What are the two key ingredients for building a successful tech startup? If you look at Twitter, one of the most successful tech startups of all time, you will know that the answer is innovation and branding. A ground-breaking tech product with bad branding, or a buggy product with great branding just won’t make the cut. What you need is the perfect blend of both these elements.
Do domain names play a role in brand-building for your tech startup?
Consider the domain name www.magazine.store, the online ‘magazine store’ owned by the multi-billion dollar media conglomerate Meredith Corp (NYSE: MDP). It’s obvious why this domain name is an incredible choice for a business that wants to be an industry leader when it comes to selling magazines online. Many large brands around the world are similarly harnessing the power of relevant domain names in order to ‘own’ the industry or business category they play in and tech startups are not far behind.
Some of the most groundbreaking startups today have been able to brand themselves with short, keyword-rich domain names on relevant domain extensions such as .TECH. This has empowered them to create a strong positioning not just in the minds of customers but also among investors and media.
Aurora Innovation, Inc. (www.aurora.tech), which has raised $90M in funding, and Innoviz Technologies (www.innoviz.tech), which has raised $82M in funding, are examples of tech startups that have chosen to brand themselves differently.
www.innoviz.tech
Why are tech startups choosing .TECH domains to brand themselves?
It’s obvious that the word ‘tech’ resonates widely with the global tech ecosystem, and especially with startups which are at the forefront of tech innovation. This makes .TECH domains the unquestionable choice of young tech businesses looking to give themselves unique branding.
Asher Kagan, Founder, www.shadow.tech, says about their .TECH domain, “Shadow is fundamentally a high-tech company. Shadow’s inventors have strong technical backgrounds and the founding team has worked in some of the most advanced technology companies and industries before. We are proud of our tech roots and .TECH reflects this origin.”
Similarly, Matt Hanbury, Founder, www.lightly.tech, says about their .TECH domain, “As our company is called Lightly Technologies using a .tech domain was the perfect fit for us. It’s given us a short, modern URL that really stands out for emails and website links.”
www.lightly.tech
These are just a couple of tech startups that have placed their trust on .TECH for their groundbreaking innovation. By choosing .TECH, startups have been able to choose domain names which are:
- Strategic: A strategic domain name positions your startup as a trend setter
As an innovation-led business, it is important for you to invest in the right assets today for building a robust brand for tomorrow. Therefore, it is recommended that you don’t compromise on your brand name or the domain name. By choosing a strategic new domain extension such as .TECH, you can break the norm, and even the monotony, of how startups are branded. In other words, a .TECH domain name for your startup shows that you’re ahead of your time.
For example, consider www.brilliant.tech. Brilliant creates technology that makes it fun and easy to interact directly with your home. With a .TECH domain, they have been able to choose a strategic online identity which cuts through the noise and attracts attention immediately.
2. Keyword-rich: A keyword-rich domain name fuels the marketing efforts for your startup
As a growing startup, it helps to have a keyword-rich domain name. For example, consider www.nextenergy.tech. It is obvious that the business is into energy technology, and this saves a lot of time and effort on the part of the startup to explain to investors, media and customers what they are all about. This proves to be highly beneficial in the long term from a branding perspective.
It ought to be noted that new domain extensions are as good as any other extension as far as search engine ranking is concerned. In fact, Google recently went on the record saying: New domain name endings are not treated any differently than traditional domain name endings like .com or .org. Domain names with new endings are shown in search just like any other domain name.
This makes .TECH a great domain name option for tech startups as it opens up the opportunity to brand themselves better rather than settling for a clunky, long domain.
3. Meaningful: A meaningful domain name gives your startup an opportunity to look purposeful
Consider the example of www.lovable.com and www.lovable.tech. The former website could be about anything, but the moment you see the latter domain name you know it belongs to a tech company. That’s the power of choosing a meaningful domain extension. It adds purpose to your name and helps with your branding.
For example, the domain name www.stronger.tech suggests that the business makes technology stronger. It is therefore a great choice for Stronger International, Inc which offers consulting and cloud-based virtual training to organizations and individuals who want to ‘strengthen’ IT security of their clients. A meaningful domain name helps intuitively build the brand story in the mind even before one knows anything else about the business itself.
4. Relevant: A relevant domain name makes your startup seem bold yet familiar
Attracting and engaging an audience becomes easier if you have a bold brand that breeds familiarity at the same time. A .TECH domain helps you do just that by creating a striking, crisp brand which also instantly resonates with the tech community because of its relevance. For example, www.shadow.tech forms a strong identity for a product that is called ‘Shadow’. It’s a one-word domain which not only establishes the brand name but also builds a connection with the tech industry.
5. Valuable: A .TECH domain name gives your startup access to the Startup League community
By choosing a .TECH domain for your startup, you can get access to the Startup League, a startup-support community that offers sponsorship to early-stage startups to exhibit at some of the biggest tech events; along with digital marketing boost, media shout outs and branding support. If you are an early stage tech startup, the Startup League could make your dream go-to-market strategy come true. The Startup League is a unique initiative by Radix, which owns and operates .TECH domains.
So, give your tech startup a solid brand positioning and a massive marketing push by choosing an innovative domain name. If you are building the future, build it on a .TECH domain.