With the internet landscape growing on a full-fledged scale trying to accommodate new businesses as well as new end users, the pressure of using a .com TLD (Top Level Domain) is fading away. Not that .com has lost its status of being the gold standard of TLDs, but people are starting to get more creative with the availability of variety in the pool of new domain TLDs available today. These domain extensions can be used creatively to give more meaning to a website and to market a brand in an innovative way through the name of its website. Let us find out if these new domain TLDs are really an attention grabber or are they just a passing phase and websites should stick to .com.
Why do we need new domain TLDs?
With the internet being one of the most successful breakthroughs of last century, a single TLD may not have been able to incorporate all those websites on the internet because the same domain name may be requested by more than one person. This reminds me of the famous Nissan Motor lawsuit against Nissan Computer. Uzi Nissan is the founder of Nissan Computers and he has used the family name for a number of business ventures since 1980. He registered Nissan.com to use it for his business of selling and servicing computers and computer parts. Nissan Motors laid claim to the domain by alleging cybersquatting. But since Uzi Nissan was using his family name for his business, he won the case and Nissan Motors eventually resorted to nissanusa.com for their website. Now you can imagine how many more businesses may end up the same way if enough TLDs were not available.
In recent years, a lot of fun TLDs have made their presence and business owners are beginning to get more creative with these TLDs instead of keeping things simple with a .com TLD. There is no doubt that .com will continue to enjoy its reputation of being the best for at least a few more years. But other TLDs are gradually starting to be accepted by the public as safe as well.
Benefits of using new domain TLDs
Relatively easy to avail the desired domain name
It can be a lot easier for a business owner or a blogger to find the domain name of their choice when they begin to explore it in the new domain TLDs. However, finding the right domain name in .com can be a little difficult given the fact that most early adopters of the internet were using .com for their websites.
It is also true that the internet has not been around for a very long time and the history of .com as a TLD goes back as far as the history of the internet itself. This is probably why people are so easily able to identify a website with a .com TLD. But there is a wave of changes happening in the internet world and new domain TLDs is one such change. People are starting to accept it.
Can be bought at a lower price
Some businesses begin on a shoestring investment. They may have just enough to be able to start the work which means buying expensive domain names isout of the question. If they try to get their desired domain name with .com as the extension they will realize that they may have to pay a lot more than getting their domain name on a new domain TLD.
It may help you add meaning to your website’s name
New domain TLDs are beginning to gain traction among users who like to make their website name sound creative and meaningful. TLDs like.tech, .dj and .ly can be used by website owners to promote their business more effectively. Visual.ly is a website that does a great job of using the .ly TLD to its advantage. They produce visual content and the name of the website perfectly tells people about their business.
Does not affect your website’s ranking
Many website users were of the opinion that anything which is not a .com website is the only one that benefits from SEO. But Google clearly explains that this is not the case and that you can use other TLDs without affecting your search rankings or history. Google itself uses different TLDs and also outlines it for businesses on how they can move the existing website to a new TLD without any impact on the search rankings.
The internet has started showing a shift in the use of new domain TLDs
Popular celebrities, influencers and even big companies are beginning to use new domain TLDs. This is bringing a change in the way people perceive new TLDs. It can help you improve your branding by using something creative like Paul Allen did when he created smartcatch.fish which is a business venture that trains chefs and restaurant staffs. The fact that smartcatch.com was available when he applied for the domain name didn’t deter him from trying something creative and more meaningful for his audience.
Restriction of using new domain TLDs
Everyone does not trust a new domain TLD
While internet users are beginning to see this shift in the use of new domain TLDs, everyone is not comfortable with opening a website that does not end in a safe extension like .com or .org. This is why some businesses still feel that they should pay heavily for a .com website than one that may end in a different extension.
User awareness is still low
Website owners who use new domain TLDs sometimes find that their customers or users are not able to get the fact that the website name does not end with a .com. This means that they have to explain to some of their clients, partners and users that the extension is just like a .com.
The universal acceptance of new domain TLDs is also comparatively low
You may even come across some websites where if you try to fill in the details of your website name, then you may simply get an error saying that it is an invalid website because the TLD is not one of the generic ones that are commonly used on the internet.