If you’ve registered a domain name only to find yourself asking, “Now what?” then this is the right blog post for you.

After reading this blog post, you’ll gain a greater understanding of all that can be done with a domain. We’ll start by talking about domains, about naming, as examples of linguistic design. From there, we’ll discuss how to best leverage the name you’ve registered according to your personal, business, or brand needs.

Here’s more detailed information on what we’ll be covering in this blog post:

• What’s in a domain name?
• Practical next steps for any domain owner.
• Creating a website or blog.
• Reselling domains and the domain aftermarket.

What’s in a name?

A quick online search turns up lots of advice on choosing domain names, “Make it short! Relevant! Catchy! Memorable!”

And while that’s great advice… it doesn’t help you think about your domain in the larger context of your business.

Did you know that your domain name affects not just how people perceive your brand but how you should go about marketing it?

You see, domain names generally fall into one of two categories: Discoverable or Brandable.

Discoverable domain names are “real world” names. They’re descriptive and made up of dictionary terms, often including generic keywords someone would type into an online search. That means someone who isn’t familiar with your brand could still land on your site if they’re searching for related keywords or topics; this is called “type-in” traffic.

Brandable names are not made up of dictionary terms. Instead, they’re often made up. These domains are designed to relate to the purpose of the brand in an interesting way, usually tapping into people’s associations or experiences. Sometimes, the name is a metaphor or a compound of other words. Since these names aren’t comprised of keywords that could drive type-in traffic, brands built on them need more comprehensive (usually paid) marketing strategies. You’ve got to work a little harder to make the connection between your name and what services you provide in the customer’s mind, but once you’ve done that, your name has the potential to become iconic in your field (hello, Google!)

Think about the type of name you registered: Does it fall into the category of Brandable or Discoverable? Do you have the resources to create a buzz with paid marketing campaigns if it’s the former? Before building a business on your domain, make sure you have a plan for marketing it.

Practical next steps for any domain owner

Now that we’ve talked about domain name types, let’s discuss the practical steps you can take to secure your name and build a strong online presence.

Privacy and protection

First and foremost, make sure your personal information is protected! Certain personal information, like the registrant’s name and email, is collected whenever a domain is registered. That information is made available to the public through ICANN’s WHOIS database. This database allows anyone to search for a domain and find out who owns it. Unfortunately, a lot of bad actors have figured out how to take advantage of the WHOIS database and scrape it to collect personal information.

If you want to protect your personal information from spammers, telemarketers, and bots, then purchase Domain Privacy + Protection. It masks your personal information while still giving you complete control over your domain.

Simplify domain management

Give yourself one less thing to worry about by enabling auto-renew on your domain(s.) If not, you run the risk of losing your domain name when it expires.

Claim your name

No matter what you’re doing with your domain now, you should be laying the groundwork for the future. Do this by creating social media profiles with your name and acquiring a custom, professional email address. Thinking about brand protection now helps avoid headaches in the future. Also, consider registering misspellings and alternate versions of your domain.

Creating a website or blog with your domain

Ready to do more with your domain? Seeing your idea take flight and succeed feels good.

As a starting point, determine your site’s purpose and goals.

Defining the purpose of your website helps illuminate what your requirements will be. For example, if you intend to start a personal blog, you likely won’t need a site equipped with eCommerce capabilities. If you’re launching an online retail business, you’re going to need eCommerce functionality, Terms of Service, and more.

Once you’ve got your requirements listed, you can think about how they affect the design of your site. Will your needs be met with a simple Website Builder? How about an eCommerce Website Builder? Or should you hire a professional to build a site that meets all your requirements?

Reselling domains and the domain aftermarket

Did you purchase your domain with the intent of reselling it?

Well, you’ve entered the world of domaining. Domaining is the industry term for domain speculation.

Domain speculation refers to the practice of identifying, registering, and investing in domain names with the intent of reselling them for a profit.

Is it profitable?

It sure can be! As with all investments, be mindful of risk and carefully consider your opportunities.

How do you choose what domains to register as investments?

Think about what your budget is and the costs of the domains you want. Different domain extensions renew at different price points, so make sure you’ve got the funds to cover the domain registrations and renewals until you sell them.

Is domaining the same as cybersquatting?

Nope! At the heart of the matter is intent.

Legitimate domainers do their research to make sure the domains they acquire aren’t trademarked. Cybersquatters don’t care. They register, traffic in, and use domains in bad faith so that they can profit from others’ trademarks.

How do I advertise my domains for sale?

Good question! You can create simple landing pages for these domains that include your contact information. If you have any other stipulations for the sale, note them where they’re easily seen on the page. You can also list your domains on sites like Namejet.com, a dedicated domain aftermarket service.

Ready to do more with your domain?

We’re excited to see what you do with your domain name and wish you the best of luck with your business! If you need a hand creating a website, designing and implementing SEO strategies, or have any other questions, don’t be a stranger. Our teams are here to help.

Shakespeare famously wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” in his iconic play, Romeo and Juliet. But does that quote stand up under scrutiny?

In this post, we’re examining the question, “What’s in a name?” We’re discussing business and brand names and asking questions like, “How do I come up with a business name?” and “What brand name will resonate in my market?”

By the time you’ve finished this post, you’ll walk away with two things: A solid understanding of how to create your business name and tips to effectively name your brand.

What’s in a Business or Brand Name?

Does your business name really matter?

There are two arguments to answer that question:

1. No, it doesn’t. So long as you provide exceptional service and meet your customer’s needs, then your business name doesn’t matter.
2. Yes, it does! Your name affects how people think of you and therefore, how they’ll interact and engage with you.

Which do you think has more merit? We’re in support of position #2. We’ll explore why that is, but first, let’s talk about the power of names.

Names hold deep personal, cultural, and sometimes historical connections. They are a distilled representation of a thing. For example, instead of yelling, “Short lady with long brown hair, average build, and propensity for discourse” all someone has to do is call out, “Natalie!” and my attention is theirs. That’s a pretty powerful thing, is it not? To give someone your name is to provide them with the power to call you to attention at any point in time.

Inversely, a good name will also capture the attention and mind space of the person saying or thinking it.

What’s important to note about that last point is that people across all cultures and languages have preconceptions about certain names. Or rather, the sounds that comprise names. That means that they’ll have made up certain ideas about you by the sound of your name alone, even if they haven’t met you or had exposure to your brand yet.

Naming and Sound Symbolism

Have you heard of the Bouba-Kiki effect? It’s also been called the Maluma-Takete effect.

Think of two shapes, one round and the other made up of sharp angles. If you had to name one of them “Bouba” or “Maluma” and the other “Kiki” or “Takete” — which would be which?

Did you name the round shape Bouba and the sharp-angled shape Kiki? If so, you’re in good company.

Across a variety of cultures, people think of Bouba as the softer of the two names and Kiki as the spikier one. This assessment could be due to the mouthfeel of the names, with Bouba rolling off the lips while Kiki remains a staccato sound originating further back in the mouth.

Additionally, people can ascribe sharper qualities to Kiki-type names and softer qualities to Bouba-type names. Psycholinguist Penny Pexman of the University of Calgary says, “There’s something about how humans are fundamentally associative,” she continues, “We want to see patterns in things, we want to find connections between things, and we’ll find them even between sounds, and the things those sounds stand for in the world.”

How Should Sound Symbolism Influence Your Name?

As you decide on a name for your business and brand, keep these two factors at the front of your decision-making.

• Your industry.
• How you want your audience, customers, and clients to feel about you.

Let’s use the examples of Joan and Steven. Joan is a family therapist who’s venturing out on her own and starting her own business. Steven has worked in construction for years and is about to build his own steel manufacturing plant. They both need names for their new businesses to draw in clientele.

Joan wants a name that conveys trust and warmth while Steven wants to name his business something that conveys strength and energy.

Knowing that people associate softer, rolling sounds with the qualities her counseling services represent, Joan opts for a Bouba-type name. Steven, on the other hand, chooses a Kiki-type name as it represents the qualities of his business. Not just that, but anyone hearing their business names will associate those qualities with them whether or not they’ve done business together yet.

As you decide on your business name, think about the qualities you want it to represent and allow that to influence your decision.

How to Create a Business or Brand Name

At Domain.com, we’re dedicated to the business of names and naming. We’re often asked, “What makes for a good domain name?” For starters, it should match your brand name.

When it comes to a good name, here’s the basic advice you’ll find just about anywhere:

• Make it short and memorable.
• Avoid unique spelling, hyphens, and an excess of numbers.
• Make sure it passes the radio test.
  • If someone were only to hear your name, could they type it out and make it to your website? Probably not if you’re using “Qu” instead of the letter “K” and have two hyphens in your domain.

Now, while helpful and true, that advice is more suited to evaluating a name you’ve already come up with, not for creating a new name. So, how do you create a name from scratch?

Tips for Creating Names

There are a variety of types of business and brand names. As you come up with yours, think about the following types:

• Descriptive names.
  • These names give a good idea as to what the business is all about.
  • Examples: Cars.com, Domain.com.
• Abstract names.
  • Imaginary or “made-up” names. Not made up of dictionary words.
  • Examples: Venmo, Google.
• Acronymic names.
  • Short names that are made up of letters that symbolize larger names.
  • Examples: IBM, BMW.
• Geographical names.
  • Names that speak to a geographical location.
  • Eastern Mountain Sports, West Coast Choppers.
• Compound names.
  • Names are made up of a combination of two or more names.
  • Examples: Netflix, YouTube.
• Personal/Founder names.
  • Business names are created using their founders’ names.
  • Examples: Cadbury, Ferrari.  

Not sure which type of business name you ought to use? Here’s something else to consider: How will you market your business?

You see, business names (and domain names) can be broken down into two categories: Brandable or Discoverable.

A discoverable name is a name made up of real dictionary words, like “Family Financial Advisors.” A brandable name isn’t composed of dictionary words, instead, it’s made up, like “Optimizely.”

The former name can count on type-in traffic for website visits. That means that people typing those keywords into their browser will likely find that business as a top result. However, it’s going to cost more for their domain name as it’s likely already been registered and is a premium domain. The latter is made up, so there’s a better chance the domain is unregistered and available. However, you’ll need to create a strong content marketing strategy to support your name so it appears higher in search results.

Ready to Name Your Business and Brand?

Before settling on a final business or brand name, make sure it’s available as a domain name and across social media platforms, too.

Once you’ve decided on a name, share it with us below! We’d love to hear about how you decided on your brand name.

But it wasn’t just our personal lives that were affected. It also changed consumer behavior forever and changed how business happens worldwide. So much so that 65% of all brand interactions with customers now occur online. Suppose that’s not enough of a testament to the massive shift in changing customer behavior. How about this: The number of consumers who make online purchases went up from 15% to 30% in 2020.

So, if you’re wondering whether this is an excellent time to open up your business online, you’d be wondering correctly. But all good things come with caveats. And this one’s no different.

A good domain name is one of the first steps in setting your business up for success. And because of this tremendous growth in the eCommerce sector, new businesses seem to be having a more challenging time than usual finding the perfect domain name.

But what if your online store’s domain name didn’t have to be full of strange combinations of filler words, hyphens, and numbers? What if you could have any domain name you desired for your online business? What if there was a special domain extension dedicated to online stores?

You’re in luck because .store is just such a domain extension. It’s specially designed for online store owners to tell the world they’re open for business!

Why Your Online Store Needs a .Store Domain

Back in 1985, .com launched as a domain extension.

The internet of then and the internet of now are entirely different beasts. Today, there are over 1 billion websites in existence. That number grows by 252,000 websites every single day.

In other words, today’s internet is a very, very crowded place.

It’s no wonder businesses and individuals have been struggling to find short, relevant, and meaningful domain names. They’ve had to try and manufacture unsightly names containing hyphens, strange filler words, or mutilated spellings of commonly known words. All so they could squeeze themselves into the .com world.

This pressure cooker situation eventually led to the creation of a host of new domain extensions.

What Makes .Store an Excellent Choice for eCommerce

The .store domain extension came into existence in 2016. In these last six years, it has become the number one choice for over 450,000 business owners worldwide. Here’s what makes it the best option for e-commerce websites and online stores:

1: You’ll find a shorter domain name available with .store

The beauty of choosing a newer domain extension like .store is that your first choice is, more often than not, available. That makes the chances of finding a short domain name on a .store domain extension much higher than a .com extension.

More availability means you no longer have to add strings of characters or unnecessary letters or numbers to your domain name. And it isn’t just about making your life easier. It’s also about the fact that the search engines like Google prefer shorter domain names. If Google came across two absolutely identical websites, their all-knowing algorithm would very likely choose the shorter domain name for a higher search ranking.

2: You’ll get an easy-to-remember domain name using .store

Continuing from the first point above, the shorter the domain name, the more memorable it will likely be. It’s primarily because short domain names are usually easier to type, read, and pronounce. Which means our brains automatically tend to remember them. And we all know the importance of the phrase ‘top of mind’ when it comes to customer analytics.

The more they remember a business, the higher their chances of returning to it, interacting with it, and giving it their business.

3: You’ll secure a keyword-rich domain name with a .store

A .store domain extension doesn’t just make your domain name shorter and memorable. It also brings one of the most common eCommerce search keywords into your domain name. And search engines love this.

This is why they’re (once again) far more likely to rank your website higher when they notice that it uses a very popular keyword in its name and anchor text.

4: You’ll get a highly relevant domain name on .store

The importance of finding a domain name that is true to your business and brand and, therefore, meaningful to you is undeniable. But it is equally important that your domain name feel meaningful to your potential customers. And certain domain names do precisely that.

With the word store integrated right into your domain name, any potential visitor can be sure they’re entering an eCommerce website. It may not feel like much at first glance, but it creates a great impression in their minds. And in doing so, it enhances the perception of your business.

5: You’ll have a voice-optimized domain name with .store

As personal assistants are baked into more and more smartphones, the way we search for information is slowly changing. One of the most significant changes we’re seeing is the rise of voice search.

For all its smarts, voice search prefers ‘correct’ spellings and as many keywords as can be supplied to it. What’s more, voice search uses the entire phrase as a keyword.

So, if a user looks for cool stationery stores, a website called kewl-stationery.com would have next to no chances of ranking on Google compared to coolstationery.store. The word ‘kewl’ does not mean ‘cool’ to voice engines. And really, the odds of someone voice searching a hyphen are… let’s just say… low.

6: You’ll get a credible domain extension with .store

When you choose a .store domain, you’re not only joining thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses who use the domain extension. You’ll join giants like Emirates, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Dude Perfect. So you can lay any doubts to rest about .store’s validity. While it may be new, if it’s good enough for merchandising big-wigs, you can rest assured that it’s got a big check on credibility.

Ready to register your .store domain name?

When launching your business online in 2022, a .store domain is easier on your pocket, easier to remember, easier to rank on search engines, and easier to leave the competition behind. A .store makes it easier to find lasting success.

Tell the whole world you’re open for business with the all-new, all-powerful .store domain.

Growing up, that was a common refrain in my household. How about yours?

Whether or not we realized it at the time, our parents were the first ones to encourage us to be conscious of our personal brands. They reminded us to be cognizant of our behavior and how we presented ourselves in public because of how others might perceive us (and by extension, them.) We’ve been working on our personal brands from tender young ages and didn’t even realize it. But now, as adults, it’s more important than ever that we be intentional in our branding.

Whether you’re applying to university, looking to start a new career, seeking a change in industries, or are all about reinvention — having a well-developed personal brand gives you an advantage.

In this post, we’re examining what a personal brand is, why you should care about yours, how to cultivate your brand, and most importantly, how to leverage it.

What is a personal brand?

Personal brands are akin to business or company brands. They’re comprised of every public-facing facet of yourself, and inversely, what people think of them.

It’s that special thing that makes you, you. It helps others interpret what you do and why. But most of all, it’s authentic. Personal brands can’t succeed when they’re based on lies and make-believe.

Don’t believe us? “88% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support (with 50% saying it’s very important),” according to data from Stackla.

“But why does that matter to my personal brand?” you might ask.

Because in this scenario, you are the product and the consumer is anyone who could potentially interact with you — future classmates, business partners, even life partners.

No one likes to think of themselves as a commodity, but sometimes in life, you have to help someone buy into you over the other guy (e.g. when there are limited spots in a program or just a handful of open roles in your field). A personal brand gives you that edge; without a doubt, it’s the best tool you have in your marketing arsenal.

Now, let’s not confuse personal brand with reputation: these terms are not synonymous.

Your reputation precedes you, but your personal brand is what you craft and how you present yourself to the world. It’s your website, your social media, the name you go by — it’s everything about you. Your brand is intentionally designed by you, not by the words of others as is your reputation.

Why is it important to have a personal brand?

Humans aren’t solitary creatures. No matter what, you have to work with others and live amongst them, even in this era of digital dominance where you can work and school from home.

Our communal lives may be online more than in-person nowadays, but that only makes it more important for you to cultivate your brand. If someone can’t meet you in person — what do you want them to think about you? How do you want an online interaction with you or site to leave them feeling? Excited? Intrigued to learn more about you? Or, if you have no digital presence, perhaps you’re giving them nothing to think about at all. Out of sight out of mind, as the saying goes.

Having a deliberately crafted personal brand is even more vital for those who want a life in the public eye, like influencers, politicians, or business leaders. If you need to win people over, or simply want to grow your community, it’s best to do it genuinely by showing others the best aspects of yourself. Your personal brand does just that.

Ready to start working on yours? How you build your brand depends largely upon your goal: Is it to land that gig? Enter a new field of work? Land a major investment? It’s an insightful process, and we’ll walk you through it.

As you begin, remember that you aren’t locked into a personal brand. The most authentic aspects of yourself that you’d like to share with others at 20 years old will be vastly different at 40. As you evolve and change as person, so should your brand. It will always remain a reflection of yourself — like a polished, digital reflection — but it should never be left to stagnate.   

Creating a personal brand

Crafting your brand is an enlightening process. You’ll learn to see yourself through different eyes, and how others perceive you, in the process. No matter what, keep authenticity at the forefront of this endeavor.

Start building your brand with the following fundamental exercises.

Discover your drive

Begin by asking yourself these questions:

• What motivates you to wake up and get out of bed each day?
• What skills and talents are you most proud of?
• What have you had to work hardest to achieve?
• What skills would you still like to develop that you don’t already have?
• What are your natural interests?
• What doesn’t appeal to you at all?
• How do you want others to remember you?
• What do you want others to say about you when you leave the room?
• Who do you admire? Why?

Understanding what drives you as a human is the first step to developing your personal brand. You can’t communicate what and who you are to others if you’re iffy on the details yourself.

Without insight into what guides you, the way you present yourself may seem erratic and unmoored. Good branding is more than just a great logo. It needs a solid foundation built with brand strategy in mind, or else you’ll fail.

Be honest with yourself when answering these questions. Once you understand where you’re coming from, where you stand, and what areas need some work, it’s time to talk about goals.

Drafting SMART goals

Not all goals are created equal. Some are large, irrelevant, and nebulous. Others are specific, achievable, and time-bound. The latter are SMART goals.

Here’s what that stands for:

• S: Specific
  • This part addresses all the Ws — who, what, when, where, and why.
• M: Measurable
  • How do you know when you’ve reached your goal? How is that success going to be measured?
• A: Attainable
  • Example: No one can lose 50 pounds in a week. Make sure you aren’t setting yourself up for failure by setting a ridiculously unattainable goal.
• R: Relevant
  • Sure, being one of the first humans on Mars would be nice. But unless you’re Elon Musk, how is this goal relevant to you?
• T: Time-bound
  • You have to start somewhere and decide where the “finish line” is. This doesn’t necessarily mean you stop working on your goal when you reach that point. Instead, think of it as a pause where you stop to take stock of your performance before re-calibrating and picking up where you left off in pursuit of your goal, truly finishing only when you’ve accomplished it.

What does a SMART goal look like in practice? Let’s say that I’m working on my personal brand to become a well-recognized influencer and earn the trust of larger businesses and corporations that I’d like to partner with. Instead of creating a vague and intimidating goal of “Increase my social media followers,” I’m going to design a SMART goal. It looks something like this, “I’m going to increase my connections on LinkedIn by 25% in the next 3 months by actively engaging in conversations in groups relevant to my field of work.” All of a sudden, I know what I’m working toward and how to do it, and I can pause in 3 months’ time to evaluate my performance.

Define the tangible aspects of your brand

When you think of a quintessential American burger chain, do the golden arches come to mind? Or is it the bejeweled crown? Maybe a bright orange W with stripes behind it?

Well-known brands have recognizable aspects and features that we almost instantaneously recall when we think of them or hear their name in passing.

When someone thinks of you, what part of your brand comes to mind? Is it your winsome smile or cunning charm? Is there a visual aspect to your brand that someone can conjure up in their mind’s eye? If there isn’t, start thinking about how to change that.

We recommend coming up with your own personal brand guidelines. You can decide on an aesthetic, create cohesive social media profiles designed to support it, decide on a (domain) name, and bring it all together with a website, your digital home. You can check out our guide to branding here to learn about deciding on-brand colors, logos, typography, and more, and view this checklist to make sure you’re covering all your bases in terms of visual and website design.

Going public with your personal brand

There’s no point in working on your personal brand if you plan on being a hermit. It’s meant to be seen and shared with others.

And it isn’t just how you want the world to see you, it’s also a practical leg-up over the competition in everyday life. Why should someone trust your recommendation over another person’s? Why should you be given that spot on the team instead of someone else? How do you ensure you’ll land that job? What happens when a potential employer googles you they find nothing worthwhile?

The best way to ensure control over your brand online is by creating your own website. Decide on a domain name that’s reflective of you and build your site to own your digital space. Social media platforms can come and go (like Vine), so you want to make sure you have a solid presence elsewhere.

Personal Branding Additional Resources

Looking for more inspiration and information to build a personal brand? We’ve got you covered. Check out the following resources to craft an intentional personal brand designed to help you achieve your goals.

• Webinar: Personal Branding 101
• 10 Personal Branding Rules to Live By
• Branding Checklist: Visual and Website Design

What are you waiting for? Get started on your brand today!

Sure, there are a few steps to the whole thing, but they aren’t complex or anxiety-inducing, especially not when you have a guide.  

In this post, we cover the A to Z of how to transfer a domain name. Keep reading, and you’ll learn the following information: 

• What does it mean to transfer a domain name? 
• Common reasons for transferring a domain name. 
• How to transfer a domain name. 
• Cost of transferring a domain name.  
• Whether or not your website and email will go down during a domain transfer. 
• And more! 

Use the table of contents below to jump to a particular section in this guide or start from the top for a comprehensive overview of transferring domain names.  

Domain Name Transfer FAQs 

Here’s everything you need to know about transferring domain names in one place.  

What does it mean to transfer a domain name? 

Transferring a domain name means moving a domain from the registrar where it is currently managed to a different registrar.  

Why transfer a domain name? 

You might want to transfer your domain name from one registrar to another for any number of reasons. Below, we’ve listed some of the most common reasons we hear from our domain registrants.  

• Cost and value.  
  • Registrars determine their own pricing based on the products and services they sell. Some registrars, like Domain.com, offer free perks with your domain registration (like email forwarding, URL forwarding, and more).  
  • If you’re not happy with the pricing structure of your current registrar and the features they offer, it may be time to make a change.  
• Domain management and user-friendliness.  
  • Managing your domain names shouldn’t be a hassle. Choose a registrar who prioritizes ease of use and offers all the features you need.  
  • Some registrars offer their own services and seamless integrations for things like email and hosting — while others offer clunky 3^rd party integrations that may slow you down.  
• Domain name is changing ownership.  
  • Did you sell a domain name? Or purchase one from someone else? That domain needs to be transferred to its new owner. 
• Customer support.  
  • If you run into a hiccup with your domain name, you’ll want to talk to an expert that can help. At Domain.com, our knowledge base and specialists are available 24/7.  

How long does it take to transfer a domain name? 

Transferring a domain name is a quick process. Once you’ve completed a few steps (like making sure the domain is unlocked, etc.), the rest of the process is taken care of by the registrars.  

You can complete your portion of the transfer process in one sitting (which we recommend for security reasons) It only takes an hour or two, max, and that’s being generous. Then, the registrars do their parts to complete your transfer which can take up to 5-7 business days.  

What do I need to transfer a domain name? 

To facilitate a successful domain name transfer, ensure the following four criteria are met: 

1. Domain(s) must be valid and registered with another registrar.  
2. The domain(s) must have been registered for at least 60 days and in unlock status.  
3. Admin contact and domain registrant information must be up-to-date.  
4. You have your transfer authorization, or EPP code, from the registrar you’re moving away from.  

Does transferring a domain name affect my custom email address? 

Moving your domain name doesn’t mean you have to move your email hosting. 

Are you using a third party to host your email? If so, it shouldn’t be affected by transferring a domain name. Domain.com does not make changes to the name servers for your domain during the transfer process.  

If your custom email address is hosted with your domain provider, a transfer could affect you. To avoid that, make sure to transfer your email account’s MX records to your new registrar while transferring your domain. By doing this, you’ll ensure your email account is linked to your domain name. However, you’ll continue to manage your email with your original provider. 

Want to transfer to Domain.com and manage your email with us? Create a Google Workspace account with Domain.com and migrate your email to that account.  

Will my website go down during a domain name transfer? 

Nope!  

When you transfer a domain name from one registrar to another, that’s literally all you’re doing. You’re not moving your email or hosting. During the domain transfer process, your nameservers don’t change — they’ll stay pointed to the same pre-transfer nameservers.  

Now, it’s another story if you’re changing your hosting provider along with your domain registrar. If you decide to change your website host, follow these steps to avoid site downtime: 

• Import your DNS records to your new hosting provider (it may be your new registrar.) 
• Double-check to make sure the DNS information is correct.  
• Change the nameservers at the originating registrar.  
  • You may have to wait for propagation; it could take 24-48 hours.  

Another scenario to consider is if you’re using the default nameservers of your current (pre-transfer) registrar. Many registrars offer access to free nameservers so long as your domain remains registered with them. If you decide to transfer your domain, you could lose access to those nameservers.  

If you’re unsure whether you’re using default nameservers, ask your registrar BEFORE you transfer your domain. We recommend keeping your domain pointed to your hosting provider’s nameservers.  

Will my website content transfer along with my domain name?  

No. Your website content will remain hosted wherever your site is hosted.  

Can I make changes to a domain while it’s being transferred? 

You cannot make any changes to a domain name when it’s actively in the transfer process.  

This means you’re unable to: 

• Update nameservers. 
• Change the WHOIS registration information.  
• Renew the domain registration.  

If you must make one of those edits, you’ll need to contact the originating registrar with a request to cancel the transfer. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait the standard 5-7 business days for the process to finish so you can make your edits.  

Can I transfer an expired or expiring domain name?  

Domain names must be in good standing for transferral.  

Attempting to transfer a domain that is on hold, expired, or expiring within 10 days can sometimes cause unexpected complications. If your domain is in one of those statuses and you’re looking to transfer it, call our transfer team for assistance at 800-403-3568.  

How do I prepare my domain name for transfer?  

Ready to transfer your domain name? Verify that you’ve got the following ducks in a row with your current registrar and you will be.

• Unlock your domain name.  
• Disable your domain’s privacy settings.  
• Ensure the admin contact information is updated and correct.  
• Get your transfer authorization code, also known as an EPP code.  
  • Depending on your registrar, you may need to contact them directly for your code.  
• Ensure your domain is at least 60 days old or opt-out of your domain lock. 
• Make sure your domain isn’t tangled up in any legal disputes as that’s a quick way to get it locked at the registry level.  

What is the 60-day domain lock? 

As of December 1, 2016, domain registrars are required to impose a lock that prevents a domain name from transfer for 60 days post-change to a registrant’s information.  

The good news? Registrars can provide a way to opt out of the 60-day lock. Not all registrars offer that ability upfront, which can make life difficult when managing domain names.  

At Domain.com, we believe you should have total management of your domain name, so we provide the option to unlock your domain right from your account dashboard. Simply toggle your domain lock on or off, depending on your needs.

How much does it cost to transfer a domain name?  

ICANN, the non-profit organization that oversees domains, requires that domain names be renewed for an additional year when transferred.  

At Domain.com, you can transfer your domain name for as low as $9.99. We don’t charge additional fees for domain name transfers, though the same can’t necessarily be said for all domain registrars.  

Transferring domain names to Domain.com 

Looking to transfer your domain name to Domain.com? Thanks for your consideration! Here’s what you need to know.  

Why should I transfer my domain name to Domain.com? 

Domain names are our bread and butter, and we’ve been a leader in the industry since 2000.  

However, it isn’t our age that makes us a great fit for your domains; it’s the fact that we’re designed to make managing your domains a breeze. Here’s how we do it… 

Straightforward domain management. 

Your domain dashboard lets you quickly and easily manage your domain names. That means no hunting around for hidden tools — toggle the most important features on or off as you need them.  

Once logged in, you can manage additional domain features (like pointers and subdomains) from the menu immediately to the left of your summary dashboard.  

Plentiful hosting options. 

We’re here to make your life easier when it comes to domains and to help you create and build your online presence.  

We don’t just offer over 300 TLDs for registration; we offer various website hosting and builder services, email, and more! 

Automatic domain name renewal.  

Your claim to your domain name has an expiration date.  

When your domain registration period runs out, so does your ownership of that domain name. You can leave yourself a reminder on your calendar to manually renew it, or you can use Domain.com’s Auto Renewal feature so that it’s one less thing to worry about.  

Cost-conscious pricing.  

We offer some of the most competitive pricing available in the domain name industry. Don’t believe us? Check it out for yourself. We’re not in the business of hiding our pricing and making it difficult to find.  

24/7 customer support.  

Sometimes, we all need a little help. Our teams are there for you 24/7.  

You can reach our teams by phone or live chat, and you have a comprehensive Knowledge Base chock-full of FAQs and step-by-step guidance at your disposal.  

How to transfer your domain from GoDaddy to Domain.com. 

Ready to make the move to Domain.com from GoDaddy? Here are the steps you’ll take to transfer your domain name to Domain.com.  

1. Log into your GoDaddy Account Manager.  
2. In the “My Products” section, find and click “Domain Manager.” 
3. Use the checkbox(es) to select the domain name(s) you want to modify.  
4. Above the list of your domain names, select “Locking.” 
5. To unlock the domain(s), clear the lock domains checkbox.  
6. Select “OK.” 
7. Click “OK” again. 

To retrieve your transfer authorization code from GoDaddy, follow these steps:

1. Log into your GoDaddy Account Manager.  
2. In the “My Products” section, click “Domain Manager.” 
3. Select the domain name whose authorization code you want.  
4. In the “Authorization Code” field, click the “Send by Email” hyperlink. 
5. Select “OK.” 
6. Click “OK” again. 

After submitting your transfer request to Domain.com, we’ll then send you an email confirming your transfer. Make sure to confirm your transfer via that email. Within it, we provide a link to your account so you can log in and enter your transfer authorization code.  

And that’s it! 

Transfer your domain name and build your online presence  

Transferring a domain name shouldn’t be a complicated process. At Domain.com, our goal is to make your domain name transfer as painless and intuitive as possible.  

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our teams, leave a comment down below, or check out this Knowledge Base article to learn more about transferring a domain name to your account.

As women continue to be underrepresented in the tech field, we want to learn about their challenges and experiences and grow from them. Neha has had quite the journey through the domain landscape over the years and brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the table. 

We’re delighted that she’s taken the time to sit down with us to share her insights and lived experiences, and thankful that we get to share them with you, too. 

Women in Domaining with Neha Naik of Radix Registry

Hi Neha, thanks for sitting down with us today to discuss women in domaining. To start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thanks for having me here, Natalie!

I happened to land in the domains industry over 15 years ago, not really knowing that a WHOLE WORLD exists associated with these words you type in your browser! It still blows my mind that most people out there are actually unaware of the existence of this thriving industry that really powers presence on the Internet.

15 years ago, Directi, our parent company, decided to recruit students as a campus batch. And there I was, among the first batch of campus recruits, never imagining that I’d be spending the next years of my career in this industry. There has been no looking back though.

Over the course of my domain industry journey, I’ve worked with a cross-section of partners – registrars, registries, and web hosts across the globe, and in varied roles that cut across sales and account management as my primary role, but also many other aspects.

It still blows my mind that most people out there are actually unaware of the existence of this thriving [domain] industry that really powers presence on the Internet.

Neha naik

I think that’s the beauty of working in a startup environment – you get to wear multiple hats and learn so much. I’ve had the opportunity to plan TLD launches, business migrations, work on policy and product management, and really get a very rounded understanding of the multiple facets of the industry.

We started with Radix in 2012, and I’ve been with the team since its inception. We have come such a long way from spending countless days writing out TLD applications to today, running some of the best new Top Level Domains out there.

While the line between work and other things I do is a little bit of a blur, when I’m not doing ‘domain things’, you’ll find me taking yogi breaks on my yoga mat. Through lockdowns and everything else in the last year, that has been my constant.

Can you describe your company and your role there?

Radix is one of the world’s largest new domain registries with a portfolio of 10 nTLDs and over 5.5 Million domains under management.

We have carefully chosen domain extensions that are semantically relevant and have broad applications. Our portfolio boasts of a good mix of TLDs that have an inherent appeal to a wide audience.

At Radix, our motto isn’t merely to increase our sales numbers; we are focused on helping businesses get good-quality domain names so they can build a strong online brand.

The last year has in fact reinforced the strength and value of the TLDs to really help businesses establish a quality online presence. With TLDs like .store for eCommerce businesses, .tech for startups, and .online for any business or individual looking to go online, the TLDs really cater to some of the most popular themes of what users are seeking when they go online.

Currently, I lead channel partnerships and channel marketing at Radix. We have a team of brilliant folks and we’ve organized ourselves to focus on different geographies. The geo-distributed approach helps us stay better connected with our partners and really cater to what each market needs most.

We have often been called the Radix Radicals, a team of passionate, super-focused people motivated to make a difference, and never shying away from trying new approaches to make that happen.

How long have you been in domaining? How did you get your start?

Like I mentioned before, I chanced upon the industry and I’m so glad I did. I’ve been a part of the domain industry for over 15 years now. I came in straight from college; joined LogicBoxes in 2005, which focused on the Registrar market, and was a part of the Directi Group.

As the first campus recruited batch, they put us through intense training to learn everything about the domain industry – those fundamentals, I’m sure I’ll never forget. I moved on to lead the Account Management team at LogicBoxes.

In 2012, Radix started in parallel and that was my shift from the registrar to the registry side.

As a woman, do you feel represented in the domain community? Why or why not?

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to interact with some great, accomplished women in the domain community across different companies and roles. There has been a gradual shift, and we can definitely see more women take up leadership positions across the board. And it is very visibly happening more today than it did before.

One amazing thing about the domain industry is the camaraderie that we share. I haven’t heard of any other industry that is as close-knit and as helpful to each other as ours is. It is where competitors are friends and that’s very rare to see. We have known so many people for so many years now that it is a mini-extended family in a way.

As far as being represented, I do still think we have ways to go before we see adequate representation, but it is very encouraging to see that shift happen and I’m hopeful of what we have ahead of us.

What are your thoughts on newer TLDs / domain extensions?

Call me biased coming from a company that runs new TLDs, but I believe new domain extensions expand the horizons of what people can do with their online identities.

The 2020 pandemic proved just how important it is for businesses and individuals to have a strong online presence. Domain names can help people cross that bridge from offline to online.

There are so many examples of businesses that are making the most of new domain extensions to stand out and build a strong online brand. For example, campus.site, a remote platform, started as a result of the pandemic. There were many such use-cases like one.fun, building.online, homeoffice.store, and more.

The 2020 pandemic proved just how important it is for businesses and individuals to have a strong online presence. Domain names can help people cross that bridge from offline to online.

neha naik

Awareness for new domains is still something that needs work, but you do see the shift and you do see innovation in the space. As online businesses need better names to stand out and be unique, I think new domains present them with meaningful domain choices that are available today.

We have several businesses on .tech and .online that have established themselves, and have raised funding cumulating to over $3.5 Bn – these are the future movers and shakers. And with the efforts across the industry, new TLDs will become more mainstream and more commonplace.

Do you have any predictions for what will happen and change within the domain community in the next year? Five years?

The domain industry is moving at a rapid pace and there’s a lot that we can hope to see in the coming years. In some ways the industry also seems to be contracting, more consolidating really across the registry and registrars/web service provider space. So we’ll see how it all comes together and impacts the industry dynamics.

Other than that, meeting in person at events and conferences every year was a big part of the domain community and 2020 brought that to a complete halt. But the good thing was that it didn’t stop us from staying connected and doing business.

While meetings were different, they were still productive. And on the social side, we had some great happy hours and group hangouts virtually.

The domain community is quite long-lived — people tend to stay within the industry and once you’ve made a connection with someone, they take you with them to all the places they go; and that’s great because it opens you up to so many new opportunities.

There are a few things that I’m expecting to see in the coming years as far as the domain community is concerned:

• New people coming into the domain industry from related fields. We all know the domain boom in 2020 has really accelerated the movement of businesses online and with that, it will no doubt bring in newcomers and keep the community thriving.
• Conferences and events will have both the offline and online components to them even after things go back to normal.
• The acceleration that the pandemic brought isn’t over yet and we’ll see its true impact in the coming years. It’ll bring in people from other industries and make “being online” absolutely vital for any business.

What advice would you give to women looking to start a career in domains?

My only advice would be to take the plunge. The domain industry offers opportunities across tech, product, sales, marketing, legal, compliance, data analytics, and more. Find what you love and jump in. There are companies of all shapes and sizes, from large corporations to nimble startups.

The domain community is extremely welcoming and you’ll get to connect and interact with some of the best minds from different parts of the world.

And if you do join us, give me a shout-out, and I’ll be more than happy to introduce you to our community.

Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your insights on the domain industry, Neha. We’re excited to see how the domain industry continues to grow and look forward to hearing more about your contributions to the industry.

Developing a strategy around your brand and learning how to market it are pivotal to the success of not just your brand, but your business as well. And that’s exactly what we’re discussing in today’s blog post. 

If you’d like to learn more about what a brand is and the different elements that comprise it, check out part one of our Guide to Branding, “What is Branding?” here. 

What is Brand Strategy and Marketing?

A strong brand strategy helps you present a unified, consistent brand identity in market: Ranging from your site design, to your social media profiles, and even to how you communicate with customers. 

Consistency is pivotal to branding because it helps set expectations with your audience, and a consistently good experience with your brand increases brand loyalty. Without a brand strategy to drive that consistency, your business will suffer. 

Crafting a brand strategy isn’t difficult, but it does take time and effort. 

A good brand strategy helps you understand your business values and directs your brand to grow in manners beneficial to both your business and customers. It’ll help you communicate with your audience clearly and effectively, attract the right customers, and positions your brand in a way that helps you grow your market share. 

Why is Brand Strategy Important?

Without a good, consistent brand strategy your business will suffer. 

Crafting a brand strategy helps you understand who you are and what matters to your business, like your values and mission. Those are vitally important to understand when making marketing and business decisions. 

When you have an inconsistent brand, your marketing and communications take a hit, and if you can’t clearly communicate your brand and values to your customers, you’ve lost them. 

So let’s look into how to create a brand strategy and what you can do to succeed against the competition. 

How to Create a Brand Strategy

Before sitting down to create your brand strategy, it’s good to have the following information at hand:

• Who’s your target audience?
  • Who are you trying to reach? Do you know what your ideal customer looks like? To craft an effective brand strategy you must know who you’re talking to and what their needs are so you can offer the appropriate solution. If you know your audience, you can speak to them more effectively.
• Who’s your competition?
  • What other businesses and brands are competing for the same customers and audience? This information is vital to know. If you understand your competition, you can figure out how to position yourself in the marketplace to stand out from them and attract customers. 

Once you have that information handy, it’s time to start strategizing. So, let’s do it. To build your brand strategy, follow the steps below. 

Understanding the Core of Your Brand

Your business holds a set of core beliefs that drives and influences every aspect of your brand. You can think of these beliefs as your business values or your mission. 

When your brand and core business beliefs are aligned, it’s a powerful thing. When they’re not, well, you’re facing some issues. 

If you understand what drives your business, what drives your brand, then you can successfully communicate that to your customers both verbally and visually. It allows you to grow your business in a way that successfully sets you apart from competitors and engenders you to your audience. 

Without a set of guiding beliefs, your messaging will be erratic, employees may feel directionless, and overall, your business will suffer. 

To help you determine your core values and beliefs, ask yourself the following questions:

• Who am I? Why does this business exist?
  • These questions help you understand the purpose of your business. 
• What does the future of my business look like? What does success look like and how do I create it?
  • These questions help you understand your business’s vision and mission, and help you determine what needs to be done to support them. 

It’s essential that you start your brand strategy by diving into the heart of your brand and determining your values. These values and your core brand can then be shared with your audience and in market through messaging and visual representations. 

Define Your Brand Voice and Messaging

Now that you understand what makes your brand tick, it’s time to figure out how to communicate that to your customers and in the market. You can think of this as an exercise in brand messaging. 

Brand messaging is the practice of talking about who you are. Like with any practice, the more you hone and refine your messaging, the better it gets. Defining your brand messaging helps your brand communicate honestly and effectively. 

It’s important to spend time figuring out your brand messaging before jumping into the more visual aspects of your brand. That’s because your brand’s visual assets are largely an extension of your messaging and how you represent yourself online and in market. 

For example, when developing Domain.com’s brand strategy, we determined that our messaging needs to be authentic, interesting, and straightforward. Cleverness is okay, but we’re not cutesy and we won’t pander. We try to be honest and transparent while speaking clearly and simply — no “fluff.”

In turn, this helped us craft our visual identity — bold, strong, and energetic. Our approach with images and the more flexible creative elements of our brand is to find clean, clear imagery for complicated concepts. Our minimal illustration style is designed much like our messaging, again, no “fluff.”

To craft the best brand messaging, you’ll need to understand three things:

• Your brand’s personality. 
  • Long gone are the days when businesses were entirely formal and focused on transactions alone. Now, your brand needs to have some personality. What characteristics and human attributes does your brand express? Are you fun and cheerful or serious and direct? Determining what attributes to highlight in your messaging helps you build relationships with the right audience. 
• What voice to use. 
  • Your brand voice is unique. A car dealership doesn’t have the same voice as a non-profit, and for good reason. Your brand’s voice is your brand’s personality put into words and articulated in your customer-facing messaging. 
• What tone to take. 
  • A good way to determine your tone is to think about how you want your messaging to make people feel. Your voice won’t change, but your tone can depending on the context of your message or who you’re talking to. Just because your voice is clever, doesn’t mean you can’t have a serious tone when necessary. 

Once you’ve defined your brand messaging, it’ll be so much easier to communicate effectively and talk about who you are in market. Your brand messaging and voice should be used when sharing your brand story, making a pitch, or making a promise to your customers. 

Define Your Brand’s Visual Identity

Usually, when someone hears the word “brand” they immediately jump to thinking of colors and logos. However, we chose to include visual identity as the third step in your brand strategy because it’s a continuation of your brand messaging. 

Your brand expresses itself through colors, images, and icons just as much as it does with words. When crafting your visual identity keep in mind that you’re designing not just for your immediate needs, but for your brand’s future, too. 

With that said, your visual identity needs to be clear and intuitive so that the different elements, like colors and logos, work together. There needs to be an element of flexibility so that you can adapt and grow as your business does and as you introduce new products or services. And it needs to be comprehensive. Detail your color palette and what your imagery is meant to convey so that your employees or contractors understand and can apply your visual identity to their tasks and responsibilities. 

Translating Your Brand Strategy into Brand Guidelines

Now that you’ve gone through the exercise of determining your brand strategy it’s time to finalize it. 

Translating your brand strategy into a tangible document that contains your brand guidelines is an essential step in achieving business success. Having this information documented not only keeps you accountable, but it makes it easy to share with whomever needs the information, whether that be employees or an outside contractor. 

We recommend using a cloud-based tool, like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, to track this information. Both tools make it easy to work from wherever you’re located and you can access your files across various devices. They also make it easy to collaborate with others and stay on top of tasks. 

Your brand guidelines should detail the following information:

• Mission
• Vision
• Voice & Tone
• Color Palette
• Logos, Taglines, and Icons
• Typography and font
• Visual Language and Identity
• Media kit 
  • Your media kit should include downloadable files of any logos or design elements that your employees or contractors may need to support your brand. 

Putting Your Brand into Market

Ready to take your business and brand into the market? Congrats!

Now that you’ve established your brand strategy, you’ve set yourself up for success. 

You can use your brand strategy and guidelines to talk your customers online and off — in email, via social media, and face-to-face. And you should absolutely use and refer to your brand guidelines when designing your website, the core of your digital identity. 

If you don’t have a website, we can help. With Domain.com’s WebsiteBuilder, you can get online quickly and easily. And while our AI-powered site builder helps make life a little easier by getting your site design started, you retain full control over customizing your site to support your brand identity. 

So what are you waiting for? Get started today. 

Your brand is what makes you and your business unique — if it could be distilled down into something tangible, we’d venture to call it your “special sauce.”

Your brand is a first impression — the first impression that customers and potential clients will have of your business. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression, so make it count.

The good thing is, you don’t have to go at it alone. We’re here to help you understand what it takes to craft the perfect brand and take it to market in our two-part guide to branding.

What Is a Brand?

Your brand comprises many things: It’s your business and website colors, your logo, the products and services you offer, and the way you present your business online. It’s the feeling someone gets when they hear your business or domain name, and it’s what they think of you as they browse your site. And yet, that still doesn’t fully capture what your brand is.

In essence, your brand is the summation of every single touchpoint a person can have with your business and what they think about you. That includes your site, social media, products and services, logos, your business’s mission and values, the way you speak to your audience on your site and in your blog, and how you provide customer service.

You can build and work on elements of your brand to influence it; however, keep in mind that it’s just as much what someone thinks of your business as it is the elements you can control, like your logo and colors. Ultimately, your brand lives and dies in the eyes of the consumer.  

To get a bit more technical, let’s look at how Merriam-Webster defines “Brand.” They say it’s a “class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer, a characteristic or distinctive kind, and a public image, reputation, or identity conceived of as something to be marketed or promoted.”

Why Are Brands Important?

Your brand sets you apart from the competition. When all else is equal, a customer’s brand loyalty is the deciding factor in where and with what business they choose to transact. Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

So, what do you want your customers to say about you? And how can you influence it? Let’s explore different elements of branding that you can work on to craft the perfect brand identity.

Elements of Branding

Your brand isn’t entirely within your control. You see, it’s a living, evolving thing. You set the foundation upon which it grows: Deciding on a domain and business name, your logo, your colors, and your typography. Then, it evolves as people and customers interact with you, get to know your products and what type of service you provide, and when they buy into your mission and values as a business.

Business and Domain Name

Names affect brands, but how?

A good name lends trust and credibility to your business, to your brand. A good name is one of your company’s most valuable assets, and if you don’t believe us, you need only look to one of the largest businesses of our time, Starbucks, to find out why.

Starbucks co-founder, Gordon Bowker, tells us how Starbucks got its name in an interview with The Seattle Times. He says, “We were thinking of all kinds of names and came desperately close to calling it Cargo House, which would have been a terrible, terrible mistake. Terry Heckler [with whom Bowker owned an advertising agency] mentioned in an offhand way that he thought words that begin with ‘st’ were powerful words. I thought about that and I said, yeah, that’s right, so I did a list of ‘st’ words.

Somebody somehow came up with an old mining map of the Cascades and Mount Rainier, and there was an old mining town called Starbo. As soon as I saw Starbo, I, of course, jumped to Melville’s first mate [named Starbuck] in Moby-Dick.”

There you have it — Starbucks was named, in large part, due to the perceived strength of the “st” sound that begins its name.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Jeff bezos

Words can indeed cause people to feel different things depending on the sounds in the word. Christopher Johnson, Ph.D., a verbal branding consultant known as “The Name Inspector,” discusses these sounds or “rhythmic contrasts” in words in his book MICROSTYLE The Art of Writing Little.

Did you know that business names can be thought of as either feminine or masculine depending on the sound or rhythm of the word?  He uses the examples of Chanel, a “feminine brand name”, and Black & Decker, a “masculine brand name”, as explained below.

The name Chanel is an iamb, meaning it consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (shə-NEHL or chaNEL.) “Iambs tend to sound lighter and softer,” Johnson writes, while “… trochees tend to sound heavier and harder.” Black & Decker is an example of a trochee; those consist of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (BLACK & deck-ER.) He notes that “Most people ‘feel’ this difference even if they find it hard to pinpoint.” Keep in mind that means people will feel a certain way about your business name, probably without realizing it, so put some extra thought into naming your business.

Choosing the right domain name should be part of the process of selecting your business name. Both will support your brand, and for consistency, they should be as similar (if not exact) as possible. Successful businesses in this day and age require having an online presence, so a website (and therefore, domain name) is a must.

Here’s what else you should keep in mind when deciding on the perfect domain name for your brand:

• Does it pass the radio test?
  • If someone were only to hear your domain name in passing on the radio and never see it written out, could they navigate to it? If the answer is no, consider going back to the drawing board and choosing another name.
• Avoid unique spelling, punctuation, or excessive numbers.
  • For starters, it won’t pass the radio test. Do you really expect people to remember that instead of the letter “I,” you use the number “1” in your domain name? Or that you have approximately five hyphens and three numbers in your domain? No, you can’t reasonably expect that. And if people can’t remember or spell your domain name, the chances of them getting to your website are slim.
• Make it memorable.
  • Try to keep your domain name short. The longer it gets, the more chances people have of mistyping and never reaching your site.
• Buy alternate misspellings of your domain name.
  • This helps in two ways:
    • If there are common misspellings of your domain name, purchase them to ensure you get any traffic from people who mistyped your correct domain.
    • It prevents competitors from purchasing misspellings of your domain name. If your competitor owns those misspelled alternates of your domain, they can redirect traffic from there to their own site.
• Consider a new domain extension.
  • Is .com really king? It’s well known, and people recognize it, but nowadays, there are thousands of domain extensions that can help you get the perfect domain name.
  • Starting an online store? Try .store. Opening a yoga studio? Try .yoga. There is a domain extension for just about everything, and these TLDs can help add context and memorability to your domain name.

Business and Brand Logo

Humans are visual creatures, so hook their attention with a good-looking logo.

Why are logos important? Just like with domain names, a good logo is a calling card for your brand. Your logo should be memorable and unique enough that when people see it, they instantly think of your brand and don’t confuse it with another.

There are various types of logos, ranging from strictly visual (think abstract logos like Chase Bank) to mascots (used by many sports teams), emblems (law firms or universities), and lettermarks and wordmarks (like CNN or Google, respectively.)

Domain.com uses a variety of logos, like you see below, to help support our brand. 

When designing your logo, keep the following tips in mind:

• Leverage white and empty space. 
  • Your logo doesn’t need to look “busy” to communicate your brand.
• Rely on your business’s color palette. 
• Where will your logo be displayed? 
  • You’ll likely need different versions or sizes so that it looks good on your website, in your emails, and on social media. 
• Relevancy is key. 
  • Your logo is representative of your brand, don’t forget that. 

With Domain.com, it’s easy to create a professional logo to support your brand. All you need is a name, and Domain.com’s LogoMaker will instantly create hundreds of logo options for you to choose from. Then, you can customize everything from colors and fonts to icons and more. 

Sign in to your Domain.com account today and select “Business” at the top of your control panel to leverage the power and design capabilities of LogoMaker. 

Color Psychology and Branding

Designing a website can be a lot of fun, especially when you use a tool like WebsiteBuilder, which does all the heavy lifting for you. That gives you more time to focus on the creative aspects, like the color palette your business and site uses. 

Your brand’s color palette can affect the way people interact with you. This is due to color psychology, or “the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior.”

Certain colors lend themselves to specific associations. In Western culture, we say that green is the color of envy and think of blue as relaxing and meditative. The color black, for example, is believed to represent wealth and prosperity in Eastern cultures and is foreboding and threatening in Western cultures. 

Domain.com’s primary color is Carmine Red, as you see below. We chose it to help us create a strong, bold, and energetic brand expression that helps us stand out and build recognition. 

From there, we selected an accompanying functional color palette — one that’s monochromatic and leverages greyscale to add a stark contrast to our primary color. 

Go into your color selection with an idea of what you want those colors to exemplify. For Domain.com, we embrace a minimal and clean color palette to allow for deliberate emphasis on bold visual elements. Our colors are meant to inspire and drive action, to help the Doers out there get more done. 

Font and Branding

A successful brand understands that different fonts send different messages to their audiences. So choose your fonts carefully — no one wants to send the wrong message to their audience accidentally. 

There are hundreds and hundreds of fonts available to you, some you can find for free, and others require purchase. However, most of the fonts you’ll want to use fall into the following categories:

• Serif
  • Serif fonts are distinctive due to the flourish or decorative stroke at the end of the letters (both horizontally and vertically.) These fonts generally give your site and brand a more formal tone. 
• Sans 
  • Sans fonts add no serifs, or decorative strokes, to their letters. In fact, in French, “sans” means without. These fonts give off a modern and straightforward vibe. 

Domain.com uses Lato for its branding, choosing it for its flexibility and bold, modern style. 

What are you thinking about using for your brand? Why? Let us know in the comments!

Customer Service, Values, and Branding

A consistent customer experience is at the core of your brand. To put this into perspective, let’s look at Starbucks again to see what they’re doing right. 

Whether or not you’ve had their coffee (and with over 28k locations, we’re betting you have), the odds are good that you’ve heard of Starbucks. How did they get to be so big and such a well-loved brand?

The intelligent minds at Starbucks realized that their brand, their business persona, was in the hands of their customers. Understanding that, they’ve since done everything they can to enhance the public’s perception of them positively. 

Starbucks trained its partners (what they call their employees) to greet you when you walk in the door and know that it should only take 3 minutes from that moment until you get your drink. I don’t know about you, but a cheerful greeting and expedient service are likely to make me think more fondly of a business.

Starbucks provides a consistent experience. You’ll find similar menus across most of their locations, all of which are easily identifiable by the green siren logo. Not to mention, that logo is one of the world’s most recognizable logos. Their locations are comfortable, inviting, and positioned as a “third place” — a place between home and work that’s welcoming and relaxing.

Starbucks’ mission statement is, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” They live this mission in their stores, and it’s reflected in the materials they choose to share on social media. They do such an excellent job of living their mission statement, and so it’s how their customers think of them — it’s the heart of their brand.

What would happen to the Starbucks brand if they decided to double all their prices, increase the wait time for drinks, and hire only surly service workers? Those wouldn’t be changes to the material goods they offer, but changes that affect the customer experience. Their brand would undoubtedly suffer because it lives in the eyes of the consumer.

Have you ever been to the Starbucks website? In our original definition, we said that “Your brand is the summation of every single touchpoint a customer can have with your business and how they think about you.” Websites are customer touchpoints, and Starbucks’ site is designed to reflect their commitment to their mission statement and ease of use.

We understand that you may not have a Starbucks-sized budget to run and market your business, but you can still cop a few of their tactics to grow your brand. Put your customers first, provide a good and consistent experience, and live your mission statement.

A Successful Brand Is a Successful Business

Take the time to focus on building and crafting your brand before launching your business in the market. 

Structural elements like your logo, color palette, and typography and fonts keep your brand consistent and robust. These core pieces work together to make your brand recognizable wherever it appears. 

Once you’ve nailed your structural elements, you can approach your brand’s more flexible and creative elements, like selecting what photography and illustration to use on your site. All of these things help communicate a broader range of emotions, showcase your products, and create clear points of view for your customers. 

Ready to work on your brand and bring your business to life? Domain.com has all the tools you need, so get started today. 

We believe that the Internet has impacted society, culture, and history quite a bit since it became available to the masses in August of 1991. 

And behind the scenes, there are a lot of intelligent, thoughtful, and accomplished women who are influencing the world wide web as we know and experience it today. 

We wanted to speak to those women and find out firsthand what their experiences have been like, to discuss the position of women in domaining, and get their thoughts on the landscape of the future. 

So we sat down with Kelly Hardy, Head of Registry Policy at Centralnic, a leading provider of internet infrastructure services, to speak about her experiences as a woman in this field and why she enjoys working in domains. 

What she has to say is insightful, and provides hope and inspiration for other women who are looking to start a career in tech, which is known to be a male-dominated field. 

Women in Domaining with Kelly Hardy of Centralnic

Hi Kelly, thanks for sitting down with us today to discuss women in domaining. To start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I don’t think my story is too dissimilar to a lot of people who’ve been in the domain space for a while in that I didn’t have a structured or expected path to get here. 

I started working as a touring music journalist when I was 16 and did that for a little over a decade with time off to go to college. I’ve been a skateboarder most of my life. I have a degree in comic books as comparative literature and had a ton of really strange jobs in the immediate post 9/11 economy. For instance, I briefly had a job opening “anthrax mail” (mail feared to be potentially laced with anthrax) at a water treatment plant in my hometown. I managed an educational performing arts space where I once brought a celebrated performance artist to lecture to the students not knowing he’d recently become a self-described witch doctor. I’ve co-owned a music magazine and small record label and did a bit of time working for big record companies. 

In my mid 20’s I ended up at a brand protection firm and started working with the ICANN community and fell in love with the domain industry. I then opened my own consulting firm and have worked with nearly everyone in the space, including .ME for nearly a decade. I closed that business almost a year ago to become CentralNic’s Head of Registry Policy. 

That is a really interesting career path that brought you to the Domain industry.  Can you describe your current company and your role there?

CentralNic Registry is one of the original domain infrastructure companies. We are a pure play-back end registry provider and also offer marketing, policy advisory, and a vast registrar network to plug our clients into. CentralNic is a really interesting company to work for because there is a deep understanding of the necessity of looking beyond the way we as an industry have always done things and to reach further, connecting the domain space and our clients to the larger Tech and governance communities. 

I am the head of registry policy, which is exactly what it sounds like, but I also run the registry consultancy which is basically a think tank for our registry clients. 

How long have you been in domaining? How did you get your start?

I’ve been in the space since 2006. 

I was a refugee from the music industry where I’d been working as a consultant bouncing between labels helping the heads of record companies, music producers and legal departments streamline their offices and help them make the transition to digital. That kind of thing really kills your love of the actual art but was excellent preparation for the domain industry. 

After that, I worked with Marksmen for a few years and got involved with the ICANN community through them and then started my own consulting firm. I took some time off in the late 2000s to work in television development until I got a call from Garth Miller to work with CoCCA and that was an adventure I didn’t want to turn down. I’ve been primarily working in the space with ccTLDs ever since. 

What attracted you to the domain industry?

The most obvious thing I would say is the travel, and that it is an unusual industry that is full of fascinating characters. 

But if you scratch a little deeper, I think it is that we are providing the infrastructure that connects most of the planet and that is important work. I think it is really beautiful that we help facilitate a tool that can improve lives and change people’s circumstances all over the world. 

I think that we [in the domain industry] are providing the infrastructure that connects most of the planet and that is important work.

Kelly hardy

The most valuable element of the travel is that when you’re going to really remote places, learning how people all over the world use the internet and seeing first-hand that what might be “normal use” to you at “home” doesn’t resemble someone else’s experience. Understanding that this can range from whether it is the device on which the internet is primarily accessed, ingenious ways that small businesses are set up or alternate forms of banking is so helpful for what we do. 

We can’t design a future if we don’t understand what that means holistically. In developing regions, where less stable infrastructure is available, you see people getting really creative. In these instances, we get to see a piece of the future and I think we are really lucky in that way.

As a woman, do you feel represented in the domain community? Why or why not?

This is an interesting question. 

I’ve been in the domain industry long enough that I remember a time when there were maybe a handful of women who had any visibility in the space and the culture was very different. Now the demographic has shifted radically, and generally, for tech, we may have a statistically larger saturation of women. In terms of being able to look around and see other women present, who are being treated like people, I absolutely feel represented. 

In terms of being able to look around and see other women present [in the domain industry], who are being treated like people, I absolutely feel represented.

kelly hardy

However, in terms of women or people of color in positions of power in the domain industry and representation there, we have a long way to go. I have a lot of hope though, seeing how fast and how much the industry has changed. 

CentralNic is the first large company in the industry that I have worked for in-house and I feel really lucky to be involved with an organization that treats its employees well and is invested in their development. Leadership isn’t strictly male and there is real diversity both racially and geographically. There is still work to be done there, but it feels good to support an organization that is self-aware and leading the industry in the right direction.

What might you change to make the industry more welcoming to women?

We need more women and people of color in leadership positions industry-wide. Everyone benefits and we can make better things when there is diversity of thought and experience in the room. 

What are your thoughts on newer TLDs and domain extensions?

I was an early advocate of new TLDs and I feel the same way now that I did in 2008: this is a long game. 

It is not a get-rich-quick scheme and not every TLD will be a success, but I believe there is inherent value in creating TLD diversity on this scale. 

A lot was learned in the last round about what works and what does not. Hopefully, as an industry, we’ve become wiser and have a better idea of what the public user base wants. 

For adoption to really take off, we have to have meaningful promotion of new gTLDs with widespread marketing and education. It isn’t just about selling domains; it is about teaching people how to use the internet as we’ve structured it by releasing new TLDs by the thousand. 

I believe that for this kind of promotion to be effective, everyone involved would have to put ego and self-interest aside and work together to do what is best for the domain ecosystem and the end-user.

Do you have any predictions for what will happen and change within the domain community in the next year? Five years?

I think that the domain community has to start thinking larger than itself. If all we really focus on is selling more domain names, we will stagnate. 

We need to be thinking about what else we can do to make the Internet grow in a meaningful way and what we can be doing for end-users to make their use of the tool easier. 

What advice would you give to women looking to start a career in domains?

I would tell them that this is the rare sector of the tech industry where you can show up and be your entire self. That even though it might not look like it yet, there is room here for everyone and it is getting better and better. And that if you are willing to put in the work you can create something amazing.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us on women in domaining for Women’s History Month, Kelly. We appreciate your insights and look forward to seeing your contributions and expertise at play in the domain industry. 

Now comes the hard part (as if leaving behind the security of your regular job wasn’t hard enough). Along with the thrills of being your own boss comes the burden of having to manage everything on your own. 

Suddenly, you’re a CEO, a designer, a social media manager, a customer service representative, and an office administrator. Throw in client meetings and chasing vendors for payments and you’re cruising toward burnout.

The good news is you don’t have to do it all on your own. With the help of technology, you can take your mind off mundane tasks and get some free time to focus on making your solopreneurial venture profitable and scalable. 

Online Tools for Solopreneurs

Here are some tools you need to make your solo journey a smooth-sailing one.

Create a Website 

First of all, you need a website to create an online presence to help prospective clients or customers find you and connect with you. 

Creating a website doesn’t have to be an expensive affair but it’s definitely one that needs thorough research and attention to detail. Start by thinking about what purpose you want it to serve and then assemble the tools you need to get it up and running.

If you find the prospect of creating a website intimidating, relax. Creating a website is an easy process when you use WebsiteBuilder. To start, answer a few questions and Domain.com’s AI-powered WebsiteBuilder will select the right layout, along with initial images and content for your site. If you’d prefer to work with a professional to create your site, Domain.com can help with that, too. 

Website Hosting

Domain.com offers powerful and reliable hosting plans ranging from your basic hosting to more complex plans for eCommerce and high-volume sites. Additionally, they offer WordPress hosting, which is among the most versatile tools offering various templates for different kinds of websites. 

Domain Name

Next, you will need to register a domain name that people can use to find your website. An ideal domain name is:

• Similar to your company name so as to strengthen your online branding.
• Short and simple enough to be memorable and easy to type.
• Indicative of your industry or nature of business.
• Creative enough to stand out from competitors.
• Readily available to use and free of trademark protections.

Consider using new domain extensions that can not only be more affordable but can also make your domain name more meaningful and contextual. For instance, you can use .store for an online store, .tech if you are a coder, programmer, or web designer, .online if you are going to take online classes, or .space if you need an online space to display your art.  

Analytics

You will also need tools to provide data that measures the success of your website in terms of the traffic it is receiving from different sources, conversions, and bounce rates. Google Analytics is a free tool that offers most services that a solopreneurial venture would need, but you can also opt for paid tools such as Ahrefs and SEMrush that can provide more complex data such as in-depth competitor analysis and backlink monitoring. 

Task Management and Communication

Being a one-person army is never easy. You need tools that can help you plan and organize your tasks, track workflows, track the amount of time spent on different jobs, and set up reminders. Fortunately, there is no dearth of online tools to help you in this department. Here are some of our favorites.

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 offers all the tools you know and love to help you establish and run your business. Need to reinforce your brand with a professional email address that matches your domain name? Microsoft 365 has you covered. They also offer the tools you’re already familiar with, like Outlook, Word, Skype, and more. From cloud-based document management to virtual meeting software, you have everything you need to manage your business when you use Microsoft 365. 

Google Workspace

Stay on top of all your tasks with Google Workspace. Whether you need to stay in touch with your customers and clients or share documents with partners and employees, you can do it all with the tools they offer. And there’s no need to worry about confusing set up, domain verification, or toggling between Domain.com and Gmail. Google Workspace is completely integrated with your Domain.com control panel, allowing instant access so you can get down to business, fast.

Todoist

Todoist offers a host of features for different types of workers from creative professionals to freelancers to techies to business owners. It allows you to list and prioritize tasks and subtasks, segregate them into different categories, and set deadlines and reminders. You can also track your progress through productivity charts and earn points for completing tasks. 

Monday

Monday can easily be integrated with other apps such as Google, Dropbox, and Slack to set up automated workflows and help you save time. It also offers different viewing styles such as kanban, graphs, and charts so you can pick the one that you find easiest to read and understand.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is particularly useful for freelancers as it also provides tools for managing finances, time-tracking, and setting up estimates and timelines for projects. The invoicing tool ensures that you get paid on time while its collaborative project management tool makes it easy for clients to share feedback, so you can be on the same page at all stages of the task.

Accounting and Invoicing

Managing your business accounts can be the most daunting task for solopreneurs, especially if you’re not from a finance background. Hiring a bookkeeper may not be within everyone’s budget. But there are a number of online tools, from simple to complex, that you can use to take the load off your hands and learn a thing or two about accounting. 

Wave

This free software offers simple yet useful money-management solutions, making it ideal for small solo businesses. Its best feature is easy-to-create invoices, but it also helps you visualize your cash flows and stay on top of payments. If you want to manage your credit card payments through the app, it charges you a basic fee of $3-4 per transaction.

Xero

For more complex accounting needs, especially for those pertaining to online stores, Xero offers all of the services that Wave provides along with seamless integration with other apps that can help you automate workflows. Other useful features include inventory tracking, bill payments, bank account connections, tax calculations, financial reporting, and file sharing.

Social Media

As a solopreneur, you may not have a big marketing budget, but you can harness the power of social media to build your brand, connect with your audience and even sell your products. However, managing multiple social media accounts is no mean feat. 

That’s the reason why big companies have teams dedicated purely to social media. Not only do you need to understand the platforms well, but you also need to know your audience behavior, post on multiple accounts, and have the design and writing chops to create beautiful creatives and catchy captions. Sound intimidating? It doesn’t have to be, we’ll explain below. 

Analytics Tools

The best part about using social media platforms is that you can use their native tools (Facebook Ads Manager, Instagram Insights, and Twitter Analytics) for gaining useful target audience insights, such as demographic information, learning when they’re most active, and to discover how they’re engaging with your posts. You can even estimate the reach of your ads based on the cost and the time frame of your posts. 

Social Media Management Tools

Instead of setting up multiple reminders for posting on different accounts, you can use apps such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Buffer to run multiple accounts from a single platform, schedule future posts and receive advanced analytics.

Content Creation Apps

Social media is nothing without stunning visuals, but don’t fret if designing isn’t one of your strong points. You don’t even have to enroll yourself in an online Photoshop or video-editing course (although those skills are always useful in the long run). With the help of apps such as Canva, Wordswag, and VSCO Cam, you can create beautiful content with pictures, text, and other design elements to take your social media game to the next level. 

Start Your Solopreneur Journey Today

Don’t let the burdens of being a solopreneur dissuade you from taking the journey. Armed with the right tools, hard work, and willpower, you can enrich your life with meaningful work that resonates with your passion, reap the benefits of well-deserved rewards, and live life on your own terms. 

Author Bio

Alisha is a Senior Content Marketing & Communication 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 and Twitter.