Why Designers Should Use a (.design) Domain?

Most domain names end up with extensions .com, .net and .org. Most especially, they end up with .com because it is the most popular extension of all. In fact, it’s encouraged for website owners to use .com if possible because .com is the well-known extension by site visitors. It’s easier to remember a .com website than of any other extension, primarily because most think of websites in terms of .com out of practicality. Yet, designers and design companies are starting to use .design as their domain extension instead of .com or any extensions (such as .net or .org) because of SEO, practicality and branding capability this extension gives to designers for all types. Recently, Airbnb used .design for their design website. Check airbnb.design.   Should you use a .design? Most certainly, here’s why:

1. Most names in .com are unavailable

    Since most website owners are encouraged to use .com for their websites because it’s the most memorable, many names are purchased under this extension – which means many names are unavailable for it. You might get disappointed for choosing a website name, only to find out that it’s not available in .com. Sure, you can use .net or .org, but if you’re a designer, why not use .design? A .design extension sets the tone that your website is for design use, and it’s as simple as that. What if people can’t remember your website because you don’t use a .com? Don’t worry, they still will!

2. A .design extension can still be remembered

It’s true that .com is the most memorable extension for most site visitors and website owners alike. But having another extension doesn’t make your website less memorable. Some other relatively famous extensions include .net, .org and .co. Governments (.gov) and educational institutions (.edu) can still be remembered as well. Some can even be more complicated than that, yet they are remembered. It has nothing to do much with which extensions you use, but rather the name itself that you use. Before that, you should also know that the .design extension is memorable in itself, well, because of the word “design”. When you’re looking for anything about design in the Internet, a .design extension actually helps more! So, let’s talk about your website or domain name.

3. Use a memorable domain name

Use a memorable domain name if you want to be remembered. Simple as that. Don’t make it hard for your visitors to remember your name. Your extension, no matter how unusual it is, can really be remembered easily. But if your domain name is something like do4ovAh19designs.com, it’s hard to remember – despite the .com! Okay, your domain name may not be that hard, but here are a few suggestions to keep to make your name memorable:

• Avoid misspelling or mixing words with numbers – Most people think of words in terms of words, so avoid misspelling or mixing numbers to your name. Here are two reasons: 1) again, they think about words, not numbers, and 2) it can confuse them if you type the number in number form or word form (ex. “2” vs. “two”). Should you use numbers, be sure to be strategic about it! An example of a successful domain name despite using numbers is addicted2success.com
• Be sure your name makes sense grammar-wise and spelling-wise – Simply put, don’t violate grammar and spelling just to make your name “memorable”. Okay, that’s possible as we will see later, but be wise about it. Don’t just jumble words, change spellings or ungrammatically order words to make it “unique”. Most likely, it’s so unique no one will remember it!
• Short and sweet words are preferred – This won’t likely apply to you if you’re a freelancer or a company. But if you’re a blogger, it’s best to choose a blog name that’s short and sweet.
• Jumble or create new name wisely– Famous companies’ name doesn’t make sense on their own, anyway. Think of Microsoft, YouTube, Facebook, and Airbnb. Yet they’re highly remembered because of their marketing and branding tactics. Just be wise about it, and as I said earlier, don’t just jumble or create new words just to look “unique”. It may cause your branding and marketing problems soon!

4. Beneficial for SEO

For us humans, .com is the very useful and very preferable domain extension. But computers and search engines think differently. SEO doesn’t merely rely on domain extensions. They’re actually more concerned with keywords – words used by visitors to search what they’re looking for. If you use .design as your extension, you’ll automatically have an advantage whenever someone looks for anything about design. Of course, that alone is not enough, but it’s a good start. Combine that with good content creation strategy, you’ll more likely to rank higher in search engines.

5. Using .design may shorten your domain name altogether

Think again of airbnb.design. They could have used airbnbdesign.com, but as you can see it’s simpler to use airbnb.design than airbnbdesign.com. By using .design, you’re actually focusing your domain name on the fact that you’re into design which ultimately will help you in branding.

6. Good for branding purposes

  Like I said above, using a .design extension helps you a lot in branding. Aside from making your domain name simpler, it also emphasizes the fact your website has something a lot to do with design. Pick a proper name (refer to #3) and combine it with a .design extension, that just can be a powerful branding tool!

7. Inclusive and exclusive at the same time

When you use a .design domain, you let users know that you’re working in the field of design – whether it be graphic design, logo design, or any types of design. You give them the impression that you’re part of this “tribe” of designers. You’re inclusive to the name, while at the same time, your website is exclusive only to the design niche.

Conclusion

Many design websites are simply turning to .design as their extension, and for good reason. If you’re a designer of any sort – a blogger, freelancer or company – you may want to use .design for your website. If you’re interested in using a .design extension, Porkbun offers a FREE .design extension just for designers like you! Simply sign up on their page here and you’re good to go! And don’t forget perhaps the golden rule of all: pick a memorable name!