What is that one thing that convinces people to buy from your online store? Or, to put that differently – what transforms people into your customers and your customers into a loyal community of fans? The answer is trust! Setting up an online store is easy but building customer-trust should be the underlying theme of your eCommerce business. And it starts with your domain name.
Your domain name is the first touchpoint for your customers. As someone who wants to build a long-term relationship and not a one-time transaction with their customers, you should invest time and effort in choosing your domain name wisely.
Why is a .STORE domain better than a .COM for your online store?
The answer is simple – it transforms your online store into a brand! The idea is to hook your customers right from the start. How do you stand out, get noticed and stay etched in your prospect’s memory? By adding meaning to your name. It’s for this reason that Emirates chose www.emirates.store. We need not even tell you what that website is for. The domain name says it all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GXg2JoV720
What’s the best way to choose a website name for your online store?
A few tips to get you started on finding the best name for your website:
1) Keep it short and simple.
Ensure that your domain name is easy to remember and relate to. Would you rather go to www.buypersonalisedgifts.com or www.customgifts.store? The first one is long and your customers would never remember if it’s personalized with an s or a z.
2) Keep it free of unnecessary letters, numbers and wrong spellings
Aim for a website name that’s descriptive of who you are without complicating it. Consider www.magazine.store; it’s simple, credible, professional and descriptive. Compare that to a name like www.buymagazinesonlinee.com. Notice the extra e towards the end? Fat chance anyone would get that right. Also, it’s unimpressive!
3) Make it descriptive of who you are
The best website names are the ones that describe who you are and where you belong. It’s not for nothing that legendary musician Jimi Hendrix’s official merchandise store is on .
Will a .STORE domain name impact your website’s SEO?
Yes, in a good way!
While Google has gone on record saying that it treats all domain extensions equally when it comes to SEO, bear in mind that there are hundreds of factors that impact your website’s search ranking. Here too, link trust is one of the key factors. So, when you have a .STORE domain and people give you backlink to an anchor text that has the word ‘store’, the search engine begins to build a picture of you.
For example, the anchor text is ‘Emirates Store’ and it is backlinked to www.emirates.store. This sends positive signals to the search engine about your credibility. Another big factor that contributes to your website’s SEO is, obviously, the content on your website.
Here, too, trust plays an important role. If your eCommerce website has credible, fresh content which is relevant to your target group, they will begin to trust you. The search engine will consider the quality of your content with metrics such time spent, bounce rate, pogo sticking, etc and give a higher ranking.
To summarize, trust is what will get your customers to land up on your online store and consider your eCommerce website worthy of spending their money on. So, start with choosing the right website name and transform your online store into a credible brand!