We are all familiar with domain extensions like .com and .org and .net. Did you know that 522 NEW domain extensions are out there or will be launched soon? This is a big deal since these extensions are now (or will be) actual words relevant to the organization’s topic. Soon you’ll see these extensions in advertisements and in internet searches: .Photography .Vegas .Club .Basketball .Community .Institute and even .Vodka. Check out the list and you’ll notice that .Church is among the new extensions. It will be available on September 17, 2014 at noon ET. It’s already available if your name is registered with a trademark.
This poses many questions.
1) Will these new relevant extensions become so popular that they blow away today’s preferred .com extension?
2) What if some entity with nefarious intentions grabs your organization’s name and adds the appropriate domain extension?
Let’s say your church is Sacred Heart Church. Do you want someone else to grab the domain, SacredHeart.Church?
DJ Chuang over at ChurchM.ag explored this issue with the .Church extension in a video [below] and a more complete examination in his podcast. He explains why churches should make plans to grab domains with .Church extensions and how to do it. Interesting and important stuff concerning the future of domain name registration, especially if you’re sitting on a domain that may become less relevant in the future because of its irrelevant (ie. .com or .org) extension.
Domain investors (Cyber Squatters) buy and sell domain names. As long as you are the first one to get a domain, it’s yours. But there is a window of opportunity to get pre-register for early access. All this is explained in DJ Chuang’s podcast, Everything you need to know about .Church (12:13) Even if you don’t plan to touch your domain name or perhaps don’t even own one, this is important information to give you a peak into the future.
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