What Are Domain Bundles? A Branding Guide

Imagine this scenario: An up-and-coming entrepreneur is on your platform, ready to claim their place on the web by registering a legacy domain. As they proceed to checkout, a timely offer appears—a package deal offering additional domains at a discount. 

These aren't just any domains—they're curated to boost business, from .bio for providing a personal history to .promo for launching a first product.

This is the vision behind Identity Digital’s Domain Bundles Program. By leveraging the world's most extensive domain portfolio, the program offers a strategic opportunity to acquire and capitalize on prime digital real estate. In doing so, registrars can enhance their offerings and increase their revenue with tailored top-level domains (TLDs), and registrants can establish a memorable and compelling online presence.

In this guide, we’ll dive into the Domain Bundles Program to give you a closer look at what domain bundles are and how they can transform your business.

Defining Domain Bundles: Their Role in a Robust and Strategic Domain Portfolio

The digital marketplace grows bigger by the day, making a powerful online presence necessary to stand out. 

But how you stand out depends on your role in the digital ecosystem: 

• For registrars (companies selling domains), standing out means offering a broader and more curated assortment of domain extensions to enhance the customer journey and differentiate in a competitive market. 

• For registrants (people and companies registering domains), standing out means leveraging more than a single domain extension to maximize visibility, brand presence, and profit potential. 

In either case, cultivating a diversified digital identity is the goal—and domain bundles are a powerful yet cost-effective way to build this identity. 

What defines domain bundles? In short, they’re domain extensions that businesses register beyond their primary domain to shore up their portfolio and online strategy. From .coffee to .live or .marketing, these domains provide a punchy, memorable extension for online businesses of any kind.

Leveraging a diversified domain portfolio enables you and your clients to: 

• Enhance visibility and traffic – A variety of domains increases your online footprint, casting a wider net across the digital landscape. This diversity creates multiple entry points for customers, making it easier for them to discover and engage with a brand. Each domain can even target different aspects of a business, attracting more targeted, relevant traffic.

• Ensure brand protection – Registering various iterations of a brand name or related product names as domains is a proactive measure against potential threats like cybersquatting and brand dilution. Securing these domains prevents competitors and malicious actors from exploiting a brand's reputation.

• Support long-term growth strategies – A broad array of domains provides a solid foundation for future expansion. For instance, preemptively registering a .photos domain can set the stage for a future online gallery or a portfolio showcase. These strategic domain registrations allow businesses to capitalize on new opportunities without the hassle of finding a suitable domain later.

Such a well-curated portfolio fosters consistent brand experiences and effective cross-promotion strategies. Ultimately, by providing more ways to connect with clients and promote your business, domain bundles prove to be an efficient, low-cost means to reach more customers.

The Power of the Domain Bundles Program: Understanding the Benefits

Far from simply benefiting the final customer, the Domain Bundles Program is also a strategic enhancement to existing registrars. 

With the program’s suite of benefits, you can empower domain-seeking clients and bolster your business growth.

How so? Domain bundles offer benefits in five unique ways:

1. Capturing incremental domains – Domain-seekers often follow the scenario outlined in the introduction—registering a single legacy domain just to get themselves online. But by proactively incorporating domain bundles into existing customer journeys, you can guide your clients toward these underutilized digital assets. The result? A sophisticated shopping experience for customers and fresh revenue flow for you.

2. Enhancing online presence – By enabling businesses to register multiple domain names, you enhance their online visibility. This strategy is invaluable for targeting diverse customer segments and boosting search engine visibility through keyword-rich domains, multiplying the brand's digital presence. 

3. Adding low-risk upselling potential – Incorporating low-cost or free domains at the point of sale allows you to subtly introduce additional value into each transaction. This upselling approach is both non-intrusive and highly effective, providing clients with beneficial options that align with their needs—without the pressure of high-cost investments.

4. Ensuring simplified purchasing – The Domain Bundles Program is designed to integrate into existing purchasing processes, meaning clients can easily add domains to their portfolio without interrupting transaction flow. Such integration is vital to maintaining a positive customer experience, reducing friction, and encouraging the adoption of additional domains.

5. Broadening market reach and visibility – Domain bundles allow you to cater to a global audience—literally, with extensions such as .global and .world—and scale down to regional options like .city or .town. This broadens your clients' reach and diversifies their market presence, making their brands more accessible to various demographic groups.

A well-managed domain portfolio is more than just a collection of URLs—it’s an asset that enriches the registrar's offerings while empowering registrants to build a resilient and dynamic online presence.

For Registrars: Best Practices for Implementing Domain Bundles

Registrars with the technical bandwidth to implement domain bundles may benefit from leveraging Identity Digital’s battle-tested approach. 

The first and most critical step is simply to have some sort of plan in place. While incorporating domain bundles may be a low-risk tactic, a strategic approach is necessary to maximize their value. 

Such an approach could take the form of simple frameworks, such as:

• Evaluating your current offerings and customer needs. Assess whether any gaps exist and which domain bundles could provide the most value to your clients. For example, freelancers in specific niches could benefit from equally particular extensions, such as .accountants, .attorney, or .consulting.

• Capitalizing on the point of sale. Implementing domain bundles at checkout is more effective than post-purchase promotions. Why? Introducing relevant domains at this stage captures the customer's interest when they’re most engaged, ready to buy, and therefore most likely to consider expanding their domain portfolio.

• Crafting clear, actionable messaging. Communicating the benefits of domain bundles clearly and effectively is key. To that end, aim to develop messaging that highlights how these domains can enhance a client's digital presence, protect their brand, and provide new opportunities for market expansion. Messaging should be straightforward, highlighting both the immediate benefits and long-term value of purchasing additional domains.

• Customizing to fit client profiles. Tailor your domain bundles strategies to the specific needs and characteristics of your client base. For example, a startup might benefit from agile, innovative domain extensions that highlight their brand's modernity, like .agency, .digital, or .group. Meanwhile, a more established corporation might focus on domains that reinforce market presence, such as .institute, .industries, or .llc. 

Whatever strategies you choose, aligning your approach with audience needs is essential. To that end, Identity Digital is here to help refine your merchandising strategies and develop a custom implementation that fits your specific customer base.

For Registrants: How to Get Started With Domain Bundles

With an understanding of what domain bundles are and how they benefit registrars and registrants, the question remains: Which domains should you choose? Or perhaps more importantly, how should you choose? 

Whether you’re seeking to educate your clients on best practices or want to incorporate domain bundles in your digital strategy, there are three key steps to identify the domains that are right for you: 

1. Understand your business goals and conduct market research. Begin by defining clear business objectives to pinpoint specific trends. Analyze your competitors' domain strategies and use keyword research to identify opportunities in your niche market.

2. Identify and check the availability of potential domain bundles. Utilize suggestion tools to uncover complementary domains that could enhance your brand's visibility and appeal. Once identified, check these domains' availability through reputable registrars to ensure they can be secured.

3. Register, implement, and monitor your new domains. Proceed to register the chosen domains through your registrar of choice. Integrate these domains into your existing marketing strategies, utilizing analytics tools to monitor their performance. This data can help you understand the impact of your domains and optimize for better results.

Domain bundles add nuance, specificity, and memorability to your digital identity. A financial institution may choose to register separate domains for .loans or a .mortgage, whereas travel companies can stand out from the competition with extensions like .ventures or .vacations. 

For more information on how to get started, check out our Domain Bundles Checklist.

Partner with Identity Digital for a Comprehensive Domain Bundles Strategy

The internet remains a powerful and ever-growing platform, and domain extensions, with their limited availability, are a modern-day digital gold rush. 

Implementing a comprehensive domain portfolio, complemented by the Domain Bundles Program, ensures your brand is well-positioned for future expansion and adaptation. 

The best way to position your registrar or business for long-term growth in the digital age? 

Partnering with the right registry.

Identity Digital is uniquely qualified in this regard, ready and willing to collaborate on CX implementations, GTM strategies, the launch of your own personalized domain bundles campaign, and more.

Reach out today to learn how we can help tailor your domain bundles experience.

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Sources: 

1. Identity Digital. Registrar Products. https://www.identity.digital/registrar‍
2. Identity Digital. How to Effectively Sell & Merchandise Domains for Your Platform. https://www.identity.digital/newsroom/reseller-how-to-better-merchandise-domains