What Are The Different Domain Extensions

Will All New Domains Be Available To Me And What’s The Difference Between The Registration Phases

Domain.com offers over 300 new TLDs. These newer domain extensions are already live and available. Here’s more information about each phase:

List Of 2nd And 3rd Level Country Code Domain Extensions

• A
• .art.br – Art: music, folklore, etc.
• .ato.br – Actors
• .jus.br – Brazilian Judiciary Branch of the State
• .lel.br – Auctioneers
• .org.cy – Not for profit organisations.
• .pro.cy – Professional organizations.
• .net.ec – Providers of internet services
• .fin.ec – Financial institutions
• .sch.je – Jersey Grid for Learning
• .gov.je – Gov.
• .sc.ke – Lower & Middle Institutes of Learning
• Kiribati
• .ne.kr – Network Organizations or individuals
• .or.kr – Non-Organizations or individuals
• .org.lr – Not for profit organizations
• .net.lr – Network infrastructure
• .saotome.st – Island of Sao Tome
• .principe.st – Island of Principe
• .consulado.st – Sao Tome & Principe consulates
• .embaixada.st
• South Georgia – South Sandwich Islands
• .gs
• .as.us – Territory of American Samoa
• .gu.us – Territory of Guam
• .pr.us – Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• .vi.us – Territory of the United States
• .dni.us – Distributed national institutes

% Of Internet Users Aren’t Aware Of Any Of The New Domain Extensions

There is a significant gap between availability and awareness. According to an ICANN survey, conducted by Nielsen in September 2015, it was revealed that 54% of respondents couldn’t name a single one of the +500 domain extensions launched since 2013. The consequence: Businesses will only focus on a limited set of domain extensions , when considering their next domain name. Not because these extensions are better, but because they don’t know better. Here’s a good example:

Newly opened Twin Rivers Golf Club in Waco, US registered twinriversgolfclubwaco.com, when they could get twinrivers.golf instead. A 22 characters .com domain instead of a short, brandable radio test approved web address.

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What Does Net Mean

The .net domain is the second most popular extension. Its often presented as the recommended alternative to .com when you try to buy a domain name that is already in use. Its estimated that around 4% of all global registered domains use this extension. The .net domain name extension stands for network and was originally meant to be used by umbrella websites acting as a portal for smaller sites.

You should use a .net extension for businesses that provides services like internet, website hosting, databases or collaboration tools. Another reason to use .net is when .com is not available. In this case, youll need to make sure that the business with your same domain name with a .com extension is not in the same industry, otherwise your audience might end up becoming their clients.

Whatever the reason is for you to use a .net domain extension, youll need to ensure that potential visitors remember it and dont end up on the wrong site. An effective way to achieve this is by integrating your sites TLD within your branding efforts, as your audience will end up naturally connecting your business name with .net. For example, a marketing consultant firm called Upstream may refer to themselves as Upstream.net to get their audience familiar with their correct domain extension.

Tip : Decide On Targetable Domain Types

Creating sub-domains doesnt always make sense. A sub-division of your web address can also be confusing to web visitors, for example, if you generally dont have a lot of content or if the sub-domain distracts too much from the actual domain name. Therefore, only decide to use an individual third-level domain if you have a clear concept in mind for this. A specific sub-domain is useful for the following scenarios, among others:

• Differentiation of different language versions
• Separation of content from other offers such as a service area, a blog, or a forum
• Marking a specific web service such as an app or an FTP server
• Operating an online store in parallel to the website under the same second-level domain

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Choose Your Domain Extension Or Tld Based On Your Needs

As with most things, the TLD for you is the one that best fits your needs. Generic top-level domains are some of the most common names youll see, like .com or .net.

Sponsored top-level domains were designed for specific groups, such as colleges or government organizations, such as .gov. And country-code domain extensions are reserved for area-specific organizations, like .us or .ca, with a few exceptions.

All domain names are unique there can be no two exactly the same. The domain name you use should give a sense as to what your site or business is, and most importantly, it needs to be available.

For example, .com is the most commonly used TLD, so theres a decent chance the domain name you want is already registered. This is when more unique domain extensions, or TLDs, like .biz, .club, and .tech come in handy.

Try To Get A Standard Unrestricted Domain Extension Like Com Or Net

Theres nothing wrong with these, as long as youre not choosing .net because another company has the same domain as you. Thats a branding nightmare if there are two websites with nothing different but a domain extension.

Other than that, you can go with a .com or .net domain extension if its available. The .coms of the world are easy to remember as long as whatever you put in front of the .com is short and to the point.

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The Bottom Line On Domain Extensions

While there are many different domain extensions available for most business owners a .com is still your best bet. Its the most widely used domain extension and is still top of mind when customers type in their searches.

With a little creativity most businesses can find a suitable domain to represent their brand, but because so many names are taken it will probably take a bit of brainstorming.

If you want to go for a more creative extension then its a good idea to make sure you have an advertising budget that will help people remember your brandincluding the extension.

There are also restricted domain extensions, but you have to qualify under a very specific set of rules to get these.

An Overview Of Domain Names

If youre looking to start your own website, youll first need to understand what domain names are. At its core, a domain is your sites address and what people will use to find it online. More specifically, your sites domain is its primary URL .

For instance, lets take a look at bbc.co.uk. This is a British news website and has a simple URL.

In this case, the domain can be broken down into multiple parts. The bbc part is the Second-Level Domain , while .co.uk is referred to as a Top-Level Domain .

If youre not familiar with these terms yet, dont worry. Well look at what they both mean in detail shortly.

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What Are The Best Extensions For Your Domain

Choosing a domain name is a startup of the online business. It could mention in a domain name. A Domain name should be easy and memorable for the users. While choosing the domain name you have to choose a familiar extension that is necessary for a domain name.

Here are many domain extensions choices you can choose. It is used to designate the category and country code of a website. You want to create your website which gives you huge traffic on your website then goes with the suggestions given in the content.

Top Level Domains To Be Launched In 2016

I have marked with red the domain extensions, which went live in 2016. The ones in green have announced their launch dates.

From the list of domain extensions to be launched in 2017 the following have been the most anticipated:

.MusicCurrently on hold. An industry source expects that the .music top level domain won’t go live for years to come. The various applicants will block it in accountability procedures and lawsuits, when delegated to the winning applicant.

.AfricaWe’ve been waiting for the African continent’s main domain extension since 2006. 2017 seems to be they year it will go live.

.WebThis is Rick “The Domain King” Schwarz’ favourite new domain name extension: “If this was a horse race, .web would win before most others are out of the gate”. Currently in contention but expected to go live in Q4 or possibly Q1 2017.

.App to become the .app registry. They still haven’t announced, when this top level domain will go live, and it’s a really good question, if they will keep it for themselves. How so? They already launched .soy, .how and . , but on their official list of future launches .app isn’t listed.

.Blog

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De Federal Republic Of Germany

Best price for .de registration: $14.25 Netim

The intended use for .DE domains are for local use, businesses and companies relevant to the Federal Republic of Germany, where it is a very popular domain extension.There are no special requirements or proceedings for anyone registering a domain with the .DE and anyone can buy a domain with this domain extension.The registration period for .DE domain is 1 year.The domain registration for an available .DE domain works on a first come first served basis, with the domain registration to activation time frame of 6 to 24 hours.The available information show that there are more than 21,634,653 registered .DE domains.

The Domain Extensions Youll See Most Often

Many new extensions are released frequently, so youll find the perfect domain name no matter what your needs or goals.

However, if youd like to use a more common domain extension, like .com or .org, you still can you may just end up paying a little more for a premium domain name. Premium domain names are easy to remember, easy to pronounce, and are very brandable, so theyre worth the extra cost.

Some of the most common domain extensions youll see are:

• .com The most popular TLD around, this was originally designed for commercial businesses, but can now be used by any individual or organization on the Internet.
• .biz Designed for use by businesses.
• .org Most commonly used by nonprofit organizations, this domain extension has since grown to be nearly as ubiquitous as .com. Anyone can register a .org domain name.
• .net Like a lot of TLDs, this one was intended for use by networks , but can now be used and registered by anyone.
• .gov Unlike the domain extensions above, the .gov TLD continues to be restricted, meaning only government organizations are permitted to use it.
• .mobi Oftentimes a company or organization registers their domain name using .mobi if theyre showing a mobile-only version of their website.
• .us Youre likely to only see ccTLDs that match your home country. These are restricted, and may only be registered by a company or organization that resides within the same country. For example, only US companies may register a .us domain name.

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How To Choose A Domain Name

• Choose a name thats easy to type and pronounce. If people struggle to spell it or pronounce it correctly, it will affect the memorability of the name and hurt your brand.
• Pick a domain name that can be turned into a brand. You dont want exact and partial keyword match domain names because theyre too generic and very difficult to brand. You should also steer clear from numbers and hyphens in your domain name theyre too difficult to remember and pronounce.
• Keep it short and simple. Long, complex domain names run a huge risk of being mistyped and misspelled. Thats just an unnecessary headache.

• Avoid names that can be confused with existing brands. If you think you can piggyback on some other brands success, youre hugely mistaken. Brand confusion will be the least of your concerns when you get sued!

• Use an appropriate extension.With the new TLDs rocking the internet, youd think everyones going for something as eye-catching as .boutique. Yet the prevailing advice among marketers is to stick to the old good .com, merely because its the most recognized suffix outside the tech world. If youre targeting a local market, then ccTLDs is probably a better choice for your business.

• Choose a name that indicates what your business does.You must be careful not to get too literal. But a clever domain name that suggests to consumers what they can expect to find when they land on your site is a great advantage to any business.

Buy Similar Domain Names

Purchase easy misspells and other popular TLDs if they are available to keep anyone from squatting on your business name.

This could be costly later once you have built up a brand and the domain squatters know that you dont really have any negotiating leverage.

I once worked with a global brand that had to spend a couple of thousand dollars per domain name to successfully reclaim domains that could have been purchased for a few dollars when they first launched.

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How Domains And Web Hosts Work Together

To visit a website, two things need to be in place: a domain name, and a web server.

The web server is where youll store all of your websites files, databases, media elements, and more. This space is what youre renting from a hosting company when you purchase web hosting.

Your domain name is what people will type into a web browser to access your site. The moment someone types your domain name into their web browser, the web browser communicates with the server used to store your websites files and displays them.