On behalf of the entire XYZ team, we hope you and your loved ones had a safe and happy Thanksgiving! In our new normal, it’s more important than ever to have a reliable way of connecting with friends and family online. Keep in touch with your personal and professional groups on a platform that gives you control and creative freedom: your own website.
Through XYZ’s Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale, you can get .xyz for as low as $0.50, plus deals on .College, .Monster, .Baby, and .Rent domains too. Claim the perfect domain to stay in touch with family, promote your business, launch your latest project or app, and even build a personal portfolio for up to 95% less than standard retail price.
Not sure what domain name you should get first? Take inspiration from industrial designer SamLavoie.xyz and get your FirstNameLastName.xyz. Get a head start on buying gifts for the holidays by getting members of your family their own FirstNameLastName.xyz domains as well. Your website is your own piece of the internet, and giving the gift of a FirstNameLastName.xyz lets your loved ones share their passions, professional work, and ideas with the world.
Been working on a new hobby or side hustle this year? Follow the example of full time healthcare professional and part time painter TheLudicCreative.xyz by giving it a proper home online with YourProject.xyz or YourHobby.xyz. Are you a member of a dedicated interest group or community? Set up a webpage to organize meetings and events with YourOrganization.xyz, like the developer community of Bytesized.xyz. Want to widen your business’ digital footprint? Give your brand a global reach by adopting a .xyz, like fashion brand DAMOWANG.xyz. Whatever you’re most passionate about, you can connect with it more deeply by sharing it with a global audience on your .xyz website.
These Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals are available right now, so don’t wait to get the name you want!
Wooof.xyz – Openprovider customer (Netherlands)
Cutting-edge developments in today’s technology have made products and services better and more accessible than ever. EchoAR.xyz’s award-winning Augmented (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) platform helps developers get their 3D, AR, and VR projects released faster. Yours.xyz and Starship.xyz’s autonomous delivery robots make food delivery safe, fast, and easy for consumers to get goods delivered. These technologies are part of a wave of services and products targeting the next generation of consumers. This week’s #WebsiteWednesday aims to bring that same innovation to the dog food industry by offering premium dog food for a budget price: Wooof.xyz.
Netherlands-based dog food manufacturer Wooof.xyz provides natural dog food designed to improve your pet’s overall health. They aim to create high-quality dog food by crafting it using carefully selected ingredients backed by nutritional science. To achieve this standard, Wooof.xyz say they collaborated with leading Dutch nutritional specialists to design five lines of pressed dog food. This pressed chunk design is a key piece in Wooof.xyz’s process, as they claim that the pressing system preserves vitamins and minerals by keeping temperature low during creation, which makes the food easier on your dog’s stomach. They say the pressed chunk process is also less harmful to the environment than other methods.
Wooof.xyz clearly show care in their product design, and offer a technical feed analysis tool that customers can use to find the perfect mix for their dog. The feed analysis is available as a PDF for download from Wooof.xyz’s site and breaks down the exact amount of vitamins and minerals in each of Wooof.xyz’s food mixes. This helps owners ensure they choose a mix that gives their pet the nutrition they need, while also allowing them to compare the different health benefits each Wooof.xyz mix offers. The company offers other important information via their website as well, including guides telling customers exactly when their order will arrive and how much food to order. Customers can compare each food option, then pay right when they order or pay when the food arrives to them the next day thanks to Wooof.xyz’s 1-day shipping. For customers with questions, Wooof.xyz makes it easy to contact them via Facebook, phone, or their cute and memorable email [email protected].
Through their thoughtful product design process and expertly crafted website, Wooof.xyz shows they are a brand at the forefront of their industry. As CEO Pieter Prenen explains, their .xyz domain is a perfect fit for their innovative style. “We choose the .xyz extension because we are a next generation dog food brand. A simple .NL just did not do it for us. We like to think of our Wooof.xyz domain as more than just our web URL. In a way it is expressing our way of forward-thinking.”
Being a “next generation dog food brand” as Pieter says, Wooof.xyz has garnered significant praise for their work, some of which they share on the media page of their site. The recognition Wooof.xyz has received includes a nomination for the Shopping Awards (a public awards event in the Netherlands), as well as a feature on the Dutch television program RTL 4.
Wooof.xyz shows that no matter what industry you are in, the best way to show your customers the quality and innovation you bring to your products is through your e-commerce website. Stay in touch with Wooof.xyz by following them on Instagram, Facebook, and Vimeo. If you’re in the Netherlands or Belgium, head to Wooof.xyz to get your own bag for your dog.
XYZPrism.xyz – GoDaddy customer (United States)
In today’s digital world, it’s no surprise that video has become such a popular form of marketing and communication. It can tell a brand or individual’s story in an easy to digest, entertaining, and engaging way. Picking the right team to help you create your video is important. You will want professionals that understand your point of view and can thoughtfully bring your idea to life. This week’s #WebsiteWednesday features a team that specializes in capturing the local spirit of their area: XYZPrism.xyz.
XYZPrism.xyz is the newly redesigned online home for New Orleans video production company XYZ Prism Production. The full-scale boutique production house helps businesses and filmmakers across Louisiana tell their stories in meaningful ways. XYZPrism.xyz’s portfolio of work spans a wide range of genres, from working with international pop sensation Lizzo, to local video projects for non-profit organizations. Scheduled to be released in 2020, XYZPrism.xyz created a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Lizzo’s “Good as Hell” music video, filmed at Baton Rouge’s Southern University. A video project they created for Propeller Incubator, a New Orleans-based non-profit organization that endeavors to back people who have been historically excluded from entrepreneurship, shares a hopeful glimpse of the economic opportunities created for a local barber shop.
As a full-scale production company, XYZPrism.xyz handles all aspects of the video creation process, working on everything from corporate videos, to social media videos, and even short videofilms. Their Services page explains their process. First, they help their clients brainstorm the best way to tell their story visually, and map out a storyboard for them. Once a direction is agreed upon, their crew uses top-of-the-line equipment to capture the video. Next, XYZPrism.xyz “makes movie magic happen” during the post-production phase, handling the voice-overs, music, and graphics needed to complete the project.
When creating video content set in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and surrounding areas, using a boutique, local agency like XYZPrism.xyz offers a unique benefit. Their knack for capturing the local culture of their home state is evident on their Project page. For a chilling glimpse of Louisiana Voodoo, check out the short documentary film of the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple priestess Mirian Chamani. The scenes of Louisiana marshland edited with the priestess’ interview lends an eerie feel to the historic religious practice.
The team chose the perfect domain name to strengthen their company’s online presence. Choosing a .xyz domain name emphasizes their XYZ Prism Productions brand name, making their URL intuitive and memorable. Their .xyz domain also establishes their target audience for their customers, as XYZPrism.xyz says that they are “here for the needs of Gen XYZ business owners.”
Go to XYZPrism.xyz to see more of the company’s work. Follow them on Facebook @xyzprism and Instagram @xyzprismvideo to stay up-to-date with their latest videos.
Black.xyz – Gransy customer (Slovakia)
There’s never been a better time to be a coffee-lover. Coffee shops mark practically every block in most popular cities, and supermarkets are packed with coffee varieties and brands. True coffee aficionados tend to have a fierce loyalty to who makes their cup of joe and where it came from. This week’s #WebsiteWednesday features a company making their award-winning coffee available to their customers internationally on Black.xyz.
Black.xyz is a specialty coffee roaster and supplier located in Bratislava, Slovakia. The owners behind the company pride themselves on the freshness, quality, and seasonality of their roasted coffee selection. All roasted in Bratislava, the coffee beans they currently offer come from popular coffee regions like Brazil and Columbia. The team behind Black.xyz has a good reason to be proud of their coffee, as they won both first and second prize at the Slovak Brewers Cup in 2019.
Their passion for and knowledge of coffee is evident in how they describe each type they carry. Black.xyz explains each coffee’s variety and exactly where it came from on their website. For instance, their Gildardo Manco coffee is meant to have notes of dried plum and caramel and was grown at precisely 1890 feet at the Fianca la Peña farm in Antioquia, Columbia. If a lighter variety is what you’re after, their Bota Fora is meant to have notes of dried apricot and almonds, and was grown at 1100-1300 feet at the Farm Bota Forum in Brazil.
It’s evident how much securing their Black.xyz domain name has been integral in their branding. As their favorite color and the associated color of coffee, the simple name “black.” is a memorable brand name that fits perfectly with their product. Their brand name of choice also matches the minimalist design of their coffee shop. However, highly sought after brand names like this are often hard to get as the name for your website. Black.xyz made a great choice by branding on .xyz, allowing them to get the exact name they want on a domain with a global reach. With Black.xyz, they have a domain ready to grow with their business. Although their brand name is such a common word, by choosing a .xyz domain, they didn’t need to sacrifice their brand-name of choice to get a short and intuitive domain.
Coffee lovers in Slovakia can head to Black.xyz’s Bratislava coffee shop to get a personally brewed cup, served with a variety of pastries and casual dishes. It’s described as a minimalist yet cozy place with a staff that’s always smiling. International customers can shop Black.xyz’s coffee selection via their online shop, along with all the coffee accessories you need to brew the perfect cup at home. Cafés and offices that would like to serve Black.xyz coffee can contact them to get everything they need.
Go to Black.xyz to explore their coffee varieties and follow them @black.svk on Instagram and Facebook to stay connected.
In this XYZ Quarterly we’ll cover the six essential features your business website needs to succeed and recap XYZ’s Q3 2020 activity.
Read on for Part 1: “Discover 6 fundamental features your business website needs to succeed”
Or jump down to Part 2: “XYZ’s Q3 2020 Recap.”
More people are going online today than ever before. In fact, current usage statistics say 62% of the world’s population is now online.1 Your website is one of the best ways to tap into this growing market, create new customers for your business, and promote your product or service. If done well, your website can lend credibility and professionalism to your company, be fully customized to meet your business’s needs, and help you reach potential customers all over the world. But what features does your website need to unlock its full potential and drive more customers to your business? In this edition of the XYZ Quarterly, we will show you six successful businesses websites that are prime examples of the key features that make an impactful company website.
Visibility is crucial for your business’ website. Make your website easy for your target audience to find by choosing a short, memorable domain name that clearly conveys your brand or business goals. Keyword domain names can also offer a great opportunity to rank in relevant searches for your product, along with even broader branding opportunities. An example of this idea is all-in-one property management platform Property.xyz.
Property.xyz is a free-to-use property listing platform designed by property investors, for property investors. Their goal is to offer services for each step in the property buying process. The company’s long term aim is to become the world’s leading property management platform. That’s why they chose the Property.xyz domain name, which exactly matches the keyword search term for their industry. They also wisely branded with a global domain extension – .xyz. Using the .xyz extension shows they are a worldwide platform built as a solution for all aspects of the property industry.
“We’re creating a property platform that works for everyone,” says Property.xyz co-founder Robert Jones. “All buyers. All sellers. All agents and suppliers. Covers all geographic areas. All property types. All property categories from residential to commercial. All steps of the property process. All available data in one place. A centralized platform. ‘Building the world’s most intelligent property platform.’ We felt (the name) Property.xyz achieves this perfectly.”
Visibility is essential for your business’ website to attract customers. Increasing your website’s visibility online starts with your domain name, and choosing a short, memorable URL helps increase your chances of getting your website to reach your target audience.
Your site needs to be easy for customers to navigate and read through in order to maximize their experience. Good user experience on your website helps generate more leads and sales. If your site is confusing or difficult to navigate on first visit, you could see a large number of potential customers quickly exit your page. When users “bounce” from your page like this, you lose potential conversions. To build the best possible experience for your visitors, consider things like your top-level navigation. What pages do you want to incentivize visitors to click? How well does your site guide visitors toward the actions you want visitors to take? A site that answers these questions well is Amaz.xyz.
Amaz.xyz is an employee benefits platform that helps businesses who use their service offer unique perks and experiences for employees. Amaz.xyz creates an easy and enjoyable experience for users starting right from the homepage. The company clearly explains what the service does “above the fold” – meaning users don’t need to scroll or click anything to learn this information. They introduce their service with a short, elevator-style pitch and feature a picture of the service in use. Overall this adds up to a quick and effective introduction of their service to new site visitors. Amaz.xyz clearly labels the navigation links atop their page to provide tailored experiences for both employers and businesses. When users scroll down the site’s main page, they’re given more information about how Amaz.xyz’s service works and its benefits.
Designing your website with the user’s goals in mind helps optimize their experience, which will keep them on your page longer and create a more positive association with your brand. Many of the most successful products and services are created with the user in mind first, and this same principle holds true when it comes to your website.
Generating trust in the quality of your business is a key part of promoting your product or service online. Show new customers they can depend on you in order to win them over. This is especially true for brand new products and services, or businesses working in emerging industries. One time-honored but effective way to create this trust through your website is by featuring testimonials from customers who have had a positive experience with your business. In addition, you may also showcase awards or notable media coverage you have received. This shows potential customers that others trust your company’s product or service and that it meets their quality standards. A great example to follow when adding this element to your website is Argent.xyz.
Argent.xyz is a cryptocurrency wallet service that aims to simplify the overall crypto trading experience by adding custom naming and other helpful services for users’ wallets.
The company’s product is an example of emerging tech that is not yet familiar to mainstream customers. So, in order to generate trust and transparency with new users, they’ve dedicated a section of their homepage to a wall of tweets praising the Argent.xyz service. Beneath this “wall of love,” Argent.xyz also lists the industry leaders who have backed their service, which includes venture capital firms like Hummingbird and Index Ventures. This further shows Argent.xyz’s legitimacy and success in their industry to potential customers and partners.
Adding testimonials, notable press, and awards you’ve received helps establish trust and show legitimacy with your website visitors from the first time they arrive on your page. This trust is crucial if you are asking them to try your business for the first time. It also gives you a more professional image online by showing that your product or service has others’ support behind it.
There are many ways businesses aim to stay in touch with their customers, from sending newsletters to posting regularly on social media. These methods help businesses remain on customers’ minds and drive them back to their website to generate sales and product usage. It’s crucial that you give your customers a way to stay in touch with you so that you can communicate with them once they leave your website. One of the simplest and most effective ways to do this is by adding a feature that asks for customer contact information in exchange for a valuable resource. An example of this strategy that you can follow for your business’ website is that of TheLushLife.xyz founder Sarah Tracey.
Sarah Tracey is a certified sommelier who has shared wine advice for MarthaStewart.com and served as wine director at a Michelin-starred restaurant. On her website, TheLushLife.xyz, she offers her expert wine advice for everything from pairings to gift ideas and even style guides. Her website includes a dedicated section for website visitors to sign up for her wine advice newsletter. Sending valuable information via this newsletter is one of the main ways Sarah stays in touch with potential customers and brings them back to her website.
Sarah also trades fun for contact information from her website visitors through features like the “What kind of wine should you ‘actually’ be drinking” quiz at the top of her page. As visitors fill out the quiz, it concludes by asking for an email before it can be completed.
Collecting customer information through fun and engaging methods creates a perfect avenue to bring them back to your site. When you provide value to customers through newsletters and similar outreach methods, you establish a stronger relationship with customers and keep them engaged with your business.
When you set out to build your website, the first goal in mind should be to prioritize what action you want website visitors to take on your page. It could be to sign up for your service, buy your products, or contact you to work with you, among many other things. Whatever your end goal for your visitors might be, it’s vital that you guide them to completing that action through your website design. The most visible and effective way to close the deal with website visitors is by using clear calls to action. Calls to action tell website visitors what to do in order to get something (i.e. add to cart or sign up for service). The best calls to action will catch website visitors’ eyes and inspire them to complete something that further engages them with your business. Without clear calls to action, your website visitors will not be sure of what action to take while on your website. Without clear direction, potential customers may leave without purchasing your product or service. To see a website that has calls to action done right, look to TheHop.xyz.
Created by 114-year-old Spanish brewery and beverage company Hijos de Rivera, TheHop.xyz gives startups the opportunity to develop new tools and technologies. The company program integrates the tools created by participants in their program into the promotion methods for it’s popular Estrella Galicia premium beer. To bring startups on board, TheHop.xyz’s website features clear calls to action starting right from the homepage.
TheHop.xyz strategically placed calls to action beneath their main elevator pitch and every program description section. These call to action buttons direct visitors to get to know their program, see projects created by program participants, and submit projects to be a part of the program. They also direct website visitors to engage more with the company’s mission and brand, which is TheHop.xyz’s main goal.
Using clear call to action buttons on your website guides visitors toward the sections of your website you want them to engage with. They also help you capitalize on every website visit by funneling users toward taking the actions you want them to, like buying a product or learning more about your services.
Smartphones have been the main way we access the internet since 2016, when usage surpassed desktop computers.2 As smartphones become more powerful and affordable, the number of mobile internet users only continues to rise. Your website needs to be designed to appeal to mobile users first, because they will likely make up the majority of your website’s visitors. Having a mobile version of your website that loads slowly, doesn’t look good, or is difficult to navigate could result in visitors leaving your page. This means lost sales and less visibility for your brand. Fortunately, you can build your website to be optimized for mobile no matter whether you are designing your website yourself or using a website builder.
An example of a very well designed mobile website is Comuzi.xyz. The London-based design studio creates forward-thinking, “radically creative” product designs.
Their mobile website is designed to be easy to navigate and view as a mobile user. The three-button layout at the top of the page leads visitors to relevant information about their studio, blog, and work. Comuzi.xyz also employs large text and short sentences in their site design to describe each project. These design choices work to keep the page’s main focus on the eye-catching images they use for each project page link and simplify overall visuals presented to mobile users.
Comuzi.xyz’s mobile website design allows visitors to easily scroll through the website to learn more about their work. A mobile-first design helps to communicate their message clearly and draw in potential collaborators and clients. Using this kind of simple and strategic mobile design on your website can help you to make a positive impression on your potential customers.
An effective company website is a crucial part of your business’ success. Making it easy to find and navigate your website will help you attract and retain potential customers. Authentically sharing your story, customer testimonials, and notable coverage of your business helps to create a stronger connection with website visitors. Utilizing clear calls to action helps you convert them into customers or users.
Whether you’re building a brand new website for your latest business or tweaking your existing website, these elements will build the backbone of your successful business website.
As the summer winds to a close, the XYZ Team looks back on everything that happened in another busy quarter for our team and our partners. Despite this summer being a bit different than usual, together we worked as hard as always to serve the .xyz community and spread the word about .xyz.
Summer is always a great time to listen to music as you soak up the sun. This quarter, the XYZ team celebrated the inspiring creativity of the musical artists in the .xyz community by creating a playlist of their impressive work: .XYZ Radio. The playlist features artists from the .xyz community who share their next-generation work through their .xyz websites.
The artists featured in the playlist cover a range of genres, from R&B sensations Aminidi (Amindi.xyz) and Quami.xyz (Quami.xyz), to pop vocalists C TORRES (CTorres.xyz) and Grant Carey (GrantCarey.xyz), and even features electronic vibes from Lance Free (LanceFree.xyz) and Electric Cafe (ElectricCafe.xyz.) The mix is streaming now on Spotify, jump in and discover your next favorite song from these creative artists and .xyz adopters.
Many events have gone digital, and so have XYZ’s efforts to support coders around the world. In Q3 of 2020, XYZ sponsored five hackathon events in two different countries that brought participants together to create projects which address current global issues related to health, education, and emerging technology.
First was XYZ’s return as an official sponsor of Hack the 6ix in Toronto, Canada, where we helped participants showcase their projects and create portfolio websites for their work. Then, XYZ showed support for the blossoming .xyz community in India by supporting four hackathon events in the country.
XYZ’s sponsorship helped coders in India work on projects at Hack in India, Garuda Hacks, Hack Gujarat, and Delhi Hacks. Some participants at the events were making their first ever websites, and we’re proud to have helped them do so with memorable .xyz domains.
.XYZ is the domain on which many great artists and designers have chosen to build a home for their work online. This quarter we were proud to give back to the global art community by supporting next generation artists in Vietnam at the TEDxTrangThiSt Art Hackathon.
The hackathon’s central theme asked participants to use modern coding techniques to create artistic solutions for traditional art problems. XYZ provided domain names for the participants to showcase their artfully coded projects and gave them a platform to share their solutions with a global audience.
One key component of XYZ’s commitment to the next generation of internet users is our focus on setting them up for success in the future so they can share their ideas with the world. This quarter, XYZ provided .xyz domain names to students participating in coding camp programs UX Academy, HackBright Academy, JavaScript Mastery Design Lab, and Girl Genius STEAM Conference. Through these collaborations, participants in the program were given their own .xyz websites along with guides on how to build their first professional portfolio online. The portfolios will help the students put their best professional foot forward online and help them rise above the pack as they step into their careers.
For the past three years, XYZ has proudly been the official jersey sponsor for our friend Elliot Silver of DomainInvesting.com and his riding partner John Berryhill on their annual 80-mile charity bike ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge. XYZ was the lead jersey sponsor for the 2020 event as well, creating a jersey design which pays tribute to those whose lives have been affected by cancer. We were proud to support Elliot and help him reach $10,000 raised for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
One more training ride to go before @PanMass weekend. 35 miles today and 30~ miles tomorrow. Thanks to our jersey sponsors for supporting @DanaFarber: https://t.co/l4BjMxoJAE Also, thanks to my domain industry colleagues for their support: https://t.co/w9x33blVbh pic.twitter.com/TCIDnQSCci
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) July 25, 2020
Our Indonesian partner Domainesia held an exciting super sale in Q3, offering customers a great discount on a .xyz domain and hosting bundle. The sale generated a great deal of interest, as Domainesia spread the word to a huge audience through a fun video showing customers they can do almost anything with their own .xyz domain!
In China, our longtime partner Alibaba Cloud had an incredible number of .xyz registrations in Q3, eclipsing over 100,000 new .xyz domains created. These .xyz names were registered as part of Alibaba Cloud’s ongoing developer campaign, which bundles a .xyz domain with a free website builder and hosting. The bundle was a huge hit with developers in China, and our team is happy to welcome them to the .xyz community.
Google’s registrar platform is now offering the world’s favorite new domain. Customers of Google Domains will now see .xyz among the list of available extensions, and we’re excited to welcome Google to our ever-growing family of retail partners. Our mission is to offer .xyz customers choice and freedom when choosing a domain name, and adding Google Domains as a retailer marks another step XYZ has taken toward fulfilling that promise.
XYZ, our partners, and the .xyz community still have plenty of exciting plans in store before 2020 draws to a close. Stay up to date on all things XYZ by subscribing to our newsletter, following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Sources:
1. https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
2. https://bgr.com/2016/11/02/internet-usage-desktop-vs-mobile/
