Predicting The Future Of New Domains
The Global Domain Name Preferences Survey was conducted from October – November 2014 in 10 countries with over 5,000 completed responses. Learn how their findings affect your domain choices.
The Domain Name Association, or DNA, is a non-profit, global business association whose aim is to represent the interests of the domain name industry. With over 5,000 completed responses, their report shows the latest trends in domain purchase and resell as well as what we can expect in the future.
The study outlines four certain conclusions, I have broken each of the findings into bullet points for easy digestion. You can read the full report at TheDNA.org.
First conclusion:
- Domain names continue to be relevant to typical internet users.
- 85% of those polled type a domain directly into an address bar at least part of the time, although using search engines is slightly prefered.
- The great majority of those polled check the domain name before clicking on a search result.
Second conclusion:
- Those polled represent a global population and are open minded and willing to use domain names that vary from the standard .com or .org.
- Users had an equal preference for .com domains and ccTLDs (Country Code Top-Level Domains) like Australia’s .au or the United Kingdom’s .uk.
Third conclusion:
- 60% of those polled voiced a demand for more domain name and domain-name extensions.
- The internet markets that have been experiencing the most growth are showing the greatest interest in expanding domain names. For example: India polled at 75% and China with 69% agreeing to the claims.
- The more saturated internet markets like the US and Germany showed even opinions on the desire for generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) expansion.
- Half of those polled said that new domains will be easier to remember.
- Half of those polled expect that gTLDs will make purchasing short domains easier.
Fourth conclusion:
- Internet users are as a whole unaware of the New gTLD program’s opportunities.
Domain Name Association claims that these four findings combined presents a powerful result writing that “When internet users generally become aware of the new options, there will be widespread acceptance and perhaps even eagerness to adopt the new product.”
What does this mean for your new domain?
These findings are very important to those involved in the buying and reselling of domain names. Through these findings the investor can estimate the continued growth of domains and acquire domains appropriately. But what about the everyday web user? Here are a few tips from our experts in what these findings mean for you and your websites and how you can take advantage of this expanding market.
- Research existing and soon to be released domains.
By watching the sunrise periods for domains and creating a watchlist you can be the first in line when your new domain becomes available.
02. Protect your brand.
Rising interest in gTLDs means that web site owners need to be ever vigilant in protecting their brand from those who could slander, copy or squat on domains including your brand. By registering domains that could be considered closely related to your original domain you can thwart malicious activity.
03. Think ahead.
Does your business have a bright future? We hope so! By planning ahead you can register domains for projects that are in the works or still just ideas floating around your head. The old adage “the early bird gets the worm” is exceedingly applicable in the world of domains.
04. Be creative.
From .press to .blog, each page of your website can gain instant recognition with the help of a new domain. gTLDs also work great for marketing promotion and ad tracking too! Put your thinking caps on and invest some time in recognizing how domains can work for you.
For more information on domains and domain registration visit: Midphase.com/domain-registration/