Tips for Choosing a Domain Name

Check out the tips for choosing a domain name at http://firstsiteguide.com/choose-domain/

New generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) Names

It often seems like all the best .com domain names are already taken, but that won't be a problem much longer with ICANN's release of new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) extensions. New gTLDs that were announced late 2013 and early 2014 include a wide variety of options such as .photography, .technology, .voting, .tips, and .guru. A complete list is available at http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings. Major domain registrars, such as GoDaddy, are offering preregistration for many new gTLDs.

Four New gTLDs Announced

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)  announced that the first four of potentially 1,400 new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) have been delegated for use.

The new four gTLDs and their registries are listed below.

• شبكة  –  "web/network" in Arabic
  Registry: International Domain Registry Pty. Ltd.
• онлайн  –  "online" in Cyrillic
  Registry: CORE Association
• сайт  –  "site" in Cyrillic
  Registry: CORE Association
• 游戏 –  "game(s)" in Chinese
  Registry: Spring Fields, LLC

Expect additional new gTLDs to be made available for use over the next few years. Visit https://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus for a list of gTLD applications and their status.

Expansion of TLDs

Need a change from the the old .com, .net, .biz domains? We'll look for more variety in the future. ICANN has approved the expansion of generic TLDs and will accept new TLD applications from companies/organizations to create TLDs for their brand or company names. Sound too good to be true? Well, there's a catch. With an $185,000 application fee and an annual $25,000 fee, you need deep pockets. Applications will be accepted in early 2012. Visit http://icann.org for more information.