Trending: Here are some Business Statistics and Trends to know
Trust is at an all-time low. Consumers are watching as news media becomes increasingly partisan, while artificial intelligence edges out the human touch in customer touchpoints. When it comes to media, Gallup found that almost 70% of American adults have zero or “not very much” confidence. Similarly, a survey from PwC revealed just 30% of consumers rate their trust in companies as “high”.
It gets worse. Executives massively overestimate how much customers trust their brand by a factor of three, expecting 90% of consumers to place trust in them. In 2025, trust can’t be taken for granted; it must be built from the ground up and earned over time.
Many brands overlook the importance of domain, seeing it as a practical or technical question rather than a core branding component. However, in a world where consumers spend over seven hours a day online, the foundation for a trusted online brand is a domain name that emphasizes credibility and inspires confidence. Here’s why your domain name is crucial to building trust in 2025.
Why Trust Matters More than Ever in 2025
Winning customer trust is hugely important for businesses. Trust is a key driver in both customer acquisition as well as long-term loyalty and, according to Edelman, trust ranks ahead of customer service and convenience when consumers are choosing a brand. Two-thirds of consumers are more likely to purchase from a trusted brand, 53% will become brand advocates, and 55% will stay loyal even if the brand makes a mistake.
For brands building an online presence — and who isn’t in 2025? — domain name plays a key role in generating and keeping trust. A domain name that matches your brand name reassures customers that they’re working with the real deal, while a short, memorable name and recognizable domain extension signify to both consumers and investors that you’re a credible provider in your industry. In e-commerce, where a frictionless purchasing process is a key driver of conversion, your domain name can be your first sticking point, or the smooth on-ramp that guides customers effortlessly toward checkout.
Trust is the digital currency, and in a crowded digital world, owning a strong domain name and extension is more than a technical choice; it’s a foundational branding decision that influences trust, credibility, and long-term growth.
Getting Paid in a Digital Currency: Building Trust Online
Domain names are the real estate of the internet. Just like you wouldn’t build your physical store down a sketchy back alley, your domain name and website play a crucial role in communicating your authority and credibility with your audience.
Own a Domain Name That Signals Credibility
Your domain name is often your first impression. Whether consumers find themselves on product landing pages or considering your cold emails, the domain name in the address bar or sender line must send a signal that your brand is the real deal.
The first step is to consider name and domain as two sides of the same coin. An exact match domain — a domain that is identical to your business name, plus a credible extension — instils confidence that your brand can deliver on its promises. Notably, around half of newly funded startups operate under a non-exact match, creating the opportunity for savvy startups to get ahead of the competition on digital trust.
The ‘name’ portion of your domain should be short, memorable and brand-aligned. Critically, using numbers, hyphens, and difficult-to-pronounce words raises red flags for customers, with hyphens impacting trust for 35% of people.
Choose the Right Domain Extension
Domain names are made up of two parts: the ‘name’ and the extension, like .com or .org, that follows the name. Each is fundamental to building trust. A long, convoluted or hyphenated name at the .com extension won’t command any more trust than a single-English word name followed by an unusual or generic extension.
As of 2025, .com remains the gold standard domain extension: consider any of the sites you use daily, from Amazon to Facebook, and you’ll see the prevalence of the .com extension. For some industries where consumer confidence is a prerequisite to purchasing, such as banking and finance, a .com domain is non-negotiable.
.com domains are, however, increasingly elite, and they are hard to acquire, particularly when matched with super-short, memorable names. A small but growing list of alternative extensions is gaining traction in certain industries, including .ai, .io for tech startups and .co for general usage. Even global dating app Hinge uses Hinge.co.
While everyone and their grandmother recognizes .com domains as trusted and credible, the same can’t be said for alternative extensions. 76% of consumers say that familiarity with a domain extension enhances trust in a brand, so ensure your audience recognizes your choice. Older demographics, in particular, view newer extensions with skepticism.
Consider Your Online Neighbors
If using an alternative domain extension, one thing many brands overlook is the significance of a unique name in the online world. Our latest research at AtomRadar has revealed that 73% of consumers say trust is harmed by the confusion caused by other brands using the same name at different extensions. While .com extensions are expensive and often out of reach, they certainly don’t all host active or credible websites. If you’re considering an alternative extension, finding one that matches a name without a thriving .com neighbor will have a big impact on trust.
This is one reason that Hinge manages to dominate the digital space for their brand name with the extension Hinge.co. Because there is no business operating Hinge.com, there’s no customer confusion — despite their second-tier extension.
Digital Empires Built on Smart Domain Strategy
From mom-and-pop stores to multinationals, every business needs to build trust with its audience. Here are two brands that stand out, using different domain strategies to build trust with their audience.
Amazon.com
Amazon is a brand that needs no introduction: one of the largest companies in the world by almost any metric, not least its $2 trillion market cap. Amazon is also one of the most trusted companies in the world, and a 2021 study found that despite consumers preferring physical stores to online retailers, Amazon was the UK’s most trusted retailer.
Amazon’s exceptional trust score has been built, of course, through a multifaceted strategy that includes reliable and rapid fulfilment. Still, could they have got there without an elite domain name that inspires confidence across the globe? Notably, Jeff Bezos pivoted from an early name idea — Cadabra — to Amazon because of concerns about pronunciation.
With the .com domain and a tight, memorable six-letter domain, alongside a business model that prioritized consistency and customer service, Amazon quickly established itself as the go-to destination for online shopping.
Character.ai
Character.ai is an AI chatbot platform that allows its users to have conversations and be guided through text-based adventures with AI personalities based on fictional characters or real people, both living and deceased.
With AI as a core component, the founders were able to embrace the .ai domain from the start, to the extent that “dot AI” is embedded in the brand name. Not only is this highly memorable for users and a key piece of brand-building, emphasizing the business’s USP, but it also enhances its credibility as a provider of cutting-edge large-language model tech.
Character.ai has been hugely successful in the AI space, raising $43M in its initial funding round to reach the unicorn-status valuation of $1 billion, and it receives around 3.5M daily visitors. Its audience is young, tech-savvy and versed in online culture, making the alternative extension matched with a brandable name the perfect choice for digital dominance.
Your Digital Handshake
Building trust online starts at the top of the funnel. For early-stage startups and small businesses, a strong domain name is an immediate signal to both customers and investors that you’re a credible solution to their problems, and it breeds the immediate trust that translates into customer conversion and long-term loyalty.
Trust is hard-won in today’s world and easily lost, especially in the digital space, where faceless scams and fly-by-night ventures have made consumers more cautious than ever. That’s why your domain strategy is not just a technical decision, but a branding imperative.
In 2025, your domain is your storefront, your reputation, and your first impression, all rolled into one. Whether you’re launching a new product, scaling your startup, or refreshing your brand, ask yourself: Does your domain name inspire confidence? If not, it’s time to rethink your strategy because trust starts with the name in the address bar.
