Businesses should gear up take advantage of a massive wave of 1,400 domain extensions, which could alter the landscape of SEO and marketing at large.
“A number of new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) promise to transform the online marketing arena, like SEO did some years ago,” said Tony Kim, Chief Marketing Officer at HEXONET, which has been a leading global domain service provider since 1999.
While domainers will go into manic mode and buy and sell some of these domains for profit (for good reason; MI.com was sold for $3.6 million in April), marketers and entrepreneurs can also tap into valuable opportunities.
Domains to Watch
Some of the new gTLDs that are already making a splash include .CLUB, .GURU and .XYZ.
Association-based domain names like .CLUB are being used to build community, social and member-based websites. Kim noted some businesses are using .CLUB domains as their “friendlier and more casual” websites to promote special programs, deals, community initiatives and select news, and also as hubs for social media.
City TLDs, like .NYC and .LONDON and .BERLIN are also slated to be hot properties. Consider hotels.NYC, for example, which could have major influence on search engines, impacting travellers heading to the Big Apple. Companies with business in these cities would also be wise to start mapping out which city domain names fit their growth plans.
The .GAY gTLD could also gain substantial traction. “The LGBT community has a sizable, active and vocal community of users,” said Kim. “As a result, big businesses are already planning on using the .GAY TLD to showcase their LGBT support and initiatives.”
Recently and Soon-to-be Released Domains
.abogado
.academy
.accountants
.actor
.ads
.africa
.agency
.airforce
.amsterdam
.apartments
.app
.arab
.archi
.architect
.army
.art
.associates
.attorney
.auction
.audio
.auto
.baby
.band
.bar
.barcelona
.bargains
.baseball
.basketball
.bayern
.beauty
.beer
.berlin
.best
.bet
.bible
.bid
.bike
.bingo
.bio
.black
.blackfriday
.blog
.blue
.boats
.boo
.book
.boutique
.box
.broadway
.broker
.brussels
.budapest
.build
.builders
.business
.buy
.buzz
.bzh
.cab
.cafe
.cam
.camera
.camp
.capetown
.capital
.car
.cards
.care
.career
.careers
.cars
.casa
.cash
.casino
.catering
.center
.charity
.chat
.cheap
.christmas
.church
.city
.cleaning
.click
.clinic
.clothing
.cloud
.club
.coach
.codes
.coffee
.college
.cologne
.community
.company
.computer
.condos
.construction
.consulting
.contact
.contractors
.cooking
.cool
.corp
.corsica
.country
.coupon
.coupons
.cpa
.credit
.cricket
.cruises
.cymru
.dad
.dance
.data
.date
.dating
.day
.dds
.deal
.deals
.degree
.delivery
.democrat
.dental
.dentist
.desi
.design
.diamonds
.diet
.direct
.directory
.discount
.diy
.docs
.doctor
.dog
.domains
.dot
.download
.dubai
.durban
.earth
.eat
.eco
.education
.email
.energy
.engineer
.engineering
.enterprises
.equipment
.estate
.eus
.events
.exchange
.expert
.exposed
.express
.fail
.faith
.family
.fan
.fans
.farm
.fashion
.feedback
.film
.final
.finance
.financial
.fish
.fishing
.fit
.fitness
.flights
.florist
.flowers
.fly
.foo
.food
.football
.forsale
.forum
.foundation
.free
.fun
.fund
.furniture
.futbol
.fyi
.gal
.gallery
.game
.games
.garden
.gay
.gent
.gift
.gifts
.gives
.glass
.global
.gold
.golf
.gop
.graphics
.gratis
.green
.gripe
.group
.guide
.guitars
.guru
.hair
.hamburg
.haus
.health
.help
.helsinki
.here
.hiphop
.hiv
.hockey
.holdings
.holiday
.home
.horse
.hospital
.host
.hosting
.hot
.hotel
.house
.how
.immo
.immobilien
.inc
.indians
.industries
.ing
.ink
.institute
.insurance
.insure
.international
.investments
.jetzt
.joburg
.juegos
.kaufen
.kids
.kim
.kitchen
.kiwi
.kyoto
.land
.lat
.latino
.law
.lawyer
.lease
.legal
.life
.lighting
.limited
.limo
.link
.live
.living
.llc
.llp
.loan
.loans
.lol
.london
.lotto
.love
.ltd
.luxe
.luxury
.madrid
.mail
.maison
.management
.map
.market
.marketing
.mba
.media
.medical
.meet
.melbourne
.meme
.memorial
.men
.menu
.miami
.mobile
.moda
.moe
.mom
.money
.mortgage
.moscow
.moto
.mov
.movie
.music
.nagoya
.navy
.new
.news
.ngo
.ninja
.now
.nrw
.nyc
.nz
.okinawa
.one
.ong
.onl
.online
.organic
.osaka
.paris
.partners
.parts
.party
.pay
.pet
.pets
.phd
.phone
.photo
.photography
.photos
.physio
.pics
.pictures
.pid
.ping
.pink
.pizza
.place
.play
.plumbing
.plus
.poker
.press
.productions
.properties
.property
.pub
.qpon
.quebec
.racing
.radio
.realestate
.realty
.recipes
.red
.rehab
.reise
.reisen
.rent
.rentals
.repair
.report
.republican
.rest
.restaurant
.review
.reviews
.rich
.rip
.rocks
.rodeo
.rsvp
.rugby
.run
.ryukyu
.saarland
.sale
.salon
.sarl
.save
.school
.schule
.science
.scot
.search
.services
.sexy
.shiksha
.shoes
.shop
.shopping
.show
.singles
.site
.ski
.soccer
.social
.software
.solar
.solutions
.soy
.spa
.space
.sport
.sports
.spot
.store
.stream
.studio
.style
.supplies
.supply
.support
.surf
.surgery
.swiss
.sydney
.systems
.tattoo
.tax
.taxi
.team
.tech
.technology
.tennis
.thai
.theater
.tickets
.tienda
.tips
.tires
.tirol
.today
.tokyo
.tools
.top
.tour
.tours
.town
.toys
.trade
.trading
.training
.tube
.university
.uno
.vacations
.vegas
.ventures
.versicherung
.vet
.viajes
.video
.villas
.vin
.vip
.vision
.vlaanderen
.vodka
.vote
.voting
.voyage
.wales
.wang
.watch
.web
.webcam
.website
.wed
.wedding
.wien
.wiki
.win
.wine
.work
.works
.world
.wow
.wtf
.xyz
.yachts
.yoga
.yokohama
.you
.zip
.zonev
gTLD Sales Stages
gTLDs being phased in by the governing body ICANN follow these registry stages:
Sunrise: Individuals and business with trademarks can reserve branded domains.
Landrush: When the Sunrise stage closes, the public gains access to the gTLDs at increased rates. In the event multiple buyers are interested, the gTLDs are auctioned.
General Availability: First come, first serve availability to the general public.
Think Strategically
While keeping an eye on the new and upcoming domains, Kim suggests marketers and entrepreneurs stay true to their marketing and sales goals. “Keep in mind there are a lot of garbage TLDs and many will go defunct in a few years,” he said. “Business should do their homework and keep abreast of the latest news and releases of better known domain properties.”
Domain Sources
To stay on top of gTLD news and opportunities, consider creating Google Alerts for those domains you’re interested in, or regularly visit the following domain industry resources:
nTLDStats
DNJournal
Domain Incite
123-reg
If you’re interested in purchasing up-and-coming gTLDs, you can go to major providers like GoDaddy, or go straight to gTLD wholesalers, such as HEXONET — check out a full list of their gTLD pre-registrations.
Happy hunting!
Smart businesses are snagging a lot of these. It’s a small investment for long-term value. Kind of like real estate back a couple of hundred years ago. The city domains will be auctioned and go for millions of dollars. Good luck snagging them!
Good point, David! It is like the Wild West, especially when you consider some domains eventually go for tens of thousands or millions of dollars! Many city domains will be accessible, just not the major ones, like hotels.NYC, cars.NYC, visit.NYC, etc. Lots of room for creativity, fun and reaping rewards!