Exploring the Options for a New Domain Name
While the domain names currently in use have proven useful, the available options are shrinking fast. That’s especially true with the ideal combinations so often touted by internet experts providing clues for new organizations seeking to enter the online fray. That’s why a plethora of new options are becoming available. Before delving into the newest options, it’s important to grasp the historical significance of domain names and why new trends are so important in 2017.
Domain Names Are a Recent Development
Relatively speaking, the entire concept of domain names is new. The very first .com address wasn’t registered until the mid-1980s, but the trends in the naming of domains have rapidly evolved. What was fashionable even a few years ago now appears trite. However, that doesn’t mean some of the original ideas aren’t still sound. For example, virtually every industry expert suggests shorter names are far more effective than longer, complex ones.
That ideal presents some very real problems. There simply are too few combinations of four or five letters available to meet the needs of businesses exploring their online marketing options. According to industry data, every possible four letter combination is already owned by someone. Not every owner of a name actually uses the name, and domain name owners are all too willing to sell a name for the right price. In other words, early adopters grabbed all the combinations as investments knowing new organizations needing specific companies would be willing to pay the price for a name later.
Are Trendy Names Good Options?
Just like questionable fashion choices from the 90’s, “trendy” domain names are outdated fast
One of the ways to obtain an original domain name is to get creative with the process. For some startup companies, their company name may not be an actual word or series of words. Rather, it will be something simply made up as a way to find a way around having to purchase a domain name from a dealer. While that won’t work with four-letter names, it’s a viable approach for slightly longer names.
New trends also follow any initial success of a product. Apple is a good example and is often cited as a case in point. Once the company introduced the iPhone, iPad, and other devices, copycats quickly grabbed up just about i-Everything name available. That might, in fact, work in some cases, but not in most. There are simply too many options to purchase in the off chance the right one may actually become valuable.
While using trendy name options for domains may seem clever, the majority of “cute” names so commonly used in the past now seem hopelessly banal and dated. It’s far better to take the time necessary to develop a name that’s both unique and memorable rather than be limited to the holy grail of a four-letter name. However, in 2017, there are more options available than ever before.
Looking Into the Future
Even though those great four-letter names are already claimed for the .com domain, that doesn’t mean new businesses won’t be able to come up with something truly unique and meaningful in 2017 and beyond. That’s simply because the floodgates have opened, and new top-level domain name options are springing up everywhere. Even though the prevalence of .com names will continue to dominate the online environment into the future, newer options are making it possible for companies to explore other domain naming choices.
Country-specific domains are now commonly used in addition to .com, .net, .org, and other top-level domains. In addition, new top-level domains are already approved and will be seen more commonly. For examples, .chat and .blog are new entries in the naming battles for 2017, and many others are in the works. Hundreds of applications have been received by ICANN in just the past few months, and the organization is anticipating many new top-level domains will be approved in the near future. That will open new options for specific industries, making it once again possible to check domain options and register names that are easier for anyone to remember and use.
Staying on Top of Industry Trends
The best way for any type of organization to stay on top of new and emerging domain name trends is to work with industry experts familiar with not only the existing top-level domains but also emerging ones. New organizations or those seeking to update their branding efforts are strongly encouraged to work with internet industry experts from the very beginning of those efforts to ensure the names being considered are available and, if not available in the .com environment, what top-level domains may be workable.
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Marlene works as editor in chief for Biteno GmbH and writes about all matters related to Internet stories.
