Throughout 2014 and still ongoing, dozens of new domain extensions are being introduced to the marketplace, so does this mean .co.nz and even .com will soon be extinct? Probably not in the short term, but all these new domains will give small businesses the opportunity to hone in on a domain name that clearly signals what their business is about and give them more flexibility to get the name they’re really after. A great example of one of our own clients who has done this is Graffiti Solutions – they have secured www.graffiti.solutions and www.graffitisolutions.nz (much simpler and clearer than www.graffitisolutions.co.nz although they will retain this domain name as well for the foreseeable future). If you haven't secured the .nz of your .co.nz domain name, the deadline has now passed, but talk to us and if it is still available we will register it on your behalf - this will ensure that you protect your domain name and the branding of your business.
What’s the story with all these new domain extensions?
If you didn’t know, .co.nz,.com, .net, .org, etc. are considered Generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). In the past, you had a very narrow choice of getting a gTLD for your website address or geographic based domain such as .us, .de, .co, .uk, and more. Now, hundreds of new gTLDs are being introduced to provide more options. Domain extensions like, .holiday,.cooks,.bike, .clothing, .shoes, .solutions, .management, .guru and even .sucks are available. Beyond these new gTLDs, new city-based geographic oriented domain extensions have been introduced like .nyc for New York City, .boston, .paris and even .sydney. In addition to cities, brand-specific gTLDs are in the pipeline. Companies that have trademarked brands will be able to use .apple, .bing, .ibm, .microsoft, etc. So, there’s lots going on with new domains.
Why should you be concerned about these new domain extensions?
If you have a .co.nz domain that you are happy with, have had it for years and rank well in search engines, you may think you don’t need to be concerned. Definitely not the case – you should get any domains identifiable to your business specifically as a defensive measure – to ensure that your competitors or even a disreputable cyber squatter doesn't steal your traffic. For example if you own mojobikes.co.nz, you should consider registering mojo.bike and also mojobikes.nz and then we can point those domains to your existing website.
For those who currently have a really long .co.nz they got stuck with, or a .co.nz that’s complicated and may include hyphens (e.g., mojobikes-repairs.co.nz), these new extensions open up the possibility of getting rid of that cumbersome name. Because all these extensions are relatively new, there’s a much better chance of getting the domain you really want, rather than the one you had to choose because that’s what was available at the time.
Will my .co.nz domain no longer be relevant?
For the time being, your .co.nz will continue to be relevant. Most consumers in the marketplace are comfortable using .co.nz and there might be a slow adoption of changing their behaviour to trust and use these new gTLDs. Plus, search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing take into account how long a domain has been registered when deciding how to rank businesses in the SERPs (search engine results page). So, don’t give up your .co.nz just yet, but if you’ve got a specific product or service that fits into one of these new gTLDs, you should secure it sooner rather than later.
How do you get a new domain?
There are literally dozens of new domain names available (too many for us to list here), so just contact us and we will let you know what domains are available which relate to your business, their cost and then we can register them for you on your behalf through our own registrar – www.domains4u.net.nz – we have also, of course secured www.domains4u.nz as well. The same goes with www.wwwdesign.nz - we didn’t want anyone else with that one, so were quick to secure it before the 31 March deadline.
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