain Extensions

With multiple extensions to choose from, brands can become digital neighbors, sharing a name with different extensions. However, owning multiple domain extensions, such as .com, .co, and .org, gives your brand more consistency online.

• Trust is damaged with 77% of consumers when other brands are using your name at different extensions.

Does it hurt your trust in a brand if you find other brands using the same name at different extensions (i.e. brand.net and brand.com are different organizations)?

The Impact of Numbers and Hyphens in Domain Names

Given the popularity of .com domain names, brands may consider including alternative characters to discover available names. However, these characters not only make domains harder to remember and spell, but they also strongly impact customer trust in a website.

• 35% of people say the presence of a hyphen impacts trust in a website.
• 54% of people say the same for domain names with numbers.
• Men are significantly more mistrustful of domains using alternative characters.
• Younger consumers are more mistrustful of domains with alternative characters.

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

Interested in how alternative characters affect trust among your audience? Explore the full research here.

Exact Match Domains

Similarly, to find available domains, some brands move away from an exact match of their domain by including ‘add-on’ words. While this strategy may provide access to affordable, available .com domains, it can harm memorability and credibility with some consumers.

• 77% of consumers consider exact match domains important.
• Just 3% say it’s unimportant to have an exact match domain.
• Exact match domains are particularly important for younger consumers. 60% of 18 – 24s consider it very important.
• Add-on words impact trust for 78% of consumers.

How important is it to you that a business’s domain name is an exact match of the business’s name?

How does an add-on prefix or suffix word in a domain name (e.g., getbrand.com or brandapp.com vs. brand.com) impact your perception of a company’s credibility when shopping online?

Take a deep dive into how exact match domains influence the perception of your brand here.

The Role of Domain Names in Securing Venture Capital

Domain names don’t just influence your customers: they also impact how investors perceive your startup and consider investing in your future. Choosing a strong domain name from the outset can help in acquiring funding as a strong brand reduces long-term risk for investors.

• .com is the #1 ranked domain extension for securing funding.
• 73% of investors say that a single-English-word domain helps significantly or is a major factor in securing funding.
• Short, easy-to-pronounce domains are best for funding after single English words.
• 66% of investors say domain names should mix creativity and description.

How much does owning a single-English-word domain (e.g., intent.com) help a startup secure venture capital funding?

Rank the following domain extensions based on their value to a startup seeking funding, from most to least valuable.

Rank the following domain name types based on their benefit to a startup seeking funding. 1 is the most beneficial, and 5 is the least beneficial.

Which type of domain name is most important to a startup seeking funding?

Conclusion

Our data confirms that domain name can’t be an afterthought for your brand. Both the name and the domain extension play a crucial role in establishing your brand’s credibility online, and in acquiring funding for your startup.

Owning a domain name that exactly matches your business name aids in building trust and credibility, you should choose your name and domain in tandem. Explore our core research on choosing your business name now.

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

Grant Polachek

Grant Polachek is Chief Growth Officer at Atom.com. With 15 years experience in marketing, he has run market research projects for brands like Dell, Hilton, and Alibaba. Grant has expertise in a range of topics including domain names, naming and digital marketing.

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