Everyone knows

Everyone knows .COM, the unrestricted domain extension for companies or commercial enterprises that is the most recognized TLD (top level domain) on the web. Most people in our country also recognize .CA, the ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain) that represents Canada.

But what about all the other domain extensions out there? .ORG, .NET, .MOBI, .TV, .TEL, .BIZ…, in fact there are over 280 different domain extensions delegated globally. What do they all mean and what’s their relative importance to Canadian small businesses? It’s important that a small business understand what its options are for developing and marketing their brand in the online arena.

According to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief (published by VeriSign), the first quarter of 2010 ended with more than 193 million domain names registered worldwide, an increase of 11 million registrations or 6% from 2009.

The following are the most popular domain extensions in the world ranked by number of total registrations (1st Quarter 2010) -  Source: VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief

1. .COM (“commerce”)
2. .DE (Germany)
3. .NET (originally “network” but most businesses secure this along with their .com)
4. .CN (China)
5. .UK (United Kingdom)
6. .ORG (originally “organization” but most businesses secure this along with their .com)
7. .INFO (originally “information” but most businesses secure this along with their .com)
8. .NL (Netherlands)
9. .EU (European Union)
10. .RU (Russia)

According to data from Zooknic, Canada’s .CA ranks #15 as of March 31, 2010. 

Domain names are divided into 2 main categories, gTLDs or “generic top-level domains” (some of which are sponsored by designated agencies and some are restricted by types of registrants) and ccTLDs or “country code top level domains" which represent a country designation.

There are currently 20 gTLDs (generic top-level domains) in the world. The following shows what each represents: 

1. .aero (the air-transport industry),
2. .asia (Asian Pacific Region)
3. .biz (businesses but all uses),
4. .cat (Catalan linguistic & cultural community)
5. .com (commerce but unrestricted/all uses)
6. .coop (cooperatives),
7. .edu (post-secondary educational institutions)
8. .gov (government of US)
9. .info (informational sites but unrestricted/all uses),
10. .int (international organizations established by treaty)
11. .jobs (employment-related sites)
12. .mil (US military)
13. .mobi (mobile uses)
14. .museum (museums),
15. .name (individuals),
16. .net (networks but unrestricuted/all uses)
17. .org (organizations but unrestricted/all uses)
18. .pro (professions like legal, medical)
19. .tel (online directory or contact information; virtual business card)
20. .travel (travel industry)

In 2008/2009, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) started a new TLD naming policy to take a "significant step forward on the introduction of new generic top-level domains." It is expected that the new rules could result in hundreds of new gTLDs to be approved.

How big is your company

How big is your company and how popular are your products or services?

If your name is obscure or your company is very small and you don’t plan on growing beyond your local area, you’ll likely only need is your .COM and .CA.

However, for small businesses that plan on growing, it is important to plan ahead for your success. 

The more popular your brand, the more valuable your intellectual property, and the more likely someone else will try to profit from it.

After becoming established, you don’t want to have competition or someone else with your names registered, and then try to sell them back to you or compete with you online, profiting from all of your hard work.

8. Determine your risk by looking at the competition

If you are in a market with many competitors, it is more important to protect your brands and names across multiple extensions and variations. Look at your competitors and see what names they have registered. This may help you gain valuable insight into key domain names you should be registering.

If you are lucky enough to have little competition, don’t forget to consider future competition as your product or service demonstrates success.

9. Review your budget against the previous guidelines

With any small business, money and cash flow are always a key consideration. The number of domains you end up registering will likely depend on your budget balanced against the risk of someone else registering your names and competing with you.

The key point is that in the large scheme of things, domain names are cheap; and a fraction of the cost in terms of time, legal expense and a battered reputation if someone has your name and is using it to drive traffic to their website or posting objectionable material.  For most businesses, a single lost customer each year could account for the price of multiple domain registrations.

If this seems a bit over the top, imagine for a moment what it would be like it would be to have other competitors hone in on traffic intended for your business; or if one of these extensions pointed to an offensive website. For the minimal effort and cost involved, it is good business practice to anticipate such possibilities.

10. Ask for volume discounts

As a rule of thumb, do your research and expect to register 5-10 alternate extensions or variations for every domain name you intend to actively market, be it a business, product, trademark, or blog. Small Business BC clients may contact Webnames.ca customer support for information on volume discounts at support@webnames.ca or by calling 1-866-221-7878.

new domain

CO is a new domain that was re-branded and released for public registration in the summer of 2010. Originally the ccTLD for Columbia, .CO is being marketed to represent a company, corporation, or commercially focused endeavor and has proved to be highly popular.

.MOBI is dedicated to mobile websites and with mobile surfing growing rapidly, it is smart to protect the .MOBI extension. While advances in smart phone technology allow for regular .COM or .CA websites to be displayed, .MOBI websites is guaranteed to be mobile compliant.

For more information about other domain extensions, read my previous post Domain Name 101 – What Do the Various Domain Extensions Mean?

5. Protecting Intellectual Property

A company’s goodwill and reputation are tied to its name. The importance of protecting your name(s) from the competition or cybersquatters who aim to profit from your goodwill must not be overlooked. 

Create a list of your company name(s), trademarks and brand names or product names. These are the most basic intellectual property assets a company has. You need to ensure all of these names are protected in every key extension you have decided on.

6. Variations on your Intellectual Property

Misspellings - If your domain name is easily misspelled or mistyped - for example, a common typo of www.webnames.ca is www.webmanes.ca - register the misspelling and save your visitors time by redirecting it to your homepage. I will have a future post dedicated to the topic of “Typosquatting.”
Hyphenated names - Don't forget to register the hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of your name in at least the .CA and .COM.

Plural/singular - In applicable cases remember the plural and singular versions of your trademarks and brands.

Negative variations - Consider protective registrations too. If you're in a cutthroat industry, susceptible to negative publicity or angry customers, register negative variations such aswww.yourcompanynamesucks.ca/.com/.org, etc. Check outwww.icbcsucks.com as an example of an angry client who has registered this name.

Transposing multiple words – If your name contains multiple words, make sure you register the transposed variations, for examplewww.spaserenity.com and www.serenityspa.com.

Local Search

Local Search – Optimizing for your own backyard

Local search is becoming increasingly important to online marketing and customer acquisition strategies. Think of the last time you searched for a restaurant or a plumber. You probably typed in the search engine “Vancouver downtown sushi restaurants” or “plumber in Kelowna, BC”.  If the names are still available, consider registering the generic name of your service combined with the location(s) of your audience or customers eg. Whistlerelectrician.ca, VancouverLaw.ca, or CanmoreDentist.ca. Forward these types of domains to your main website and take advantage of the website traffic they generate themselves.

4. Protect other key extensions

.NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ are typically registered by small, medium and large Canadian organizations along with their .COM. These extensions are unrestricted and open to anyone in the world to register, including your competition. If you have the budget to do so, we recommend protecting these and using them to drive traffic to your primary website.

.TEL is unlike any other domain name. It is an extension dedicated to contact information rather than website content. Think of it as a digital business card that will never go out of date.  .TEL is mobile compatible, has strong search engine optimization capabilities as well as free hosting associated with it. More information about .TEL is available at http://www.webnames.ca/tel.

Webnames

My company, Webnames.ca, provides a variety of Internet services; among them, domain name registration. Webnames.ca is Canada’s original .CA registrar and our history in the domain industry goes back to 1987. So, when entrepreneurs and business owners ask me, “What domain names should I register for my business?”  you would think the answer would be simple; however, my usual answer is, “It depends.”

Factors like geographical location of customers, target audience, scope of current & future business, size of organization, value of intellectual property, relative importance of the company’s online presence to competition and of course, budget, all play a vital role in determining what domains a company chooses to secure.

Here are 10 key guidelines I consider when determining the domain needs of an organization:

1. Get your .COM if still available

.COM is still king and the most recognized domain extension in the world. If you are lucky enough to find your name(s) in .COM, make sure to snap them up.

2. Geographical Location – Where are your customers located? Who is your audience?

Most people prefer to buy local, pay in local currency and have products shipped locally to save on duties and shipping fees, making it critical for Canadian companies to have a .CA website.

To register a .CA, the registrant must meet Canadian Presence Requirements; meaning registering a Canadian trademark, having a registered Canadian Corporation or partnership in Canada or being a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.  Details on the Canadian Internet Registration Authority rules on Canadian Presence Requirements are available athttp://cira.ca/assets/Documents/Legal/Registrants/CPR.pdf.

Depending on the type of products or services you offer, it may be beneficial to register other country related extensions also, including .US (our biggest trading partner and a much larger market than Canada) or .ASIA.

If you have presence, key customers or an audience in particular countries, consider investing in those domain names. As mentioned in my previous blog post Domain Name 101 – What Do the Various Domain Extensions Mean there are 252 country code Top Level domains (or ccTLDs) in the world. Be sure check out the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority ccTLD database (ICANN) for the complete list of ccTLDs.

Have you launched a new website

Have you launched a new website only to be underwhelmed by your traffic statistics? Fear not, you are not alone. Many new website owners struggle with low traffic numbers. Afraid their investment has failed, they comb the internet desperate for a solution, only to find an overwhelming amount of information on promoting through social media and achieving higher page ranks in Google. It can feel impossible to know where to start!

As with most problems, the best solution comes from planning and forethought. Look at your demographic, your competition and most importantly, your customers and their browsing habits. A solid understanding of how these interrelate will help you determine how best to drive customers to your site. There are many free ways you can increase your website traffic; most fall under one of two categories:

 

• Referral traffic: Driving traffic to your website from other online sources.
• Organic search results: Search results from a search engine like Google

It’s important to understand the difference between these two streams as many businesses only see a significant return through one. A business that sells to a small niche market over a wide geographic location may do better to optimize their website to increase their page rank in search results. On the flipside, how many plates of spaghetti would a restaurant owner need to sell to show up number one for the search term, ‘Vancouver restaurants’? 

Traffic Driven by Referral Links

Referral traffic is driven to your website from third party websites. Creating referral links involves promoting your business with existing websites. By increasing the ways people can find your business, you are widening the mouth of the funnel that leads traffic to your site.

 

Referral links also add value that paid ads or a search engine results do not. Referral links exist on pages containing information on your business so when users arrive at your site, your brand is being reinforced and not introduced. Social media the perfect example of this. By engaging people in Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites, you are building a relationship with clients before they arrive at your website.

 

Writing articles for other websites or organizations is another great way to capture your viewers’ attention, as are press releases which link to your website. Online directories like Urbanspoon.com, Tripadvisor.com or 411.ca allow you to create profiles about your business. Websites like TripAdvisor have a tremendous following and creating profiles with these tools are additional avenues users can take back to your site.

 

There are many free online tools available to set-up referral links. Research will reveal which are appropriate for your business. Want to hear the best news yet? A happy by-product of referral links is an increased page rank in search engine results pages, or SERP’s.