Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 3rd July 2008
Ruling to hit website marketing costs
As we
suggested last week, ICANN, the body which regulates global internet addresses, have
relaxed rules on top level domain (TLD) names, opening the way for domain extensions like .property and .spain. The ruling will affect the economics of the domain name market, which has implications for agents and developers.
- There has always been a premium on .com and country level domain names like .co.uk, .es and .ru. This premium is likely to increase as more extensions in the market cause confusion and lead consumers back to the default. If you don’t currently own the .com and country level TLD of the country you work in, consider purchasing it. It gives you credibility. Try Sedo to search for second hand domain names and for a fair valuation of what your desired domain name is really worth.
- Some less credible domain names could be devalued in Google’s search algorithm. Aaron Wall recently reported all his .info websites disappeared overnight and other webmasters have seen more permanent evidence of this. Unless you absolutely have to use to them for an exact match SEO campaign, don’t use .info or .biz domain names. They make you look like a joker and there’s a strong possibility Google will devalue them in future.
- .net domain names may also drop slightly in value as they are not as credible as .com domains and the new ruling is likely to create close substitutes. .net domains are still worth having though, especially for your own brand name.
- The most valuable new domain extensions are likely to be new local extensions like .ldn for London. If you work in a well-defined geographical niche then watch out for new registrations and consider purchasing domains relevant to your business. It could give you an edge over the competition.
- It will cost in the low hundreds of thousands of US dollars to create the .property extension but there is a lot of money to be made by auctioning off names like Marbella.Property, Brazil.Property to the highest bidder. These will be worth thousands in SEO value alone. If they come up for sale, have someone look at the business case for you. Again, it could you give you a significant competitive edge, but it won’t be cheap.
- If you sell in a country than doesn’t use the Roman alphabet, like Russia or UAE for example, then there will be lots of opportunities to purchase meaningful and credible domain names. This is arguably the greatest benefit of the new ruling.
With the exception of the final point, it’s difficult to see how the new system will add much value to consumers (it’s confusing) or to businesses (it’s a pain in the arse). It’s difficult not to agree with an anonymous bbc.co.uk reader who says:
“Surely this will be nothing more than very, very irritating for people who want to use the internet?”
A, Cambridge, England
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