How to Set Up .BOT Domain for Your Chatbot

Hacking Trust, Discoverability, and Standardization

Stefan Kojouharov
Chatbots Life

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As a Chatbot builder, what is the biggest challenge you’re facing?

Do you need more users, more customers or are you in need of better technology? All of our biggest issues can be boiled down into three fundamentals categories:

  • Community Standardization: In order for the technology to grow and expand we need better standards. Where is the htpps for bots? It doesn’t yet exist. In order for the technology to grow, as a community we need to start sharing best practices and we need to start creating standards.
  • Trust: Right now users don’t know what to expect from chatbots, so trust is low. We are in the early days and most users do not understand when they are going to a webpage vs chatbot and they don’t have the corresponding mental model of what to do when they encounter a bot.
  • Discoverability: Currently, bot discovery is a mess however the space is evolving very quickly. Chatbots are slowly become more prominent on search results and in many cases bots are available on the SERPs! Knowing this, we need to make sure that our bot can be properly indexed and featured by search engines, and this is something we will cover in this tutorial!

Fortunately, someone is working on solving these issues, Amazon.

Recently, Amazon launched .BOT, a generic top-level domain (gTLD) that helps to provide an identity and a networking hub for chatbots. The .BOT domain can help solve these three fundamental challenges and in this tutorial, I will show you exactly how to do this!

At this point, you might be wondering, “But Stefan, how is .BOT solving these problems?”

Great question, so first lets focus on how the chatbot space is evolving and second, how .BOT can help solve the problems of trust, discoverability, and standardization. Lastly, I’ll show you how to implement .BOT for your project.

Ready to get started with a .BOT domain for your project? Scroll down to setup steps A through F.

How .BOT improves trust

Among the biggest chatbot challenges are trust and user expectations.

Currently, when users are sent to a bot, they may find the experience confusing — they could be expecting a website, and they may not know how to interact with the bot and they are failing to get the proper information!

One of the easiest way to solve these issues is to manage the user’s expectation right from the start, and the .BOT domain does exactly that. The user knows that they are communicating with a chatbot, and this greatly increases the chances for successful user/bot interaction.

How to get users to easily Remember your Bot’s Name

One of the best features about the .BOT domain is that it is only available to bot makers with verified bots.

This has many benefits, among the most helpful is that it’s a new top level domain and many great names are available. You literally get your choice, which means that you can have a very memorable domain name. Create a name that gives users an idea of what the bot does and how it can help them.

Additionally, since the .BOT domain is only open to verified bots, there is an authentication process, which further increases its quality and value. In the future, it’s likely that most companies will have multiple bots on .BOT and that consumers will expect bots to use this extension. It makes great sense for bot makers and bot users alike.

How a .BOT domain name improves discoverability

Chatbots are evolving very quickly, and this has huge ramifications for search results and for the way that search engines treat chatbots.

Unlike a traditional website of static content, search engines must treat bots as dynamic applications that can make decisions and do things on behalf of the user. As a result, many search engines are starting to treat bots differently.

Bing is already showing bots in the search results, and you can even engage the bot without leaving the SERP.

This has huge ramifications for both search engines and businesses. For companies like Google, having users get their needs met without leaving Google is a huge advantage. As the space evolves, we will see more and more of this.

Getting search engines to notice your bot is key. By using the .BOT domain, you are identifying the chatbot for search engines. Additionally, using a .BOT domain can significantly increase your search rankings thereby increasing your discoverability. If you’re planning on having a web based chatbot, .BOT is a must have.

Bing is just one company starting this trend.

Apple is doing something very similar with its map results. You can now text a local business or organization and get a response from a chatbot. If needed, the bot transfers you to a human.

Additionally, Google is working on its Rich Business Messaging (RBM) system, which will transform the way we talk with companies and their chatbots. From a UI/UX perspective, this change will bring buttons, cards, and other UI elements to text messages.

As the progress of bots continues to advance, discovery will grow until it reaches a point where people are introduced to bots that can help them based on what they said to a friend, what they searched, or because another bot recommended the solution.

As you can see, when we use the search phrase, travel bots, Bing surfaces the top travel bots within their own bot widget. Additionally, its related searches suggest other bots you can use. This is just the beginning of the “botification” of the World Wide Web.

How Bot Discovery and Bot2Bot Handoffs Might Look

One of the biggest promises of bots is their ability to help us solve the problem of unknown unknowns — that is, we will be able to solve problems that we did not know had a solution.

For example, imagine that you got a parking ticket and that you texted your friend about it. In the very near future, during that interaction, you could be introduced to a bot to help you fight that ticket.

Facebook Messenger is already surfacing recommendations based on what users type. As you might imagine, the options are limitless.

Currently, though, bot handoffs are keyword focused and lack nuance. Furthermore, the connections are made only by the platforms. But, at some point, the bot network will evolve to the point where your bot can introduce your user to another bot that can help them solve a problem. For a true bot2bot interaction to occur, bots need a standard way to communicate with each other and to then introduce their users to other bots.

How .BOT supports community standardization

As bots become more and more popular, search engines will need a way to authenticate them. Search engines will also need a standardized system to get the proper information about a bot’s capabilities. Standardization is key before bots can become fully mainstream. Currently, websites have these standards in the form of the HTTP protocol and robot.txt files for SEO purposes, and chatbots will need the very same standards.

The .BOT community hub can help us start these conversations and can enable the community to make decisions regarding standardization, how bots talk to each other, and much more. Ultimately, you will get to decide what standards are suggested and implemented. As part of the community, everyone who participates and owns a .BOT domain will have a voice on what should be standardized — and how. Join the discussion.

The Bots are Coming

Bots are finally starting to show a positive ROI for business, and growth is on the way. As we prepare for the next phase, get ready for the Amazon community to grow substantially and to revolutionize what bots can do for people and for businesses. This is the perfect time to create your first chatbot. Learn how, with these helpful steps.

How to register a .BOT domain name on Amazon

Follow steps A through F to easily register for .BOT.

A. Visit discover.bot.

Note that, since the .BOT domain is an identity for bots, you need to have a bot to register. Anyone who owns, operates, or manages bots published using a supported tool (currently Amazon Lex, Botkit Studio, Dialogflow, Gupshup, Microsoft Bot Framework, and Pandorabots) can validate a bot and register a .BOT domain name. If you are not using any of the above mentioned tools, you can still get a .BOT domain however you will need to submit for a manual validation which takes up to 3 days.

B. Select your domain name.

Enter your preferred domain name. If you choose a .BOT domain that is already taken, try again with a different name. Fortunately, there are still many great names available, although the longer you wait to register your .BOT domain, the fewer options there might be.

Naturally, we want to own chat.bot and, of course, it’s taken.

Ideally, you want your domain name to have the potential to become a great brand name. Great brand names have some common qualities, and coming up with one on .BOT is pretty easy. Here are a few brand name suggestions:

Five qualities of a super-sticky name

  • Suggestive. Implies something about your brand. For example, Amazon suggests something enormous, diverse, large, and full of life.
  • Meaningful. Resonates with your audience. Yelp is a great example of this.
  • Imagery. Conjures up images and takes you there.
  • Longevity. Allows you to expand your market without pigeonholing your brand. For example, Amazon would have had a difficult time becoming Amazon if it was named BookBarn.com or OnlineBooks.com.
  • Emotional. Evokes the emotions that you want associated with your brand. For example, Snuggle (fabric softener) gives you the same great feeling that you have after you smell clean laundry.

Examples of good brand names include Victors & Spoils (advertising agency), Captains of Industry (creative content marketing), The Glue Society (art and directing collective), Breakthrough (mental health website), Repel (insect repellent), Explorer (SUV and web browser), Kryptonite (bike lock), Expedition (vehicle), The Boring Company (infrastructure and tunnel construction), and Target (retail).

After you have chosen your name, go through a few steps to validate your bot, complete the registration, and finish the setup process.

C. Select your development tool.

To validate your bot, under Step 1: Select development tool, click the Select button and choose a development tool from the dropdown menu. Currently, there are six listed development tools. This menu is being constantly updated, and future iterations of the .BOT domain registration process may have additional development tool options.

After you have selected your development tool, click the Validate button to the right of this screen. In the example, we chose to activate a bot that we have been building on Botkit Studio.

D. Locate your Validation Key.

Find your Validation Key, and submit it to Amazon for verification. If you don’t see your bot development tool on the list, get on a waiting list or email Amazon for support.

You can find your Validation Key on your bot development tool under Settings. In most cases, it should be easy to find, because many bots with APIs need to be validated in order to function properly. If you have trouble finding your Validation Key, reach out to your development tool provider for help. Amazon is also available to help you at any point during your registration. (Find contact information at the bottom of the registration platform.)

After you have your Validation Key, click the I have my Validation Key button and enter the Validation Key in the provided field.

If your validation fails, it may be as a result of one of the following issues:

  • Account registration. If the bot registration does not belong to you, it might be difficult for Amazon to talk to your account.
  • Connection error. This kind of error will certainly cause problems in your registration process.
  • Bot not recognized. If your bot is not recognized by the registration process, contact Amazon to continue.

If you are having any of the above issues, you can always email Amazon here: contactbot@amazon.com

E. Enter bot credentials.

Now you only need to wait for Amazon to recognize your bot in your development tool, and you’ll be on your way to completing your registration process.

F. Success!

You are almost finished registering a unique and impressive domain for your bot, and you are just steps away from having your very own .BOT domain on Amazon’s hosting service. Review the purchasing options, which may vary depending on when you register your domain.

Congratulations!

You’re ready to go with your new .BOT domain. And Amazon is here for you every step of the way. Amazon’s goal is to create a community around these resources and to help support developers and the companies they work for. As the world of bots continues to grow, Amazon is doing its part to support this industry and to ensure that these bots hit the ground running with the best possible chance of exposure. Around the world, .BOT domains help showcase these amazing tech products in the light that they deserve.

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Building AI Agents since 2016. Today, I am creating AI Agents for Wellness & Personal Growth and Sharing my Insights. Join me at: stefanspeaks.substack.com/