The .com extension for domain name registration is, unarguably, the most popular and sought-after. A lot of people will rather modify their names to fit the extension than go for others. However, with the introduction of more generic top-level domains (gTLDs) by the regulator, ICANN, the domination of .com may soon be over.
In times past, domain name registration is limited to few gTLDs; .com, .net, .biz, .org, .edu, .gov, etc. But now, the story has changed as you can now make use of more interesting gTLDs that were not in existence before. For example, if you have a band and you want to register a domain, the .band extension is now available for you. So, if the name of your band is ‘Soul Food’, you can register a name like ‘soulfood.band’ and anyone seeing that name will easily know that it belongs to a band. Other new extensions of gTLDs are .photography, .actor, .church, .ceo, .boutique, .academy, .business, .agency and so on.
As a result of this, it is not a must to register a.com domain name and many people will even prefer the new extensions due to their uniqueness. For example, churches in times past make use of.org extension when carrying out their domain name registration but will now be using the.church extension and this will boost branding as well as marketing tremendously. The new gTLDs will also reduce the length of domain names and make it easier for people to remember. For instance, the ‘soul food band’ whose example was used above will have to register ‘soulfoodband.com’ instead of ‘soulfood.band’ if the new gTLDs have not been introduced.
Furthermore, it will enable newbies to get choice names since majority of hot names have been taken. Also, the face of online marketing will change because of these new gTLDs. There is the possibility that search engines, especially Google, will change their algorithms in order to accommodate the new top-level domains. Internet marketers will also need to change their strategies since search engines may change their algorithms.
Domain name registration will never be the same again as the path to registration has now been made wider with the latest gTLDs. You only need to ensure that you deal with an ICANN accredited registrar so that your registration process will be hitch-free and inexpensive. You should also be wary of trademark infringement when choosing a name for registration. In fact, it is ideal for you to get a trademark for your business name before registering a domain name for it.
