Create original domains with domain names extensions.

By Romuald

When we choose a domain name for our brand or company, sometimes we restrain ourselves to only the domain name extensions of our country or to top level domains such as .COM or .NET. Now, and if we seek originality, it might be interesting to look for other extensions. You’ll find some interesting examples in this article.

Trick of words with domain names

Let’s start with some examples of websites naming strategies using foreign TLDs:
  • c.at ???? this domain name has the advantage of being very short and easily memorable thanks to the Austrian extension .AT
  • ilike.it | Justdo.it | imlovin.it | make.it … The Italian extension .IT opens up new possibilities for using famous slogans or create domain names in a punchline way.
  • placeto.be | iwanto.be … The Belgian extension is not to be outdone and allows for clever combinations in English as well as in French, you only have to identify words ending in be: cu.be, youtu.be, glo.be, vi.be …
  • Leade.rs: Loïc Le Meur, a French entrepreneur and blogger, created in 2015 his new start-up Leade.rs using the domain name hack technique with the Serbian extension .RS for the website. It is therefore possible to think of interesting constructions of domains such as dinosau.rs, burge.rs or short domains such as ca.rs, ba.rs, sta.rs …
  • 9.am: the .AM is the ccTLD of Armenia. It happens that, on March 21 2017, this domain name was sold on Regnets.com for $169,000. It had previously been sold for $18,000 in June 2015, a good capital gain. It is understandable that this domain can be a real opportunity, both from a speculative and marketing point of view, with all the branding and communication possibilities offered by this name. Moreover, we can only suggest to the acquirer of this domain name to seek the domain name 9.pm. Indeed, the corollary of the .AM is the .PM, the extension of the country code top level domain (ccTLD) of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. Unfortunately, and as mentioned on the AFNIC website, the domain name 9.pm is not eligible for registration as it contains non-authorized characters or is composed of an insufficient number of characters. ????

Il existe d’autres extensions de noms de domaine intéressantes à exploiter telles que le .NU, le .IN pour avoir un nom de domaine original et percutant. Prenons l’extension .US (ccTLD pour les Etats-Unis)There are other interesting domain names extensions that you can use, such as the .NU, .IN, in order to get an original and striking domain name. For example, the .US (ccTLD of the United States) to create original domains like Famo.us. The only limit is to be able to register the domain if it is available or to try to recover it.

Branding and personal branding

When it was first established in 2006, the .ME domain name extension was used as a ccTLD for Montenegro but was soon diverted from its original purpose and was used to create domain names with a Branding purpose. Indeed, the meaning of the word me allows this extension to be used by websites playing on the English or Dutch meaning. It is this trend that the registry Domain.ME uses by highlighting interesting generic domain names, exact match domain (EMD) or play on words: deal.me, bike.me, beer.me, promise.me, tell.me, love.me … In short, a real opportunity to choose and find a domain name easily identifiable and with a high chance of ranking in the search engines results.

For example: the streaming market is booming, between Periscope, Facebook Live, Stories on Snap or Instagram or even Twitch and the YouTube Gaming. In the world of online gaming, a new actor has been launched under the name stream.me. A domain name rather well found for this business!

 [cml_media_alt id='2283']stream.me[/cml_media_alt]

Domain Name Hacking

Taking the example of the domain name del.icio.us, domain name hacking techniques with ccTLD extensions can be a good opportunity for your branding and marketing. Indeed, the website Delicious, a social bookmarking service, has registered its domain name, icio.US, with the United States ccTLD, and then created a subdomain, making it del.icio.us: DELICIOUS!

You might want to check out, on our platform Youdot.io, the expired domain names available in more than 17 extensions, among these mentioned above: .AT | .BE | .DE | .IT | .ME, and so much more !