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Promotion Tip:
A Name Of Your Own
by Larisa Thomason,
Senior Web Analyst,
NetMechanic, Inc.
The seven new top-level domain (TLD) names promise a lot of benefits. More names will be available to register and more competition among registrars should push registration fees lower. Instead of excitement though, most of the new TLD's elicited yawns from the Internet community.
Just The Beginning
ICANN selected seven new TLD's from a hundred proposals. Although a date hasn't been announced, they'll probably be available sometime this summer.
- .name - a general domain extension intended for use by individuals
- .biz - a general domain extension for businesses
- .info - a general domain extension for both commercial and non-commercial use
- .pro - a restricted domain extension for certified professionals and professional entities
- .coop - a restricted-use domain extension for cooperatives
- .museum - a restricted-use domain extension for museums
- .aero - a restricted-use domain extension for the air transport industry
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The general domain extensions are open to anyone, just like .com, .org, and .net are now. Restricted domain names are limited to specific groups or individuals who meet certain standards. Applicants for the .pro TLD will have to show proof of their qualifications before their request is approved.
Industry experts say these new TLD's are just the beginning. In a few years, there could be scores of TLD's available.
The 10 - Or 20 - Most Wanted
For many companies and individuals, these new names represent a golden opportunity to establish an online presence with a good, memorable name.
Unless someone else gets it first. Consider how fierce the competition could be for some of the .name and .pro TLD's. A quick search on Yahoo's people search for the name "Bob Cohen" in New York State returned the maximum 200 results. Which Bob Cohen should have the rights to BobCohen.name or BobCohen.pro? Usually, the first one to register it.
The other Bob Cohens do have other options. They can register some variation on the BobCohen TLD. For example:
- Bob-Cohen.name
- BobCohen.info
- BobCohenPleasureHouse.biz
- BillyBobCohen.pro
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Some of these Bob Cohens may be involved in very different businesses or personal activities than Bob Cohen, CPA. He may decide to register multiple domain names to avoid confusion and/or competition.
That happens now. Many companies register as many combinations of their names as they can find - complete with hyphens and misspellings. Domain name speculators often beat them to it, but generously offer to resell the domain names at a huge markup. It only costs $35 to purchase a domain name for a year, and the average resale value of a .com domain name is $7,000!
Think how much more complicated and expensive the process could be after the new TLD's come online. The .biz extension will cost $2000 per year. The high cost is designed to filter out domain speculators and increase the availability of good domain names for serious businesses.
Let's see - .com, .net, .biz, .name - you could have more aliases than a member of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. Hey, you may even make the list after you rob a bank to cover the registration fees for them all!
A Cyberspace Land Rush
Some companies are already profiting from the new TLD's by charging nonrefundable fees of $15 to pre-register new domain names - even domain names in the restricted TLD categories. This transaction is perfectly legal as long as the company doesn't guarantee final registration of the domain.
If you pre-register, understand that no company can guarantee you'll get the domain name. They can only guarantee to submit the request to ICANN for you. Check the United States Federal Trade Commission's recently released Consumer Alert warning about domain pre-registration.
A trademark offers you much better odds than pre-registration. Trademark holders get first pick among the new domain names. After those registrations are complete, the real land rush begins when everyone else starts trying to register what's left.
ICANN plans to accept applications from ICANN-accredited registrars in random order. Company A might get a block 10,000 domain names registered first, followed by Companies P and Q. Then, on the next round, Company J may be first.
Most companies that accept pre-registrations promise to submit applications in the order customers sent them in, but that may not help if the company you pre-register with doesn't get lucky in the rotation.
Get The Most From Your Domain Name
We'll have to repeat our March 2000 advice about domain names: The real value of a domain name isn't helping people find your site the first time; it's helping them find it the second time.
People's habits and expectations change slowly - even on the Internet. After the new TLD hoopla subsides, your visitors will probably still look for your site first as a .com, .org, or .net. Register your domain name there first before you worry about the new ones.
Then focus on promotion. These new domain names open up opportunity for your competitors too. More domain names mean that your site needs to stand out in a crowd that grows larger every day.
NetMechanic's Search Engine Power Pack can give your site extra help to increase site traffic and boost your ranking. We'll help you choose keywords, write META tags, evaluate your page content, submit to the top search engines, and track your search engine rank.
A name of your own is important, but making sure visitors can find your site - no matter what the name - is critical.
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