Good Branding Versus Not-So-Good Branding

First impressions are crucial

The three pillars of online branding

To start on the right foot, your brand name, domain name, and email address should match. Think of this as the three pillars of online branding. If one pillar is missing or misaligned with the other two, your business may fall over. On the other hand, if they’re properly aligned, your business will have a strong foundation.

Good Branding – Plants.com

Premium domains like this one instill trust in potential customers. A domain that defines the industry or matches the product or service being sold is hugely valuable. As customers, we subconsciously equate good domain names with good companies.

Bad Branding – Buyourplants.com

If you saw this domain while browsing the web, you might assume it’s a scam or something that will give your computer a virus. We have been conditioned to trust one or two-word .com domains and distrust most anything else.

Bad branding happens way too often in the domain industry. Business owners sometimes don’t see the value in a premium domain and how it can affect their brand. I’d equate this to tripping over wads of cash to pick up a few pennies.

While purchasing a “cheap” domain name will keep money in your pocket in the short term, it will have detrimental effects on the long-term viability of your business. You may be perceived as a second-rate business by potential customers, which will hurt your bottom line in the long run.

Remember, as a future domain owner, you have full control of your brand and online identity. Strive to be a Wine.com or Plants.com.

What's in a Name? The Power of Branding

The below logos demonstrate the power of branding in our society. With a powerful brand, a simple logo tells customers everything they need to know. I’d bet you can guess the brands of the below logos, but also the domain names (which go hand-in-hand): Amazon.com, McDonalds.com, and Disney.com.

Of course, these are three of the most valuable brands in the world. Powerful branding is one reason for their success. This exercise shows how important it is to build an effective brand identity, both online and offline.

Branding is everywhere

As consumers, we are constantly blasted by branding – when we use our phones, when we use our laptops, when we watch TV – it really never stops. Marketing professionals take advantage of every opportunity they have to show us their brand and implant it into our minds.

Case study: GEICO Insurance

Take GEICO insurance for example. When you think of GEICO, what do you think of? You might think of a caveman, a lizard, or the phrase “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.” Whatever image your brain conjures up, you associate it with the name GEICO.

So, if you wanted to get a quote from GEICO online, where do you think you’d go? GEICO.com, naturally. This web address is intuitive because it matches the brand. It’s the name customers associate with the company, so it’s the name they expect to find services.

Why domains should match your brand

Regardless of how you plan to use a domain name, it should match your brand, whether it’s your personal brand or the brand of your company. This is what our customers expect, and this is how they will find you most easily.

If you wanted to shop for a new Subaru car, you’d probably type Subaru.com into your browser. Even if you didn’t know who owns the domain, you’d expect to find Subaru cars on Subaru.com.