Throughout 2014, hundreds of new domain extensions will be introduced into the marketplace. Does this mean .com will soon be extinct? Probably not — at least for a while. However, all these new domains will give small businesses the opportunity to zero in on a domain name that clearly signals what their business is about and give them more flexibility to get the name they’re really after.

What’s the deal with all these new domain extensions?

If you didn’t know, .com, .net, .org, etc. are considered Generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). In the past, you had a very narrow choice of getting a gTLD for your website address or geographic based domain such as .us, .de, .co, .uk, and more. Now, hundreds of new gTLDs are being introduced to provide more options. Domain extensions like, .bike, .clothing, .shoes, .solutions, .management, .guru and even .sucks will be available. Beyond these new gTLDs, new city-based geographic oriented domain extensions will be introduced like .nyc for New York City, .boston, and .paris. In addition to cities, brand-specific gTLDs are in the works. Companies that have trademarked brands will be able to use .apple, .bing, .ibm, .microsoft, etc. So, there’s lots going on with new domains. Here’s a sampling of what some of these new gTLDs are:

Why should you care about these new domain extensions?

If you’ve got a .com domain you’re happy with, have had it for years and rank well in search engines, you may think you shouldn’t care. But, you really should. You may want to get one of these new domains specifically for a defensive measure — to make sure your competitors or even a nefarious cybersquatter doesn’t steal your traffic. If you own lulusbikes.com, you may want to register lulu.bike, just in case. You can always point that domain over to your existing website.

For those who currently have a really long .com they got stuck with, or a .com that’s complicated and may include hyphens (e.g., lulu-bikes-chicago.com), these new extensions open up the possibility of getting rid of that cumbersome name. Because all these extensions are relatively new, there’s a much better chance of getting the domain you really want, rather than the one you had to choose because that’s what was available at the time.

Will my .com domain no longer be relevant?

For the time being, your .com will continue to be relevant. Most consumers in the marketplace are comfortable using .com and there might be a slow adoption of shifting their behavior to trust and use these new gTLDs. Plus, search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing take into account how long a domain has been registered when deciding how to rank businesses in the SERPs (search engine results page). So, don’t give up your .com just yet. But if you’ve got a specific product or service that fits into one of these new gTLDs, you may want to jump on it sooner rather than later.

How do you get a new domain?

One of our sister companies, Aplus.net, offers many of these new domains. Wherever you decide to get one from, make sure it’s a domain registration company that’s been in business for a substantial period (many, less experienced companies are cropping up to service these new domains). Ensure the company has a good reputation for service and has deep experience with domain registration services.

Want more marketing tips and tactics? Sign up for the free VR Buzz.

© 2014 – 2018, Kathy McGovern. All rights reserved.