4 Proven Strategies for Finding New Customers and Making Your Website Stand Out from the Crowd Finding success online requires more than pretty web design. Here, Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital shares best practices for getting your website the attention it deserves.

In the ever-expanding digital realm, creating a visually appealing website is just the beginning of your journey toward online success. Despite the effort poured into crafting a beautiful digital page, there's no assurance that it will attract the attention it deserves. That's why businesses must focus on strategic marketing and branding tactics to draw customers in and connect them with the products and services they need.

Rachel Sterling, Chief Marketing Officer at Identity Digital, understands this challenge all too well. Sterling is a seasoned marketing professional with a diverse background spanning television production and roles in the tech industry. At Identity Digital—the registry operator of more than 270 top-level domains (TLDs)—she's been using her wealth of skills to tackle the exciting challenge of marketing descriptive domains.

Sterling says there are a few levers for online businesses to achieve differentiation, which is important to establish before digging into marketing tactics: having a unique brand, a unique product and value proposition, and a unique voice.

"Your brand needs to inspire trust," Sterling says. "Especially if you're targeting Gen Z customers. They are growing in size over other demographic groups, and they will rank brand value as one of the top drivers of their purchase behaviors."

One way to immediately communicate your company's brand, value proposition, and voice is by adopting a web address with a unique TLD that aligns with your brand and industry. A TLD is the final part of a web URL, like .com, .net, and more. A custom TLD can help differentiate yourself from competitors and capture the attention of potential customers. With Identity Digital's cutting-edge TLDs—such as .life, .pro, .bio, and more—businesses can leverage both sides of the dot to establish a distinct online identity that resonates with their audience and enhances their brand's visibility.

"For example, we have incredible examples of female-owned businesses that are leveraging our TLDs to elevate their web addresses," Sterling points out. "There's a woman named Tara who created yawn.world, which is a safe, non-toxic skincare brand for adults and children ages 3+. There's also a website named thewrap.life, which was founded by Nnenna Stella and sells authentic African headwraps."

Utilizing a memorable domain name is just the first step in standing out online. Sterling believes there are four key marketing tactics businesses can use to attract a wider online audience.

1. SEO: Optimize your website for search engines.

Google remains the primary gateway for customers to discover your business online. To harness the power of Google and improve your site's search ranking, investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial.

One effective strategy involves embedding relevant keywords throughout your website. Specific keywords enhance the relevance of your website in search results and increase visibility to potential customers—this includes your web domain. Sterling says businesses can utilize keywords within domains as part of their overall SEO strategy to contribute to improved visibility, relevance, and credibility for their websites in search engine results pages.

2. Social media: Engage your target audience.

Communicating with customers and potential customers where they are is one of the most effective ways to find new customers, Sterling says. Online business owners should identify the social media platforms frequented by their target audience and concentrate their efforts on building a strong presence there.

Sterling suggests creating diverse content that resonates with your audience, including informative posts, promotions, and entertaining material reflecting your brand's personality. It's also important to engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages, which fosters a sense of community around your brand and taps into the trust that is so important for customers.

3. Influencers: Leverage external validation.

Establishing a reputation for quality often relies on external validation. Collaborating with influencers who possess expertise in your industry or niche can significantly amplify your brand's visibility. Their endorsement of your business, coupled with their engaged audience, can drive substantial traffic to your website.

"In my experience, and the research I have done in previous roles around the value of influencers, you need to focus on finding influencers that go beyond generating brand awareness. It's important to find influencers that will generate authenticity, credibility, and trust," Sterling says.

"A more impactful way to use influencers is to find those that occupy a niche space. The smaller the space, the better; that way they have direct relationships with their followers and have not been perceived as 'selling out.' Their opinions still have clout, and if a business can partner with an influencer that occupies the same space as your product or service, you'll get both awareness and that valuable trust and credibility," she advises.

4. Lifecycle marketing: Email and SMS notifications.

"When people think about lifecycle marketing, they often think about email and building an email list, which presents a valuable opportunity to establish direct communication channels with potential customers," Sterling says.

In addition to email, marketers should think about SMS as an option. Considering the prevalence of email fatigue, text-based notifications have shown promise in circumventing email blindness as a more effective means of engaging with your audience. "It's said that SMS has a 98% open rate versus a 28% open rate for emails¹, which is an incredibly impactful number. If you're trying to drive traffic to your online business, you need to figure out how to build your lead list to incorporate sending SMS notifications," Sterling says.

From SEO to social media to email and beyond, creating the right mix of marketing strategies to help find new customers and get your website the attention it deserves is crucial to business success. And, at the core of your digital strategy is your website. A memorable web address with a unique TLD that clearly communicates your brand and mission can be pivotal in elevating your business and carving out a distinctive online presence.

Click here to learn more about Identity Digital and how a custom TLD can help your business stand out from the competition online. And to claim your own custom Identity Digital domain, contact your favorite domain retailer.