Business owners are always looking for ways to get an advantage online. With “all the good names” in the .com and .ca domains taken, it can be tempting to get a spiffy, short domain name using one of the new top-level domains.
In case you’re wondering, .com,.org, and .net are examples of top-level domains (TLD). Then you have country code top-level domains (ccTLD) such as .ca, which is generally used for countries and the businesses that do business in them.
Just for some interesting stats, ccTLDs make up approximately 40% of all registered domains. It used to be that .com was the most memorable domain, but if you’re in Canada, there’s absolutely no harm to the brand (IMO) to go with a .ca domain if you’re selling only locally or in Canada AND if the .com isn’t available. (If you go with the .ca version of a .com, just make sure that you’re not infringing a trademark of the .com owner that can be enforced in Canada.)
There are now dozens of TLDs that are for specific industries.
- .adult
- .agency
- .bio
- .coffee
You get the idea. While I like the idea of these domains, the reality is that while they are supposed to be limited to specific industries, there is one industry that has taken to registering them widely: the SPAM industry. It has been my experience that 100 percent (i.e. ALL) the email I have received from any of the new TLDs has been spam. Some of it has gotten through while much of it has been blocked. I’ve now taken to blacklisting any new TLD that sends me email. That list includes:
- .buzz
- .live
- .watch
- .foundation
- .finance
- .diamonds
- .coach
- .theater
- .army
- .news
- .clinic
- .sale
- .cam
- .shop
- .bio
- .click
- .best
- .rest
- .store
- . . . and the list goes on.
If you’re getting into business and are thinking that one of these funky new top-level domains is going to be great for you, think again. I’m probably not the only person blacklisting these domains. If you have a new website of yourbiz.shop and you want to send me email from hello@yourbiz.shop, it’s not getting through. Period.
Now, you might think that you’ll just get a Gmail address. If you’ve read anything I’ve written over the past couple of decades of doing this, you’ll know that I think using a free email service to represent your business is the sign of an amateur, a wannabe, or a scammer. It’s unprofessional, and I don’t advise you do it.
Better solution: brand yourself in a way that’s unique and that you can get a reputable TLD for. “Settle” for your ccTLD if you have to, but avoid the new brand of TLD if you can. That’s just my opinion. What do you think?
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