New domain extensions offer businesses an exceptional opportunity to stand out and grow online. Never before have so many memorable, relevant web addresses been available to mark out your place on the web.
Domain extensions are the bit of a website address to the right of the dot, such as ‘.com’, ‘.co.uk’, ‘.net’. Also known as ‘top-level domains’ (TLDs). Until last year, extensions were limited to .com, a country code such as .co.uk, and a handful of others: .net, .biz, .org, .edu.
But those times are gone. Now, over 1900 new domain extensions are being released, from .ninja to .london, .buzz to .shoes and .company to .rocks.
For anyone struggling to find a good .com or .co.uk address, the new domain extensions offer a lifeline. Choose right and your web address will help your business stand out, be remembered and get found.
Humans are wired to notice thellongs that stand out
Being different draws the eye. It is more likely to be remembered and talked about. And, obtaining buyers’ interest in a world full of big brands and with big budgets takes energy, creativity and money.
Of course, your name has to make sense to stand out in a good way. That’s why new domain extensions are great: anyone can now create a meaningful name without needing a long URL or paying the earth for a simple .com.
Why be www.joejonesthebuilder.com when you can be www.joejones.builder?
Standing out drives awareness and sales
Recent research shows a new domain extension improves results of social media marketing on networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. That’s great news for all the small businesses using social media to raise their profile and sell more products and services.
Standing out helps you with search
Search rankings are the holy grail for helping users find you online. Your URL matters. A relevant, compelling, and accurate URL is one of the keys to ranking well. A new extension is more likely to tick all three boxes, and two recent studies suggest they are already positively impacting search results ( see here for more details ).
Naturally, opinions differ about the impacts of new domain extensions, as with any revolutionary change. However, the evidence suggests the search ranking preference for new extensions will grow over time, as they bed in and become synonymous with trusted, relevant content.
Everyone will be doing it
Big brands are buying up new domains or creating their own. Expect to see domains such as books.amazon, galaxy.ford and search.google. As consumers become used to these new names, meaningful extensions will become the norm. Inevitably, pressure on popular extensions will increase, and so will the cost.