Businesses today have many options for interacting with customers online. The findings of our independent survey of online consumers suggest that websites and branded email continue to be critical components of many businesses’ online presence, essential to supporting consumer confidence and enabling effective interaction with customers.
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Back Rub, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, DrivUrSelf, Research in Motion, Sound of Music.
Wonder if the original names of these big brands would have been as successful if they chose not to go by Google, Sony, Hertz Rent-A-Car, Blackberry or Best Buy?
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Verisign is pleased to announce that קום., the new, Verisign-operated, internationalized domain name (IDN) extension that is uniquely designed for Hebrew language speakers, is now open for the registration of domain names by the general public on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability and the applicable registry policies.* The General Registration Period for קום. began at 00:00:00 UTC on Nov. 5, 2018, following the Landrush Program Period.**
*Please note that a domain name registered in the קום. TLD registry is not the same as a domain name registered in the .com TLD registry. In addition, the holder of the registration of a domain name in the קום. TLD registry may not be the same as the holder of the registration of the same domain name in the .com TLD registry.
Verisign is pleased to announce the launch of our phased rollout of קום. in Hebrew script. This new, Verisign-operated internationalized domain name (IDN) extension was created to help businesses and individuals connect with customers in their local language. The Sunrise Period for קום. is open from July 30, 2018 at 00:00:00 UTC through Sept. 4, 2018 at 23:59:59 UTC.
Registering a domain name is one of the first steps to starting a new business. That’s because whatever name you choose will represent your business’s space on the internet – and, possibly, a customer’s first impression of your company.
But once you have that domain name, what do you do? Don’t stress over building your online space. You can start using your domain name right away. Here are three ways to do it.
If you send emails to your customers, it’s not only about what you say in your emails, but what your email address says about you. If you use a generic email like Gmail or Yahoo for your business, it might be time to consider something more professional and specific to your business. For example, what dental practice would you choose to contact, one that uses an email address like info@pearlybrightsmiles.com or toothymike88@gmail.com? It’s probably safe to assume you’d pick the first one. Yet, in 2015, almost half of U.S. small businesses still did not have a company-branded email.1
Here are a few myths about a customized email address that may be holding you back from growing your online brand:
The 2015 holiday shopping season was a good one for businesses online. Thanks to strong sales from Black Friday and Cyber Monday, online retailers reported an increase in sales of 15 percent from the previous year with Cyber Monday proving to be the largest online sales day ever, netting $3.07 billion.
However, only 51 percent of small businesses have websites, despite the fact that 97 percent of consumers search for products and services online, according to figures released earlier from The SCORE Association (SCORE).
The disconnect between small companies and the growing number of consumers who vet brick-and-mortar businesses based on their online presence could be keeping entrepreneurs from millions of customers – and dollars. SCORE Vice President of Marketing Bridget Weston Pollack said, “If a company or a small business doesn’t have an online presence, they are missing a huge percentage of the population that could be shopping at their store.”
Almost three-quarters of Americans go online at least once a day. If you are a small business looking to grow, you need to go where your customers are. That means getting your business online with a domain name – whether it’s with branded email, a web address for your social media page, or a business website.
In September 2015, Verisign conducted a survey of 787 U.S. internet consumers aged 18 to 59 and 456 U.S. small businesses to learn more about their online behaviors and preferences – focusing on how consumers use the internet and the benefits of an online presence for a business.
The National Small Business Association (NBSA) recently released a report revealing that half of all small businesses have been the victim of a cyber-attack – and the cost of dealing with these attacks has skyrocketed to $20,752 per attack. In about a third of attacks, the victim’s website was taken down, often for days. The impact of such outages cannot be measured by the immediate lost revenue alone, as the long term impact of the harm to your reputation and customer loss cannot be easily calculated.
Guest Post from Richard Stevenson, 1&1 Internet
For many small businesses and start-ups, the first steps to creating an online presence can be a daunting prospect. With so much information out there, knowing exactly what is best for your business can be a challenge. Richard Stevenson of 1&1 Internet, Europe’s largest domain name registrar, outlines the first steps for business owners interested in getting online.
From choosing a hosting provider to creating a website, we know that creating a digital shop front can seem like it demands many steps with important decisions every step of the way, and that this can at first appear overwhelming.
In truth it’s a great deal easier than many assume, but in order to make the process easier, why not focus on just the first step? Once you have that first incredible idea for a company or product, what follows is picking a name that will help you stand out. The digital world is no different, so begin by imagining what your website name would be.