New domain zones: several myths and rumors associated with them

Choosing a domain name for many companies and ordinary webmasters is a difficult task. For companies, it is complicated by the fact that in most cases the domain name must be part of the brand, a kind of support. Some experts argue that the domain name means nothing, absolutely nothing. But more all those who believe that the domain name is important for the company.

Previously, everything was a bit simpler - there were not so many domain zones, and the choice was mainly limited to gLTD or national zones. Now everything has become more difficult - new types of TLDs have appeared, including ".store", ".tourism", or even ".sexy". Among the new zones there are those that are not subject to general registration - they can only be used by certain organizations or countries. Regarding domain names, there are many misconceptions, myths and almost fairy tales. Enumerate them all makes no sense, let's see only the main ones.

.com - key area for SEO

This myth has been around for a long time. His supporters believe that the sites in this zone are priority for search services, and therefore you need to select only .com and nothing more.
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In fact, it is not. Google has long been telling us that new gTLD search service algorithms are evaluated on a par with old, traditional domain zones.

In other words, if you take two equal in quality and other parameters of the site, placed on the traditional domain and the domain in the new zone, the algorithms will rank them in the output about the same.

In addition, the same Google says that the content of a word in a domain zone (.business, for example), does not give any advantages to a site located on such a domain. It will not bring either pluses, or minuses to a resource.

Users do not trust the new domain zones

Sometimes you can hear the opinion that Internet users do not trust sites located in new zones. That is, the user is more likely to go to the site in the ".com" or ".org" zone than to the site in any other zone of the new type.

In fact, numerous studies show that the quality of the site and its informational content are more important for the user than the zone where the site is located. Often, no one pays any attention to this at all.

Sites on domains in '.ly', '.co', and '.tech' zones, as well as on any other domains, can be no less successful than resources on ".com" or ".net" domains.

You can always change the zone

In fact, this is a myth. Yes, it is easier to change the domain to a new one, but Google and other search engines transferred to a new domain will be considered new, despite the redirection and other tricks. And its evaluation by search algorithms will surely take some time, and this can be a rather long process.

However, sometimes it makes sense. For example, Slack transferred the help section from its site in the normal zone to the ".help" domain. Some companies operating in the field of nutrition, moved their sites to ".organic". The same can be said about travel companies, the sex industry and all the rest.

.com dies

Another myth that does not hold water. Of course, there are quite a lot of new domain zones. But now 39% of all registered domains are located in this zone. And this percentage is only increasing, because the number of sites is growing.

.com will always dominate

This myth is the opposite of the previous one. But he, too, is not the truth. The fact is that new domain zones are becoming increasingly popular. And this is partly due to the fact that they are easier to use for branding.

In just two years, the number of sites in new gTLDs has grown from 2 million to 22 million . This is a 1000% increase, which is very significant. Despite the fact that ".com" is also a popular zone, here growth is measured in percent and fractions of percent.

Older brands do not work with new gTLDs

In fact, work, and very active. For example, Microsoft uses the .tech zone. Financial institutions like Barclays and BNP Paribas have registered their own gTLDs. Websites of real estate companies feel great in the .estate zone. And there are a lot of such examples.

.fm is for radio, .tv is for TV, and .dj is for DJ sites

Probably, the majority of Habr's readers know that this is not so. But just in case, remember that all this is the domain zones of Micronesia, Tuvalu and Djibouti respectively. Your co.

Yes, many telecommunications and media companies use these zones for their own purposes, and do the right thing. Why not?

The young site can be placed in any zone, but then you need to move to .com

There is also such a delusion. Some companies register domains in any zones, and then, after they grow up, move to .com, believing that it would be better for business. But no, this is a delusion.

Yes, .com is still the most popular zone in the world, as mentioned above. But since search engines rank all zones almost equally, there is no sense in “expanding” into the .com zone. Although, in some cases this can be done - for national companies whose sites exist only in one language in national zones. Here you can move to .com.

Anyway, many international companies have already chosen new domain zones for their main site or side sections. This is Google (remember this xyz story?) From Microsoft, and Barclays from Marriott Hotels, and CERN, and The Consumer Electronics Show (CES). There are tens of thousands of such companies and organizations.

So do not be afraid of new domain zones, try, maybe you will like it.

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