Why You Should Give Your Chatbot a .BOT Domain

With a dedicated .BOT domain, bot developers have the perfect medium to drive engagement with users of their products, thereby building consumer trust for both their bots and their companies. Additionally, when you register a .BOT domain, you become part of a community of developers through Amazon’s Discover.bot site!

Since the first chatbot typed it's initial “hello,” the bot development and conversational AI industry has grown at an exponential rate – as have its challenges. Industry pundits tend to agree on three things that bot developers need in order for their products to be successful and sustainable.

First, bot developers want their bots to be seen as credible and trustworthy, which they can achieve through a bot validation process. Second, they want their bots to be found and used. A product is only good when it has consumers, after all. And last but not least, developers want audiences to be able to easily engage with their bots.

These three, which are incidentally also the biggest challenges that bot developers face, are not mutually exclusive. Fortunately, all of these concerns can be addressed when you register your bot with a .BOT domain.

1. Validation

When you register your bot for a .BOT domain using Get.bot, your bot must go through a validation process. Anyone who owns, operates, or manages bots published using a supported tool like Amazon Lex, Gushup, Pandorabots, Dialogflow, or Microsoft Bot Framework can validate a bot and register a .BOT domain name. Because of this validation process, having a .BOT domain shows that your bot is legitimate and trustworthy.

2. Discoverability

In order to be viable and successful, bots must be discoverable. People or companies who are interested in working with bots and bot developers must be able to find you through some means other than finding your bot on a social media list populated by hundreds, even thousands, of other bots.

Having a .BOT domain does just that. Right now, bots with .BOT domains are searchable on Bing, as are bots registered with other platforms. As more and more bots get their own .BOT domains, they can be found using a variety of tools and methods, not just search engines. By having a presence on search engines, bots registered with a .BOT domain have strong visibility and are able to connect with users searching for the services they offer.

3. Audience Engagement

One of the biggest challenges for bot developers and their products is building trust and managing user expectations. Take the dilemma of chatbots on messaging platforms, for instance. At present, when potential customers look for a bot to fill a certain role or function—customer service, for example—they may not know how to operate or set up the bot, how the bot will fit in with their current operations, or on which platforms the bot will work. This is because customers are simply not getting enough information.

This is where having a .BOT domain comes into play. With a dedicated .BOT domain, bot developers have the perfect medium to drive engagement with users of their products, thereby building consumer trust for both their bots and their companies. Additionally, when you register a .BOT domain, you become part of a community of developers through Amazon’s Discover.bot site, a hub where bot developers and bot users learn about new bots.

Give Your Bot an Amazon .BOT Domain Today

Giving your bot a domain of its own with a .BOT extension is the ideal way to address your most pressing needs and concerns, like credibility and discoverability. Having its own identity via a .BOT domain will push the boundaries of your bot, giving people and companies interested in working with bots and bot developers the opportunity to find you and get information about you anytime. In return, you will have the perfect marketing medium to engage with customers and gather data to improve your bots. It’s a win-win situation!