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 a domain name should be part of the brand, a kind of support. Some experts say that a domain name means nothing, absolutely nothing. But most of all, those who believe that the domain name is important for the company.

Previously, everything was a little simpler - there were not many domain zones, and the choice was mainly limited to gLTD or national zones. Now things have become more complicated - TLDs of a new type have appeared, including ".store", ".tourism", or even ".sexy". Among the new zones there are those that are not subject to general registration - only certain organizations or countries can use them. With regard to domain names, there are many misconceptions, myths and almost fairy tales. To list them all makes no sense, let's see only the main ones.

.com is a key area for SEO

This myth has existed for a long time. His supporters believe that sites in this zone are prioritized for search services, and therefore you only need to choose .com and nothing more.

In fact, this is not so. Google has long been talking about the fact that the new gTLD search engine algorithms are evaluated on a par with the old, traditional domain zones.

In other words, if we take two sites of equal quality and other parameters that are hosted on a traditional domain and a domain in a new zone, then the algorithms will rank them in the output approximately 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 bring neither pluses nor minuses to the resource.

Users do not trust 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 enter the site in the ".com" or ".org" zone than the site in any other zone of a new type.

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

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

You can always change the zone.

In fact, this is a myth. Yes, changing a domain to a new one is simple, but Google and other search engines that are transferred to the new domain will be considered new, despite the redirect and other tricks. And its assessment by search algorithms will certainly take some time, and this can be a rather lengthy process.

However, sometimes this makes sense. For example, Slack transferred the help section from its website in the regular zone to the .help domain. Some food companies have moved their sites to .organic. The same can be said about travel companies, the sex industry and all others.

.com is dying

Another myth that does not stand up to criticism. Of course, there are 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 is not the truth either. The fact is that new domain zones are becoming more and more popular. And this, in part, is due to the fact that they are easier to use for branding.

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

Older brands do not work with new gTLDs

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

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

Probably, most readers of Habr know that this is not so. But just in case, we recall that all of this is the domain zones of Micronesia, Tuvalu and Djibouti, respectively. Your KO.

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

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

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

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

Be that as it may, a lot of companies of international level have already chosen new domain zones for their main site or side sections. This is Google (remember this story with xyz?) With Microsoft, and Barclays with 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 it, maybe you will like it.

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