Slough, United Kingdom-based web hosting provider
1&1 has launched a new portal where visitors can pre-order domain names that include a range of new "generic top-level domains", or gTLDs. These gTLDs reflect a variety of areas, including geographical locations, website types, and business sectors.
In what represents the Internet's biggest shake up in how websites are addressed, around 1000 new gTLDs will be launched over the next 3 years. They will offer greater choice as far as domain names are concerned, and include extensions as diverse as .london, .restaurant, .rugby, .shop and .web.
Each new gTLD allows businesses greater ability to enhance their digital branding. One added bonus related to the new gTLDs is that search engines such as Google have announced they will be altering their algorithms to accommodate the new extensions, meaning SEO benefits and the potential to attract more focused traffic to websites that use the extensions to reflect site content.
With the huge amount of interest they are generating, 1&1 recommends business owners pre-order domains as quickly as possible. 1&1's new portal offers news and expert articles related to the new gTLDs, and it allows people to express their interest in registering a specific domain name. Given their importance in establishing domain names that fully reflect a company’s business activity, 1&1 has urged companies in the United Kingdom to immediately begin planning which of the new domains might make the most impact on their intended audience.
1&1’s portal is easy to navigate and allows visitors to “make a risk-free pre-order for their relevant domain name choice”. Rather than ordering and paying for a domain from the portal, and therefore guaranteeing a domain’s registration, the portal allows visitors to register interest in owning a domain.
“A new era in Internet addresses promises great opportunities for every business online,” explained 1&1 Internet Ltd.’s CEO Hosting, Robert Hoffmann. “However, research released in March shows that the majority of SMEs are still unaware of the launch of new gTLDs. 1&1’s new pre-order portal comprises an excellent resource for website owners to learn about their options, pre-order their new domains now, and benefit from 1&1’s global scale and competence with domain registration”.
So what are your thoughts? How will the new gTLDs change the digital landscape? Add your comments below.
