It is clear that the market for custom domain names is booming. With each passing year, more generic top level domains are released and are subject to a bidding frenzy as companies and individuals do all they can to snatch up the best domain names that will grant them a significant amount of exposure.
With 276 million domain names registered and counting, the desire for a customised and unique domain name is huge, but it is growing ever more difficult to snatch one that is unique.
Customised domain names make for big business. Companies are no longer restricted to .com and .uk as more and more personalised gTLDs (generic top level domains) are released. The new domains being released allow for a deeper amount of personalisation in terms of domains and are better suited for more specific sites and service providers. With each passing year, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) approves more and more new gTLDs. Recent studies show that 92% of large companies already have or are planning to invest in new, customised domain names. This is because these domain names allow for more effective marketing and SEO.
Publicised domain name extensions that have been released recently include .lgbt, .kitchen, .cricket and .vote. More and more top level domain names are released with each passing month, and this year should possibly see a surge in the registration of these more customised domains. A recent survey of over 5,000 internet users across 10 countries showed that over half of users were keen for more domain name extension options. However, that’s not to say generic gTLDs have fallen out of favour: in the last quarter of 2014, there were 8.2 million .com and .net registrations.
Domain names can cost any amount of money up to several hundred thousand dollars. It pays to have your finger on the pulse in regards to domain names, even domain names that have been taken: you never know when one might pop up for an affordable price.
With more companies expressing interest in new gTLDs, it is certainly worth keeping an eye open and searching for the exact domain name that you want. ICANN’s continued approval of more gTLDs to match demands means that we could soon see a proliferation of these gTLDs, so it is worth keeping as up to date as possible with news regarding domain names.