Domain Name Style Guide: Consistency for Brand & UX

Unstructured domain choices create brand drift and operational friction. Standardize early.

Naming Principles

• Human pronounceable
• Avoid ambiguous character pairs (1/l, 0/O)
• Prefer shorter; descriptive only when needed
• No hyphens unless keyword clarity gain > 2 "readability points"

Structural Conventions

TLD Policy

• Primary brand: .com
• Innovation / AI product lines: .ai allowed
• Country-specific launches: matching ccTLD if ≥ 15% revenue forecast
• Blocklist: .zip, .mov (phishing risk) unless exception granted

Subdomain Depth

Limit to 3 labels unless documented exception. More layers degrade trust & performance.

Approval Workflow

1. Request via naming form (business purpose, lifespan)
2. Review by Brand + Security
3. SLA: 2 business days
4. Log to central registry

Central Registry Fields

DomainEntry {
  id, fqdn, ownerTeam, purpose, environment, createdAt,
  reviewDate, status: [active, sunset_planned, deprecated],
  linkedServices: [...], dnsProvider
}

Sunset Process

• Identify zero traffic / unused campaigns quarterly
• Schedule 301 or decom depending on inbound links
• Archive DNS record diff

Common Anti-Patterns

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