The Next Internet Land Rush
The next internet land rush is upon us. Soon, you will see URLs like pepperoni.pizza or chicago.map, and possibly even fries.mcdonalds.
How is this possible? A few years ago, ICANN, the organization that coordinates the internet's top level domain system, opened up the ability to apply for the creation of new generic top level domains (gTLDs). The most common TLD that exists today is .com, though .net, .org, .edu, and others are likely also be familiar to you. But now, it's possible to have many, many more. New generic top level domains (like .technology) have been rapidly being released in the past few years, and over 600+ are planned overall, with an application process in place to create even more.
The dwindling focus on .com
Here are there reasons you might decide to go with a new gTLD over .com.
Availability - The biggest issue today with .com is that most desirable domain names are taken. People looking for a web address are finding it challenging to find a friendly domain name that is succinct, memorable, and retains their branding. This is where the new gTLDs shine. With new domains like .florist, .music, and .bar, whether you're a small business owner or a musical artist, you have a new opportunity to register a much more meaningful domain name for yourself, or something more memorable and clever, (which I am hoping tarun.talks.technology is, of course).
Searching - The way we use the internet now already lends itself to be friendly to the new top level domain names. Rarely do users know a URL directly, instead, they tend to leverage search engines to find the content they're looking for. Users won't necessarily even pay enough attention to the URL of the site they're visiting, and instead would rely on search engines to find that page again if they need it in the future. This would be contingent on search engines starting to index and rank pages on these new gTLDs along with .com, however.
Social - Additionally, for certain types of sites, direct to homepage traffic can be low versus referrals from search engines and social media link sharing. How you raise awareness of your content via social media and search engine optimization can be a larger traffic driver rather than distinctly raising brand awareness. In a lot of cases your homepage can be used to share your brand messaging rather than a launch point to access all of your content. Many users click links via Facebook or Twitter to visit an article than ever go to a site's homepage (How many buzzfeed articles have you read - and how many were accessed from their homepage?).
So what new top level domains are available, and when?
You can see a current list of all available domain names today on Wikipedia. These can all be priced differently, and you should check a domain registrar like namecheap, godaddy, or many others (just use your favorite search engine to look for a domain registrar) to see what they might cost. Anything marked as an Open TLD you can feel free to register for any purpose, but some might be more restrictive (for example, you must provide validation for .travel as being a travel-related entity, like a travel agency).
Additionally, there are plenty of domains that are still going through an approval process. You can check out this nicely laid out diary page from onlydomains or this exploration page from namecheap to see when shortly upcoming domains will be released, and other registrars have similar lists, and some even offering to send you an email when certain tlds open up. You can even visit the New Generic TLD page from ICANN, which has a considerable amount of detail about tlds going through the application process.
Sunrise and Land Rush Periods
Once a new generic top level domain is approved, a 60-day sunrise period occurs where only entities that hold a trademarks for a brands are able to register for their brand name, so if you were thinking you could get rich by snagging apple.tech before Apple does, sorry, that's pretty unlikely.
After the sunrise period, a land rush period occurs. This is the first time a TLD is open to the public. During this period, a premium may be charged to register anything on a TLD. If you wait until after the land rush period, prices may come down, so it's your choice as to wonder whether is.fly will last through the land rush period and wait for a cheaper price, or pay a premium to beat someone else to the punch.
Good luck in the new TLD land rush - the most clever new domain name wins!
The next internet land rush is upon us. Soon, you will see URLs like pepperoni.pizza or chicago.map, and possibly even fries.mcdonalds.
How is this possible? A few years ago, ICANN, the organization that coordinates the internet's top level domain system, opened up the ability to apply for the creation of new generic top level domains (gTLDs). The most common TLD that exists today is .com, though .net, .org, .edu, and others are likely also be familiar to you. But now, it's possible to have many, many more. New generic top level domains (like .technology) have been rapidly being released in the past few years, and over 600+ are planned overall, with an application process in place to create even more.
The dwindling focus on .com
Here are there reasons you might decide to go with a new gTLD over .com.
Availability - The biggest issue today with .com is that most desirable domain names are taken. People looking for a web address are finding it challenging to find a friendly domain name that is succinct, memorable, and retains their branding. This is where the new gTLDs shine. With new domains like .florist, .music, and .bar, whether you're a small business owner or a musical artist, you have a new opportunity to register a much more meaningful domain name for yourself, or something more memorable and clever, (which I am hoping tarun.talks.technology is, of course).
Searching - The way we use the internet now already lends itself to be friendly to the new top level domain names. Rarely do users know a URL directly, instead, they tend to leverage search engines to find the content they're looking for. Users won't necessarily even pay enough attention to the URL of the site they're visiting, and instead would rely on search engines to find that page again if they need it in the future. This would be contingent on search engines starting to index and rank pages on these new gTLDs along with .com, however.
Social - Additionally, for certain types of sites, direct to homepage traffic can be low versus referrals from search engines and social media link sharing. How you raise awareness of your content via social media and search engine optimization can be a larger traffic driver rather than distinctly raising brand awareness. In a lot of cases your homepage can be used to share your brand messaging rather than a launch point to access all of your content. Many users click links via Facebook or Twitter to visit an article than ever go to a site's homepage (How many buzzfeed articles have you read - and how many were accessed from their homepage?).
So what new top level domains are available, and when?
You can see a current list of all available domain names today on Wikipedia. These can all be priced differently, and you should check a domain registrar like namecheap, godaddy, or many others (just use your favorite search engine to look for a domain registrar) to see what they might cost. Anything marked as an Open TLD you can feel free to register for any purpose, but some might be more restrictive (for example, you must provide validation for .travel as being a travel-related entity, like a travel agency).
Additionally, there are plenty of domains that are still going through an approval process. You can check out this nicely laid out diary page from onlydomains or this exploration page from namecheap to see when shortly upcoming domains will be released, and other registrars have similar lists, and some even offering to send you an email when certain tlds open up. You can even visit the New Generic TLD page from ICANN, which has a considerable amount of detail about tlds going through the application process.
Sunrise and Land Rush Periods
Once a new generic top level domain is approved, a 60-day sunrise period occurs where only entities that hold a trademarks for a brands are able to register for their brand name, so if you were thinking you could get rich by snagging apple.tech before Apple does, sorry, that's pretty unlikely.
After the sunrise period, a land rush period occurs. This is the first time a TLD is open to the public. During this period, a premium may be charged to register anything on a TLD. If you wait until after the land rush period, prices may come down, so it's your choice as to wonder whether is.fly will last through the land rush period and wait for a cheaper price, or pay a premium to beat someone else to the punch.
Good luck in the new TLD land rush - the most clever new domain name wins!
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