The Future of URL’s: Have You Chosen The Right Domain?
As you may know Google instant was introduced quite some time ago. At that time the domain name industry was under red alert. Lots of people assumed that the era of long domain names had came instantly. In fact, it was quite logic to assume that. However, it actually never happened in the real world because something different took place. Short URL’s have become even more popular with the advent of mobile devices and social networks – they have huge appeal to this day.
Almost every major information provider now has their own shortening service implemented eg. wp.me (WordPress.com), fb.me (Facebook), yb.me (My Yearbook), ti.me (Time Magazin). But that was not the only demand for short URL’s. Mobile applications are being developed every, and their developers are looking for their own short online identity which can be used as a domain name and short url at the same time.
A Whole New (Domain) World
So instead of registering long .com URL’s most of them registered short meaningful, and most importantly available one word domain name on other TLD’s. Does it make a sense? Meaningful domain names outside of .com space? Yes, why not!?
I think the era of short available URL’s has started and long URL’s will never again be popular. What we will see in the future is more and more one word domain names and short URL’s registered and used. Is this a good opportunity for country code extensions? Absolutely! They are most frequently shorted than any gTLD there are lots of single word domains available.
What Will You Register?
Even new nTLDs are not a big treat if they are more then 3 letters long and if they have no meaning in the terms of content (big vs small OR where is the future of .Me). Why would someone register a long gTLD if a shorter version is available on some ccTLD? If both are treated in the same way by search engine?
Currently there is only a few ccTLDs acting globally as gTLDs: .me, .co & .tv. These 3 examples are in good shape and their results show why they can be even more successful in future. My bet is obviously on .Me. Not just because it’s short, but because it’s different. It’s cool and intriguing, carrying apersonal and social message, while being able to send a direct marketing message too. I believe in .Me. The question is when will you start believing in short domain names like .Me? Hurry up, because one word domains names will not be available for much longer. Those that understand the future of URL’s are registering their domains today.
