4 Million Domains Added in 2014

The end of the year reports are out and show that the web increased by 4 million domains in 2014 alone. Read more about what the Domain Name Industry Brief tells us and what’s changing on the web.
Each quarter Verisign releases a Domain Name Industry Brief showing exactly what has happened in the world of websites for the previous three months. The 2014 third quarter report is out and here are a few highlights of the movers and shakers in the world of domains:

• 2014 closed with 284 million domain registrations in total. This includes all top level domains (TLD) across the web.
• 4 million domains were registered in the 2014,  a 1.6% increase on the second quarter.
• Registrations have grown by 18.1 million year over year. This is a total growth of 6.8%.
• Registrations of .com and .net equated to 8.7 million domains.

• The largest gTLD (generic top level domains) registration remains .xyz,  followed by .club and .wang.
• Over 90 new gTLDs were released in the third quarter of 2014 and account for 2 million registrations, or 1.3%.

If you’re not sure what a domain is and why you need one then take a look at: Everything You Need to Know about gTLDs
The internet is constantly evolving, as are the uses we have for it. Keeping on top of trends and the latest developments can help you make the most of the changing range of domain registrations.
With hundreds of newly released web address endings it’s important to know which ones offer an opportunity for you. Investigate and invest are two excellent words of advice for the coming years: investigate your options and invest in your domain portfolio. The recent trends show that new domains are quickly gaining momentum and most likely won’t lose value any time soon.
Why create a domain name strategy?
Domain name strategies can serve many purposes but the two most important are brand protection and marketing opportunities:
Brand Protection:

• By investing in domains that are similar to your brand or have different web address endings, you can secure your brand from domain squatters and impersonators as well as those looking to use your brand as a platform for phishing. With new web address endings like .sucks, it’s good to be proactive and think ahead. The more successful you get the more likely you are to attract your competitors as enemies. .

Marketing opportunities:

• The options really are endless and we are sure to see some inventive marketing based around gTLDs. The most obvious reason for this is that keywords are included in the domain which some believe will give a search engine bump. There are also benefits to be gained from international businesses who can reap the rewards of domain endings in their native language or country domain. Additional benefits include specialized pages like yourbrand.blog, geographical marketing like yourbrand.London, harnessing the extra clicks of multiple domains leading to the same page (this also works great for ad tracking) and the list goes on. New gTLDs have as many opportunities as you can create.

To check the availability of the domain you are looking for visit Midphase.com.