The domain name selected for your business plays a very powerful role on many levels. First of all, it has the power to create a successful internet presence, versus getting lost in the quagmire that is the World Wide Web. Furthermore, it has the power to add credibility to your business, improve brand recall, increase mobility to your internet presence and attract new business. It’s therefore worth investing the time and effort into purchasing a clear domain name that perfectly represents your brand.
However, all too often businesses will go to great lengths to buy a short domain name that features incorrect spellings, skipped vowels or other wrongdoings, simply for the benefit of it ending with the extension .com.
In actual fact, there’s no need to purchase a domain name with the extension .com. It’s now possible (and commonplace) to purchase a new domain extension (also known as a generic Top Level Domain) that does not end in .com. In the past few years, more and more businesses have opted for alternative domain extensions.
Listed below are our top reasons to use an alternative domain extension the next time you wish to register a domain:
1. Availability
You may have thought up the most compelling, attractive business name for your brand, but when it comes to finding a domain name with the .com extension, the chances are that it’s taken. There are countless domain extensions available to choose from and the one that you choose can perfectly match your line of business such as .photography, .press or .tech. If you’re after something more general, go for .info, .online or .site.
2. Price
As a start-up, every single step that you take to do with your business needs to be affordable and practical. Today, even some of the most absurd domain names ending in .com are marketing for upwards of $7000, which is a vast amount of money to spend on a domain name (www.qbi.com is available for a staggering $200,000). Contrast this with domain names ending with alternative extensions such as .net, .info and .org, which cost around $500 or less. www.qbi.us is available for $400).
3. Google won’t penalise
Google themselves have purchased many domain extensions such as .how and have explained that alternative extensions are welcomed and treated equally when compared to .com or .org. It’s even possible to transfer your current extension to a new one without impacting on history or search engine rankings.
4. Makes your web address more meaningful
If you run a specific type of business it makes sense to purchase a specific extension. For instance, if you run a photography agency, you could opt for the extension .photography, which will give potential customers a clear idea of what to expect when visiting your website. Countless tech companies have opted for the highly popular .tech extension, with great success.
5. Clever Names
Many entrepreneurs have used new domain extensions in a clever and meaningful way. For instance, founder of smartcatch, Paul Allen, used the extension .fish to create the domain name www.smartcatch.fish, even though smartcatch.com was available. Likewise, the French company Tour Eiffel purchased the domain www.toureiffel.paris, thus enabling it to maintain a powerful local image.
6. Get it before it’s gone
Finally, although new domain extensions are still in their infancy, demand is likely to increase with the passing of time. Purchasing a handful of new domain extensions is a wise investment choice – particularly before they are snapped up by others or go up in price.
New domains are getting an enormous amount of attention and there’s no doubt in many entrepreneurs’ minds that acquiring a domain extension ending in something other than .com is a wise, impactful and profitable decision that will certainly prove successful – not just now, but in the future too.
About 8 Ways Media
8 Ways Media is your leading branding and web design agency specialising in the creation of bespoke services that are proven to help you succeed as a business. Our array of services includes domain name acquisition in addition to countless other web development, web design, online marketing and branding services.
Discover how 8 Ways Media can help you to create a powerful business strategy by contacting us today – because your business deserves the best.
Alternatively, fill in our quotation form and a member of our team will get back to you with a free, no obligation quotation.
Related articles.
