Back in 2012, it had already become difficult to find short and memorable domain names amongst the available extensions. When ICANN invited the initial applications for new domain extensions, it was a historic moment for the Internet and opened a big opportunity to make internet addresses shorter, meaningful and distinguishable.
Since 2012, 1200+ New Top Level Domains (nTLDs) have been made available on the Internet. nTLDs are the suffixes to websites other than .COM, .NET, .ORG, etc. Some examples of nTLDs include .TECH, .FUN, .STORE, .SPACE, .CLUB, .XYZ.
Although, New Top Level Domains or nTLDs are not so new anymore! Given that some of the biggest brands in the world are already using new domain extensions, their popularity is only increasing by the day. However, many are still not clear on the benefits that 1200+ nTLDs offer to businesses and brands.
Here are 10 myths about nTLDs debunked for you:
1. New gTLDs don’t rank high in SEO
There has been a lot of hue and cry over new gTLDs scoring low on SEO front. Google put the misconception to rest in a
post on Google Webmaster Central Blog that carries official news on crawling and indexing sites for the Google index.
The post clarified:
Q: How will new gTLDs affect search? Is Google changing the search algorithm to favor these TLDs? How important are they really in search?
A: Overall, our systems treat new gTLDs like other gTLDs (like .com & .org). Keywords in a TLD do not give any advantage or disadvantage in search.
Recently, WIX, a website builder, held ‘The biggest search engine competition to ever hit the Internet’ with prize money of $ 50,000.
The winning website of this massive contest for a website on a .TECH domain:
www.seo-hero.tech! You can read why the winner, an SEO consultant by profession, chose a new gTLD for this competition
here.
When SEO experts prefer new gTLDs, then what more needs to be said?
2. New gTLDs have hit a saturation
Well, no. What people often miss to understand is that all new gTLDs are not the same. While some are specific to a niche industry, the others are broad-based and more popular. For example, the word ‘online’ is understood in 24 languages. Hence, .ONLINE has seen 140% YoY growth. On the other hand, an extension that is too limited in its usability will see less traction.
Like they say, not all TLDs are made equal!
3. Nobody is using new gTLDs
As of May 2017, over
24,448,000 domains have been registered on new gTLDs and
19,830 gTLD sites are in Alexa Top 1 Million. On an average, close to 50,000 new registration happen on new gTLDs every week! (Source:
https://namestat.org/)
The numbers talk!
4. Big brands and corporations are not using gTLDs.
If that’s the truth then what about
www.emirates.store,
www.ces.tech,
www.cta.tech,
www.jimihendrix.store,
www.magazine.store,
www.asgardia.space,
www.urbandictionary.store? Or what to make of global brands using their own TLDs such as global.canon, group.bnpparibas, home.barclays.
‘Nuff said.
5. Nobody is taking new gTLDs seriously enough to invest big money in them
Prepare to get shocked.
www.casino.online got sold for $201,250! In fact, .ONLINE has a recurring premium revenue worth $ 753,007 annually. If that’s not serious, what is?
6. People may buy domain names on new gTLDs but they are not really using them.
Some of the most popular new gTLDs — .ONLINE, .SITE, .SPACE, .TECH, etc enjoy close to 60% renewal rate, which means 60% of those who buy a new gTLD domain name end up using it in the long run.
7. Domain names on new gTLDs are a bad investment
Fun fact: At least 26 domains registered at standard price ( $1.2 — $5) have been sold in the secondary market for thousands of dollars. In fact, these 26 domains gave 8308% return on investment.
Where else do you see that kind of RoI?
8. New gTLDs do not have a global appeal
New gTLDs are actually in use in 235 countries and 148 registrars all over the world in dealing in them. It should be noted that some gTLDs might be more popular in some geos as compared to others. For example, .nyc is most popular in the US, or rather New York. In comparison, .ONLINE enjoys popularity in UK, Germany, US, India, Netherlands, Canada and various other countries because of its generic nature and acceptability.
9. nTLDs are not here to stay
While .ONLINE has 670,000+ domains registered on it, .TECH has 300,000+ domains. This means that since .ONLINE is more generic and has wider usability, it is preferred across sectors. On the other hand, since .TECH is more suited for the tech community, it has a niche set of adopters. This just goes out to show that each nTLDs charts out its own path depending on its nature. In either case, more and more users are looking at nTLDs so they can choose a short, memorable, meaningful and keyword-rich domain name. In fact,
19,534 websites in Alexa 1 Million and 2000+ website in Alexa top 100,000 are on nTLDs. There’s no doubt that nTLDs are here to stay, in fact, nTLDs will soon be the new
normal!
10. nTLD operators are in for a quick buck
nTLD operators globally are investing in end-consumer marketing through various channels. Radix, the world’s 3rd largest domain portfolio registry (nTLD operator) has been actively engaging with various startup, tech, web design, and ecommerce communities by way of event partnerships and collaborations. By launching programs such as Startup League, they are empowering startups around the world to showcase themselves to leading investors, key media, valuable partners and customers. Radix also partners with close to 250 hackathons worldwide every year to encourage students to innovate on campus.
So think of a new domain extension when you are registering a website name for your brand, startup, product launch or online store. With nTLDs, you have the chance to choose a name that truly defines you and becomes your brand identity. Get creative and meaningful with a domain extension that’s meant for you!
Think we missed out on something? Tell us your take on nTLDs & let’s get talking!
