ICANN Web Domain Suffixes: Beyond all Imagination

Could we be a part of one of the biggest changes of the internet since the introduction of .com, 26 years ago? 

At The WebMarketing Group, we’re really intrigued to see how the new web domain suffixes could benefit or impede our search engine optimisation strategies.

Global internet body, ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has plans to open up new possibilities with an infinite amount of web domain suffixes.  What could this mean for the search marketing world?

“ICANN has opened the internet’s addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination” – Rob Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive officer, ICANN.

By “limitless possibilities” the internet body means that internet addresses will be able to end with almost any word, in any language, which will be an enormous increase from the current 22 suffix options.

Applications to Begin Next Year

By bidding for this extension of web domain names, Icann are campaigning for what could be one of the biggest shifts in the World Wide Web as we know it. According to Icann analysts, bigger companies will be more than willing to pay big bucks to get their desired address.  The application will be a hefty sum, costing around £114,000, and the process is set to begin sometime next year.

Here are just some of our musings here at The WebMarketing Group…..

New Domain Suffixes and SEOs – Our Thoughts

Here at The WebMarketing Group, we are very passionate about search marketing, always seeking the most effective and ethical ways to optimise our clients’ websites.  So here, we look at some of the pros and cons of the looming web address applications.

SEO Pros

Advanced searching will be available for internet users who want to find content from a particular domain suffix.  This can be done simply by typing the keyword and the suffix (eg: educational funding + site:.gov).  This will bring targeted results for the internet savvy searcher and is already a method of searching which is used today.

Also, search engines take URL names into account when generating SERPs, so this opens up a possibility of SEO friendly web addresses using a desired suffix.  But is this going to hinder the SEO world more than it helps?

SEO Cons

On the other side of the coin, limitless suffixes will leave the door wide open for spammers and cybersquatters who want to abuse the system, overlapping organisations who are there to provide valuable information to internet users.

Kurt Pritz , the Senior Vice President at ICANN has already assured us that the application process will be costly and thorough, and organisations will need to prove that they have legitimate reasons to purchase their desired domain name.  So perhaps, tight reins and strict quality control could help to tackle a problem before it’s even surfaced.

The larger corporations are expected to be the first ones in the race to snatch tup those popular addresses, and Rod Beckstrom has already divulged that there’s no predicting where this decision will lead.  It seems the future is unclear for all SEOs, so it’s a case of keeping schtum.  But the one thing we do know is that your domain name isn’t going to launch you into success on its own.  Without quality content and a good, natural link profile, your website won’t impress the search engines.

Maybe not that much will change after all.  Either way, we’re very excited to find out.

Sources: BBC.co.uk