Are you ignoring the new domain extensions? Consider this...
Will they or won’t they succeed? Opinion is divided and it’s way too early to answer this question with any degree of accuracy. Have you adopted a wait & see attitude or is it your intention to grab your domain names whilst availability is so good? If you're watching and waiting, consider this…
Are you prepared for the worst?
You have a broad online presence that has taken time and money to build. What’s going to happen if a competitor or a cybercriminal registers a domain name significant to your business?
New domains – plan of action
You've promoted your brand and built up a high level of trust. Your reputation is good and visitors to your site, feel safe. To hold onto this good rep and to expand your business, you need to protect and enhance your domain portfolio. Here's what to do...
- Research which keywords customers are using when they search for your brand? For instance as a clothes retailer they may be searching for .SHOES, .CLOTHING, .LUXURY, .BOUTIQUE, or .COOL.
- Do any of your domain names include any of the new extensions? You already have secondhandclothing.COM, consider registering secondhand.CLOTHING.
- Beware cybersquatters and competitors feeding off your good name. If the domain name of your website is yourbrandcakes.COM, protect your brand and reputation, register yourbrand.CAKES.
- Defensive registration is an unfortunate necessity. Unless you're a straw manufacturer, yourbrand.SUCKS is never going to sell.
- If you're in a specific industry, check for domain extensions that relate to your business, such as .CONSTRUCTION, .FLORIST, .PLUMBING, and .DIAMONDS.
- Register domains such as yourbrand.CAREERS and yourbrand.NEWS; these can then be linked to your main website. If you're a restaurant, consider the domains .MENU and .RECIPES.
If you followed all the suggestions above, you will now be looking at a list of potential domain names. To fine tune, find out how many preregistration queries the names on your list have received. This will tell you the level of interest from your competition and whether they are considering registering them.
If you still aren’t sure that you want to participate just yet, you should definitely register your brand with the Trademark Clearinghouse. It’s a massive database allowing trademark owners to protect their brands against online infringement. And if you change your mind, it’s the only way you can take part in the opening registration period of the new domain extensions.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our sales team who'll be happy to help.
