How do New Domains impact SEO: the report

The report

This is a report from India based multiple registry Radix on how new domains impact SEO. Questions covered are:

• New domains and SEO - What is the connection between the two?
• What do the users have to say about the impact of new domains on SEO?
• What do SEO experts have to say about the impact of new domains on SEO?
• Is Google using new domains?
• What are some known facts about new domains and their impact on SEO?
• What are the best practices for moving from one domain extension to another?
• Does the age of a domain name matter in SEO?

The report can be downloaded here.

Radix Registry

"Radix" is a multiple registry to have applied for several new domain name extensions such as .TECH - .PRESS - .SITE - .SPACE and .HOST. The full list of the TLDs it applied for is available on its website. It is the third largest new gTLD operator with 2,533,086 domain name registrations (July 2018) for a total of nine extensions.

A complete guide to SEO and new gTLDs

I tend to download most guides dealing with new gTLDs that I find on Internet but I admit that I never read them all completely. The reason for this is that there is nothing new and the guides are often used as promotion tools. This one, from English backend registry Nominet, is 8 pages and I made the effort to read it until the end.

These are the topics covered:

• What TLDs are and why organisations are using them;
• Different types of TLD and how they can be used;
• Benefits of TLDs including: improved brand recognition, better online security and more;
• How Google and other search engines treat new gTLDs;
• Explanation of ‘DotBrand’ – a particularly powerful type of gTLD for global organisations;
• How organisations are embracing new TLDs for greater SEO benefit.

And this is what you will find inside:

1. Introduction
2. A beginner's guide to Top Level Domains
3. The introduction of new gTLDs
4. What is a .BRAND ?
5. How do search engine treat new gTLDs
6. Interesting: SEO tips effectively utilizing a .BRAND

The last point on SEO tips utilizing .BRAND domain name extensions is one that I found interesting: it is short but it is a must read for applicants with the intention to use their extension. Such section should be read before creating the first ".brand" domain name.

Missing

It is always interesting to read what one provider can add to such guides but I found that the new URL redirection strategy used by some .BRANDs was not covered.

A dotBrand Top-Level Domain is a powerful tool for branding mixed with SEO, not SEO only: a trademark will be able to do SEO without its own extension using other domain names that will probably cost a lot less money.

Download the guide

The guide can be downloaded on the Nominet website. Nominet is a backend registry service provider for 37 new gTLDs. It offers service to extensions such as the .VIP registry with more than 800,000 domain names registered, .BLOG - .LONDON - .BEER and .BENTLEY

Solutions for failing niche new gTLDs

A niche TLD is a domain name extension created specifically for a certain market or subject. Let's imagine that you were a leader in a specific financial subject and that you decided to operate the domain name extension representing this subject: THIS WOULD JUST BE A VERY BRIGHT IDEA because once the slot is taken, no one else can take it. A new gTLD is unique and there can be one registry worldwide.

"Yep: but no one buys our domains"

What if, after a certain number of years, you realized that your domain names just "did not sell" and no one bought them in the industry in which you are a leader? This is a problem that some registries are facing but in the case of niche TLDs, not generic ones, there are solutions to change this.

It does not sell? Change the method!

Some Multiple Registries, who operate five and more domain name extensions, have targeted niche terms because they are leaders in their industry. Again, this is a very good idea to demonstrate leadership in a business but if no one buy domains, the approach and method should be changed.

"Yeah right: then what?"

In some case, it cost a lot to maintain a registry and I noticed that some multiple registries just "dropped it" and their domain name registration volumes are...decreasing. I also noticed that some multiple niche registries have all the tools to develop their domain names again. So, here are suggestions on what to do:

1. Lower the price: change the price at the backend registry. If you already "don't sell", one of the reasons (not the only one) is probably because the price is too high at the registrar and if you don't lower that price at the source (your backend registry), it won't lower at the registrar.
2. If you are stuck with a bad contract (at the backend), hire a specialized lawyer to find a way out of this because if you can't find a deal with your backend registry (which I doubt), your registration volumes won't increase and you will have to change your backend just because of this. You need volumes of domain names installed and if you don't have that: no one knows that you exist. When you meet with your lawyer, ask him if selling your TLDs to another legal entity, or changing hands (to a subsidiary of yours or a complete different company) wouldn't be a solution to get rid of your contract to another backend registry solution provider.
3. Announce the change of price when it is validated with your backend registry: registrars should follow you on this and announce it to their clients.
4. Some have the tools: did you check your own tools? Some industry leaders are online and offline marketing specialists but neither use their own TLDs for their websites nor use their own tools to promote their extensions! Use your own tools: it is your teams' daily job to promote things on internet to your niche industry! If I had SEO specialists, and/or web designers within my company, I would put them in the same room for a brainstorming with that question: "it cost me "X" per website and domain created": "what can you suggest to help me sell the services of my company using our own domain names?". Give domain names and content to a SEO specialist, he should know what to do with it.
5. Acquisition costs: "$1000 for a client introduced" is something that I read at a new gTLD niche TLD. When killing the cost of a domain name at the backend registry, such an amount of money allows to put a lot of domain names on the market with a basic introduction to a service. Some will call this spam (unless each content is different), some will see back-links, some will want redirections. But is also means:
1. Visibility: a lot more websites and domain names on the market;
2. A lot more chances to acquire consumers for a service;
3. A reduced cost for the niche registry to use his own domains since part of the price paid to the registrar gets back in his pockets.
6. Innovation: we've seen that some registries domain name registration volumes stagnate and a reason for this is "not" that registrars don't do their job, registrars have too many strings to offer and potential consumers (registrants) don't buy anymore the way they did when we launched the .EU registry back in 2005. The solution is in innovation and some registries are quite creative at the moment. As a leader in your niche industry, who better than you, knows how to innovate? As the operator of the string representing your niche, you stay one step ahead so why not innovate using your string?

The .BEST Crypto-Currency

The BestCoin token is the upcoming crypto-currency being developed by the recently acquired .BEST registry.

One could think about "just another crypto-currency" being dropped to consumers on the Internet but the concept here is quite innovative from what we've seen before. The BestCoin crypto currency makes sense because of the "territory" it becomes a part of:

1. a Digital Territory (".best" domain names);
2. a Crypto-Currency (the BestCoin token) and;
3. a Community (a new social network technology).

This combination will allow some owners of a ".best" domain name to generate an income from their reviews and traditional Registrants will also be able to choose to use their domain name in a traditional way for their website.

A detailed article was recently published about the .BEST crypto-currency: "A Mobile Payments Social Network? The Best SAS May Be Working On It".

The .קום Sunrise Period starts

The IDN translation is: "--9dbq2a" and Google translates it as "get up":

• SUNRISE PERIOD START: Monday, 30 July, 2018 - 16:00;
• SUNRISE PERIOD END: Tuesday, 4 September, 2018 - 16:00.

We previously announced this Sunrise Period here.

Read the Trademark Clearinghouse's calendar for more.

The Best SAS acquires .Best TLD in Strategic Deal

PeopleBrowsr, a San Francisco based technology company, announced today the sale of its BestTLD Pty Ltd subsidiary to The Best SAS, a Paris based company led by President, Cyril Fremont.

BestTLD Pty Ltd owns the .Best top level domain. It has distribution agreements with GoDaddy and over 50 other Domain Registrars.

The sale has been approved by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

The .Best TLD has been acquired as a core component of a decentralized search optimized social network, where participants will be rewarded with .Best cryptocurrency for reviewing best in class products and services.

Jodee Rich PeopleBrowsr’s CEO said “This is a strategic deal for PeopleBrowsr. It provides us with a good return on our 2014 Best TLD investment and a partner who’s roadmap is aligned with our own. We believe in Cyril and his team. They are using three new technologies - Top Level Domains, Social Networks and Blockchain to create an economy between Buyers and Sellers “

Cyril Fremont said “We are giving the consumer their own domain name, an integrated website where they own the data, and rewards for their contribution to the community. Platforms like ours continue to move negotiating power between reviewers and sellers”

“French culture is synonymous with best in class consumer products, so, .Best was the obvious choice for the project.”

The Best SAS received financial support for the purchase from investors, the French government’s BPIFrance, and Spring Legal Lawyers: Frédéric Boucly said “This venture is a global technology play. Mr Fremont has a proven track record”.

PeopleBrowsr Background
PeopleBrowsr is a San Francisco based technology company founded in 2008. It has earned over $20M in revenue.

Its core technology, SocialOS is a Blockchain integrated platform for the rapid development of social applications.

Institutional clients include the US Department of Defense, a major bank and government entities.

PeopleBrowsr acquired 3 gTLDs in ICANN’s first round, .CEO, .Best and .Kred, and has progressively implemented SocialOS technology across each namespace.

CEO Jodee Rich, is a thought leader in the technology industry. He has spoken at many conferences and believes that the integration of blockchain and social networks will give more power to individuals and small business.

The Best SAS Background
The Best SAS is the first and only French company to own a new Generic Top Level Domain. It was founded by major shareholder PREMLEAD.

PREMLEAD is an online marketing company that fuel online sellers with premium leads using a network of+50.000 websites worldwide and a unique web content technology.

CEO Cyril Fremont, is working as an Internet Entrepreneur since 1996. After starting his career in the Silicon Valley, he co-founded or participate to 3 major successful IPOs : INTERSHOP, ARIBA, SIDETRADE.

It took Five years to Cyril Fremont to complete the .Best acquisition.

The Best will be the first Registry to own its own TLD, CRYPTO and SOCIAL NETWORK.

Download the full Press Release

The IGF rebrands using a .SPORT

Extracted from an official communication of the International Gymnastics Federation, the FIG just annouced that it relaunched its website with an innovative new domain name: Gymnastics.sport

The International Gymnastics Federation is proud to be the first international sports federation to change its domain name with a switch to the innovative .SPORT extension. From now on, the FIG website, which has been entirely developed in-house, can be accessed via the address www.gymnastics.sport.

The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), registry of the .SPORT new gTLD, also shows the example changing from its original ".org" domain name to a ".sport" one: www.gaisf.sport

A limit of the multistakeholder governance model

I read the ICANN approved board resolutions and a rationale for resolutions on an independent examination. I found that it tells a lot on how the ICANN is becoming an enormous organization which could be compared to some French administration where you sometimes wonder...what people do there.

ITEMS International was appointed as the independent examiner for the At-Large Review (a working group at the ICANN which works on plenty of important things to make Internet better).

Too focused on internal committees and procedures
I stopped on an Input from the ICANN community and I read:

"...many of the problems identified by the ITEMS report do exist. In particular, that: It is too focused on internal committees and procedures, and that it is too focused on enlarging the power and resources received by ALACin the ICANN ecosystem."

I try hard to follow-up with what some groups work on but I not only have a language barrier, I also DON'T HAVE THE NECESSARY TIME for this and with the volumes of documents to understand and the number of calls to participate to, it really takes time. I also sometimes feel that the very small groups working "on their thing"are making it impossible for any new comer to participate...many working group are most of the time the only one to understand what they are doing.

It also takes longer and longer to decide. Isn't it time to simplify procedures and suggest things like "deadlines"?

The ICANN is important for the Internet to keep working properly but aren't we starting to see the limit of the multistakeholder governance model?

The .GAY and .MUSIC new gTLDs
The .GAY and .MUSIC new gTLDs have been in "stand-by" for years: with all the comments, reports, procedures, discussions...can't someone "do something" for a resolution to be taken?

• Consideration of Reconsideration Request 18-1 for DotMusic Limited: No resolution taken;
• Consideration of Reconsideration Request 18-2 for dotgay LLC: No resolution taken.

Unless I am wrong, the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook from the first round of the ICANN new gTLD program says that problems of the first round should all be solved before the next round to start: isn't the multistakeholder governance model helping opponents of a future round here? In the case of .GAY ... there are a lot of opponents.