Being a domain maniac = domainiac is a healthy web marketing obsession. I recommend securing all versions of your domain.
Example: www.webmarketingtherapy.com, www.webmarketingtherapy.info, www.webmarketingtherapy.net to prevent other companies from using a similar domain and confusion users.
Note: I DO NOT recommend redirecting all the .net’s, .info’s, .biz’s to your main domain (usually your .com), I just suggest OWNING them so nobody else can. For SEO, the best redirect is NO redirect 🙂
To further enable shop therapy ways, WMT’s Client Treatment Specialist introduced our clients to the new .co domain. I wanted to extend the “webdom” to you.
You can participate now in the “priority” pre-registration program if you are interested in protecting your domain or brand. We feel that the .co is the first truly global, recognizable domain to come along in years….it is just one “m” off of .coM and .co also sounds like CO, an abbreviation for “Company,” “Corporation” and “Commerce”,
.co is easy to recognize, simple to remember and flexible to use. It offers international recognition in a fresh landscape where you can still choose the name you want, not just settle for what’s available. Becoming a .co DOMAINIAC is also healthy because “.co” websites are a common destination for internet users mistyping website addresses ending in top-level domains such as “.com”, “co.uk”, “.ca”, and “co.au”.
Fun Fact: It is estimated that 15,000 internet users per day unintentionally visit http://www.google.co/
Domainiac Shop Therapy:
This is your chance to get your web marketing shop therapy on and secure the .co extension of your brand before the eager public (or competitors) have an opportunity to get a hold of this (and try to re-sell it to you for thousands of dollars).
You can go to your domain registration company to buy. Costs to “pre-register” this .co domain are:
Priority Pre-Registration (closes July 13, 2010)
$299.99/yr – Recommended If you want a better chance of securing your popular domain before General Availability opens.
Standard Pre-Registration (closes July 20, 2010)
$29.99/yr
Healthy Web Marketing Advice session closed. We’ll see you again soon for your next marketing therapy appointment online 🙂
-The Marketing Therapist
Interesting Lorrie, I was under the impression that they *.co was a Colombian designation. see wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains
Any insight on that transition?
Also, do you have any idea of the severity of the impact of redirects (say from yoursite.co to yoursite.com) on SEO?
Hi Graham!
Yes, .co can be a Columbian designaton, like .cc could be Cocos Islands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.cc
The transition is that when Google started to see people typing in http://www.google.co vs. http://www.google.com…think of all the time people must save by omitting the M of .coM?? 🙂 they decided that the pattern of what people do to get there was worth securing.
And since Google is a great web compass/guide, lots of other companies followed suit.
As for redirects, THE BEST REDIRECT IS NO REDIRECT. If you buy the .co, do it so nobody else can buy your company name but just have it, no need to point to us UNLESS your company is going to go by http://www.whateveryourcompanynameis.co which is rare.
The healthy web marketing tip was more on the power of being a domaniac.
LOVE your questions – thanks for the post, this will help our readers!!
-The Marketing Therapist