Come up with an idea: check! Buy a domain: check! Design a website: check! Congratulations—your company is officially ready to go online. But now it’s time to think about your next steps.
Maybe you’ve already thought to purchase multiple domains for your trademark, motto, tagline, business and/or brand, but developing a well-rounded domain strategy is crucial to maximizing your reach and solidifying your brand image. Choosing the right ngTLDs, targeting causes that benefit from additional messaging and establishing a vision for your company are just a few ways to take your digital presence to the next level.
Why Do I Need ngTLDs?
There are plenty of reasons to have an arsenal of ngTLDs at your disposal. You may be interested in protecting your trademark from all angles. Or perhaps your company is trying to break into new, international markets. You may even just want to boost visibility (the more domains you have, the greater your chances for exposure) or launch a new product that requires a bit of extra web space.
Whatever your motivation, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of adding new gTLDs to the mix. Every domain requires time, maintenance and money, so you’ll want to find out how you can make your ngTLD strategy work smart, not hard.
What ngTLDs Should I Use?
In today’s fast-paced e-commerce and e-service environment, it’s important to stay ahead of the crowd. The right domain name(s) can establish credibility, craft brand identity and promote your business. But that’s not all: these days, several companies choose to invest in multiple domains to prevent fraud, anticipate misspellings in Google searches and beat competitors who may have a similar name or mark.
Ultimately, selecting which ngTLDs to use in addition to your generic .com, .ca or .org domain is entirely up to you. You might want to use one of the most popular alternatives (like .online or .shop). Or, if you’re really trying to craft a spunky and rebellious message, a domain like .SUCKS can be used to make an impact.
Where Should ngTLDs Direct Visitors?
Not all ngTLDs should necessarily lead users directly to your main site, though that certainly is an option. Using multiple domains to direct users to the same page is especially useful if you’re trying to avoid losing them over misspellings. (Google owns Google.com and Googel.com.) Grammar aside, you should also think of creative ways to use each of your ngTLDs for a different reason—one may act as a hub for original content, another could be a space for targeted messaging. The options are endless. ngTLDs can even be used to host a corporate feedback forum for internal use.
How Can ngTLDs Support Our Company Vision?
When a potential customer sees your company name, what is it that you want them to think and feel? What’s your primary message, distilled into a sentence or two? Ideas are big and branching things and a single domain might not be able to communicate your multiplicity. That’s okay! Relying on a mix of domains—TLDs, ngTLDs, ccTLDs and sTLDS alike—can give you more room to tailor your message to different audiences and causes. Experimenting with different ngTLDs—to see what messaging sticks and what doesn’t—can help you find your voice in a crowded digital environment.
The Takeaway
Building out your ngTLD strategy takes planning and work. Never fear, you can see a clear ROI if you plot your course and make the most out of every resource available to you. Owning multiple domains is the reality of our future on the web. And if approached strategically, it can be extremely beneficial to companies and their customers.
Lost in a sea of TLDs? Consider .SUCKS!
Photo Credits: Rawpixel / Shutterstock, Lee Campbell / Unsplash, Igor Miske / Unsplash
Updated: July 2021
