Google Reveals 8 New Domains
In recent news, Google has announced that it will soon be releasing a total of eight top-level domains, or TLDs. One of these will be a highly commercial one, designed especially for lawyers.
The others being introduced will be helpful for academics. Two of the eight new domains have been revealed to be based only on file extensions.
However, some people are skeptical about the announcement. They believe that those based solely on file extensions could pose some security threats and are not ready to take the risk.
New Top-Level Domains
The tech giant, at the time of the announcement, talked about how these TLDs have different purposes and can be used to help in various fields.
It announced the eight TLDs as follows:
- .phd
- .dad
- .foo
- .esq
- .prof
- .mov
- .zip
- .nexus
On the other hand, the .mom domain was introduced in 2015 and has been available for registration since then. People wondered why it took Google this long to create a domain for dads.
The Cost Of The New Domains
It has also been revealed by Google that the new domains can be registered from the 3rd of May onwards. The company will be dropping the prices in six different phases until the prices hit the base of $30 annually on the 10th of May.
It explained that the earlier a domain name is registered, the more the charges will be. Thus, the value of the domains will determine their prices.
The Topmost Domain
The TLD that is likely to have the most commercial potential is .esq, which is the short form for esquire. It is a well-known courtesy title, awarded to lawyers.
Domain names that have keywords are especially helpful when it comes to telling users what every website is related to. It gives them a clear idea of the business of the individual, whose website they are browsing.
Any legal service based in any area can now make use of this domain name and add a geographic area alongside it. This will tell people what the business does and which area it serves.
However, the drawback is that a large number of the top desirable domains, especially in the legal world, have already been taken. Even those that have meaningful words.
Because of this reason, the newly introduced domain of .esq could be a useful opportunity for lawyers. It could help them acquire a name that is appropriate and relevant to the services they offer.
As of now, loads of good domain names are available for early access. However, they cost around $11,000. In addition, $30 will have to be paid every year after this one.
People also believe that a particular domain name that gives an exact match for any keyword is going to help boost rankings. But Google clarified that this is not the case.
According to the giant, rankings will not be boosted in any way if domain names are exact matches for keywords. It said that external signals and content are what matter most when it comes to ranking.