Should I Sell Generic nTLDS? (And Other Questions)
Reseller friends, have you ever asked yourself: "Should I sell generic nTLDs?"
This blog post was written in partnership with Radix Registry.
We thought we'd take a moment to answer some of the common nTLD questions we get, such as:
- Will a generic nTLD be the choice of new age businesses?
- Is a generic nTLD good for SEO?
- Should I sell generic nTLDs?
These questions, and many others we hear, indicate that there's confusion over how a generic nTLD, such as .ONLINE or .SITE, can empower your business. If you're ready to put your doubts to rest, read on.
Will a generic nTLD be the choice of new age businesses?
You bet!
.ONLINE, for example, has become one of the most popular new domain extensions. Why? Every industry you can think of is moving online. This trend pushes tertiary industries to move online also. For instance, the surge of online shopping has moved the payment industry online as well.
In October 2017, Kenya based Direct Pay Online Group (DPO) raised a second investment of $5 million from a UK based equity fund. The previous year, they raised an initial investment of $10 million. Their business, pegged to be Africa's to online payment platform, can be found on directpay.online. Other businesses in the same industry that have also chosen .ONLINE are Chicago based lendr.online, ugears.online, childish.online, taste.online and read2me.online.
What's fascinating here is how new businesses are choosing meaningful domain names to communicate more about themselves. The domain names mentioned above speak to what the company does. Just by reading the domain name, you already know what these websites are about.
Are generic nTLDs good for SEO?
This decision should depend on how valuable the nTLD is. Recently, Google purchased a generic nTLD, .SITE, for its global Google My Business program. The program is already live and so are over 4 million websites on the business.site subdomain.
Let's go back to .ONLINE and evaluate its potential. Read some facts and trends below:
| Scope | From "online shopping" to "online dating", the word online has become an appendix to all industries. |
| Acceptability | As per a research report released by ICANN and Nielson in June 2016, the domain extension .ONLINE had 3rd highest awareness across 24 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and was number 1 in Europe. |
| Keyword Popularity | In the last 10 years alone, close to 827,269 domain names have been registered in legacy TLDs containing the word "online", of which 546,025 ends with the word "online". |
| Premium Purchases | The domain name casino.online was sold for a record $201,250 in an all-cash deal earlier this year. |
| Performance |
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| Aftermarket Sales |
These domains were purchased at a standard price and got sold with a huge profit in aftermarket sales: |
Great news! Including the word "online" as a keyword in domain names is experiencing an upward swing.
If you're still thinking about whether selling a generic nTLD is worth it, take a deep dive and analyze its potential and performance. The decision shouldn't be too hard!