New gTLDs: Currently, there are 1.86 billion online websites. And this number is only expected to increase because starting a website becomes easier as technologies evolve. The downside is that the more websites there are, the fewer domain extension options you can choose.
We were running out of good domain names until ICANN released new gTLD options. In this article, you will find all the essential things to know about the new gTLDs and learn how to choose the best one for your business. Read along.
What are the New gTLDs?
Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are domain extensions used for general purposes. There are four gTLD categories, such as generic, sponsored, generic-restricted, and infrastructure. The most common and popular gTLDs are .com, .net, and .org.
The new gTLDs are the domain extensions that ICANN released in 2012. The goal was to have alternatives to the common gTLDs and other existing extensions, which became a great success.
This new gTLD program released more than a thousand extension options that are available to everyone. These new TLDs benefit website users by opening more domain names and website growth opportunities, which we will cover in the following part.
6 Benefits of New gTLDs
Understanding these six benefits will help you choose the best extension to use for your business name.
Increase Branding Opportunities
With the new gTLDs, you can go beyond .com and combine fun, inventive brand names, opening more branding opportunities.
Problems with gTLDs are the domain availability. Often, business owners need to create name alternatives in case their domain extension isn’t available.
A creative domain extension increases your business value or describes the business better. Good examples are .cafe for cafe owners, .fishing for a fishing community or fishing goods seller, and .boutique for retailers.
Improve Website Clarity
Improving website clarity is possible through your domain name, especially using the various categories of the new gTLDs. So when visitors see your business name on the web browsers, they immediately understand what your business provides.
For example, TV networks or businesses with a video-focused website use the .tv domain for better clarity. Consider taking the same approach when using the new gTLD options.
Use the gTLD to differentiate between you and your competitors while also eliminating the confusion of having similar business names as others.
Support Brand Expansion
The GeoTLDs are top-level domains associated with geographical, geopolitical, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic terms and are among the new ones released by ICANN. Some examples are .nyc, .barcelona, and .asia.
Use GeoTLDs to create country-based domain extensions or multiple websites for brand expansion. They also work for local SEO targeting and gaining the local audience’s trust.
Create a Lasting Impression
Brand names with lasting impressions are short and straightforward, and making such a brand name is possible by using one of the new gTLDs.
For example, the extension .ly refers to the country code TLD for Libya, but it also works as an extension of your business name and makes it more memorable. For example, take Bitly with its domain name bit.ly.
Help in SEO and Site Ranking
Domain names help improve SEO and site ranking in terms of having relevant keywords and short-length names. Fortunately, the new gTLDs have the same effect as other extensions for boosting SEO, site ranking, and organic traffic.
It all comes down to practicing good SEO strategies. This includes verifying the domains in Google Search Console, redirecting all links to the new domain name, and setting up 301 permanent redirects.
Add Business Relevance
Relevance in a business name provides long-term benefits, especially for business continuity. Some of the benefits are maintaining brand ownership, developing credibility, and competing better with other businesses.
Having a clearer and memorable name is possible with the new gTLDs. They help increase business relevance to the audience and also support your marketing activities.
Different Categories of the New gTLD
There are four different categories of the new gTLDs you can choose from:
- Geographic. TLDs specific to geographical areas, such as .berlin, .sydney, and .africa. As mentioned before, this category works best for brand expansion.
- Community. These work for communities looking to start a website. Some new gTLDs to choose from are .art, .med, .club, .photography, and .tennis.
- Generic. The generic category covers a wide range of word options, including .map, .memorial, .link, .bike, .email, .car, .film, and .eco. These generic options allow businesses to have more options.
- Brand. These are the gTLDs related to brands, like .samsung, .bloomberg, .amazon, and .aig, which work best for expansion purposes of branded corporations.
Conclusion
The new gTLDs released by ICANN make great domain extension alternatives from the traditional .com. Though they’re still new compared to the legacy TLDs, the new gTLDs offer great options for small business owners and large corporations.
This article has covered the benefits you can expect from using the new gTLDs, along with the different categories of these new TLDs.
Use these new gTLDs wisely to increase your brand image and make a memorable business domain name. Good luck!