Learn how these businesses are making it easy for Bostonians to shop local – even when shopping online
Since the start of the pandemic, Bostonians have increasingly embraced the shop local movement, supporting mom and pop shops, neighborhood artisans and local professionals and service providers. Better service, higher quality support, and a desire to support local vendors and keep money in the local economy are just some of the motivations behind the shop local movement.
But shopping local often conflicts with the ease and convenience of shopping online. Big box retailers and scrappy global e-commerce start-ups offer a dizzying variety of products and services that make it increasingly hard for small Boston-based businesses to compete.
That’s why the City of Boston launched the .boston domain.
.Boston is the official domain extension of the City of Boston, created as a public benefit to help give Bostonians a competitive edge in building and branding their online presence.
Showcase your connection to Boston
“I’ve always felt at home in Boston, and for me it was important to reflect that in my domain name.” That’s what William Peacock, a classical musician and composer, said about his website -- www.williampeacock.boston. The .boston domain “has given me a way to stand out online in a crowded landscape of local musicians and artists using more generic names.”
“I have put in a lot of work to be the best musician I can be,” said William, “but it’s pretty difficult to market yourself when you're working so hard to be excellent at your craft.” For William, his website is the main way that he promotes the music he writes and performs – and how he hopes to attract the interest of a major publisher or record label. For now, he says, “my website is how I find new fans, followers, and opportunities to perform in Boston.”
Make your online brand stand out
Your domain name is often the first thing that people will see when they learn about your product, service, or business online – so making a strong first impression is vital. Aside from the instant recognition that you’re Boston-proud, using the .boston domain for your website can help you to stand out from the competition and make it easier for people to remember, share and recommend your brand with others.
For Malaysian pop-up restaurant SEKALI, choosing the right domain extension was easy. As owner Derrick Teh describes, “we promoted ourselves as ‘SEKALI Boston,’ so it was only fitting to brand ourselves online as www.sekali.boston.
The sekali.boston domain gave them a cohesive online and offline brand, making it easy for foodies to find, remember and recommend them. “Creating a strong brand identity from the onset has allowed us to evolve from being a once-a-month pop-up restaurant to a once-a-week venue” – recognized as the “Best Pop-Up Restaurant of 2021.”
Elevated Design is a local engineering firm based in Quincy that serves the greater Boston area. As a leading engineering firm designing buildings that reduce clients’ carbon footprints, “reaching new clients and getting found by the people who need our services is vital,” says owner Mark Schow. “Our domain name, www.elevateddesign.boston, helps people to recognize our business as local and relevant to their needs from the moment they see the website name or email address.”
Grow your business
Having the word “Boston” built right into your domain name indicates to potential visitors that your product, service, or business is authentically affiliated with the City of Boston. That means when people in Boston are searching for what you offer on Google (or any other search engine), you’re more likely to be found in the search results since the search engines already know where you’re located.
Skyline Landscapes creates “flourishing landscapes through horticulture.” Their website, www.skyline.boston attracts homeowners, landscape architects, builders and property managers who want to construct landscapes that are intended to last for generations.
According to Kara Lam, a key member of the team , “we’re proud to be serving Boston and its surrounding towns.” In addition to helping Skyline to grow their customer base year after year, their website has helped them “to attract talented horticulturalists and arborists to grow their team” too.
Get your .boston domain
As a relatively new domain option, .boston still has a wide-open selection of short, memorable .boston domain names available. See if your name is available here