Monday Motivation: time for new website domains

4 minute read time.

Is your business signing up for the new top level domains? With new ones being released, we look at the pros and cons of buying in.

And this week, there’s news about changes to legislation around running a business from home and some shocking figures about the number of businesses whose websites are hacked.

Top news stories

Small businesses paid late by local councils

Some businesses are having to wait up to 40 days for payment, which is behind the government’s guidance of 5 days.

Government announces changes to help home businesses

It could see the end of business rates and planning permission for businesses based at home.

60% of British small businesses experienced a cyber security breach in 2013

According to the latest statistics from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), 60% of small businesses had a cyber security breach in 2013, slightly down from 64% in 2012.

Self-employment in UK is at highest level since records began

Critics say fact that 15% of workforce is self-employed is driving lower pay and retirement income and eroding job security and tax revenue. Do you agree?

400,000 home-based start-ups plan to take on first employee this year

That would create 1.9 million new jobs by the end of 2014, potentially adding up to £27bn to the economy in new small business wages

Key dates for your diary

No important dates this week.

Is your business ready for the new top level domains?

ICANN, the company which controls internet domain names, is in the process of releasing thousands of new options. Rather than just having your website end in .co.uk or .ie, you now have options for things like .dating, .photography and .hotel. The new release takes the number of possible domains from 22 to around 1300.

It’s not the first time that there’s been new domains available but it is the biggest release of this kind. Research by Sedo shows that smaller businesses aren’t ready for the change, with only 41% of businesses knowing about the new domains.

Here’s what it could mean for your business.

Pros of the new domains

  • It will be easier to find a domain. In the past, it’s sometimes been tricky to find a suitable domain for your business which has led to some businesses choosing their business name based on an available domain. This should no longer be the case.
  • Some of the new domains allow you to describe what you do. This gives you a shorter, snappier URL: johnsmith.tech is snappier than johnsmithtechnology.com for example.
  • The new domains can be a talking point and add interest to your marketing, at least in the short-term.

Cons

  • If you want to try to protect your brand name, it will be more expensive to buy up the relevant domains. With so many available, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to afford to register more than a small proportion of them.
  • Some industry experts say this may cause problems like trademark infringement issues, cybercrime and cybersquatting.
  • Research has shown that some consumers are less likely to trust websites on the new domains, although that may change as they become more widely known.
  • There’s no guarantee that the new domains will be widely used. Some domains like .info and .biz failed to gain much sway.

How to decide if your business should have a new domain

With so many domains available, it can be tricky to know if you should register and which ones to choose.

Make sure you consider the costs and benefits of buying up any new domains. While each one is fairly inexpensive, buying lots can really add up.

You need to make sure that anything you do buy fits well with your company’s brand. If there’s a domain that includes part of your brand name (like .ford and .fox) it may be worth protecting. And if you’re associated with a type of business (like photography or a hotel) those domains could also work well for you.

Location domains can also be a good choice. The .london domain is proving popular and there’s also domains in languages such as Arabic, Chinese and Russian, which are good if you export to these countries.

Finally, if you have a co.uk domain, you might want to pick up the .uk version too (which brings the UK in line with Ireland by losing the .co part).

What to do if there’s a trademark infringement

If you have a trademark and find out the domain has been taken, there is some protection. Firstly, there’s a trademark clearing system. By registering with the clearing house, which costs around £90, you’ll get an email whenever someone registers a website address which includes your trademarked name.

There’s also a process to deal with any issues after the domain has been sold. ICANN has more details.

Will you be getting on board?

So, what do you think? Has your business registered any new domains? Do you intend to do so?