Why you should ditch QR codes for New Domains

QR codes may have hit the U.S. with a bang back in 2009, but they have gone out of style in recent years with a decisive whimper. Even so, some brands and individuals continue to use QR codes to encourage others to visit a particular area on their websites. From billboards to business cards, QR codes can be spotted still clinging to existence for one simple reason: People don’t know how else to make it easy for others to access certain landing pages.

And that’s understandable–it doesn’t exactly look professional to direct others to yoursitesite.com/business/about/pricing when you’re networking with potential clients. Thus, a small, tidy looking QR code in the corner seems like the best solution.

But it isn’t. More often than not, people will never get to that landing page because QR code scanners don’t come built into mobile devices and there aren’t many great options for QR-reading apps. Is anyone going to take the time to track down and install a QR code reader just so they can see where your particular code leads? Probably not. Instead, your business card will be stuffed in their briefcase and forgotten while that lead slips out of your grasp.

There’s a better solution

You don’t have to rely on QR codes to easily get people to a particular section of your website. Instead, create a short, memorable URL with a New Domain that will direct visitors to a particular landing page—no fancy tools required. Are you hiring? Pass out business cards with the URL yourbusiness.careers to direct potential employees to an online application. Having a big Black Friday Sale? Plaster yourcompany.blackfriday on a billboard to direct visitors to your online store. Get the jist?

The great thing about using a New Domain extension is that it not only is more likely to have short, keyword-rich URLs available, but it also gives people some context about the type of webpage they’ll be directed to. It’s also easy to remember, and people who see a URL like learnto.dance on the subway are likely to remember it when they’re browsing the web on their laptop later that night.

We practice what we preach

Looking to see this strategy in action? We use New Domains in this fashion fairly often when we want to promote a special event or landing page. For example, we are currently using the URL embarrassingfamily.photo to encourage our customers to learn more about our Embarrassing .FAMILY Photo contest. The link forwards to a landing page on the Name.com site, but the URL is easy for customers to remember and access without needing to dig through our website to find it. And better yet? It only took a matter of minutes to register the domain and point it to our existing landing page.