Get to know your ccTLDs

source: http://www.bytelevel.com/map/ccTLD.html

The most important aspect of setting an online business is its domain name. It does not take long to come up with the business ideas and fundamentals but choosing a domain name is something that needs clear and careful consideration. Dot com’s are usually the first choice for anyone thinking of establishing an online presence, due to its ability to bring  “type in” traffic. The widely held belief is that websites tend to loose majority of its visitors to the dot com version of any domain name. However when the idea is to start a country-specific website, the country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) are far better than the dot com alternatives.

Country code top-level domains (ccTLDs)

Every country has its own top-level domain name, known as country code top-level domain (ccTLD). The authorized registrars within each country dictate the registration and administration of their respective country code TLDs. For example, the University of the South Pacific is the authorized domain registrar for .com.fj in my country, the Fiji Islands.

Some well known ccTLDs

Many of you would have been well acquainted with the dot me (.me) TLD, which is actually a ccTLD of Montenegro, one of the newest countries in the world. Due to its huge adaptable potential, dot me was made available for public registration on 17 July 2008. It is one of the fastest growing TLD and expected to overtake dot net/dot org as the second most sought after top level domain.

Dot tk (.tk) is the ccTLD of the South Pacific nation of Tokelau. Dot tk is offered as a free TLD but it is more of a URL redirection service than a top level domain. Dot tk has also been widely utilized for spam and phishing scams. I, myself, had used dot tk for one of my first projects. After I realized that there was a mandatory header advertising for each dot tk registration, all interest was lost and the project just died away. Though this advertising has been made non mandatory, dot tk is still something I will not use for my professional projects.

Dot tv (.tv) is the ccTLD of another South Pacific nation; Tuvalu. The domain was introduced in 1996 to the public as a top level domain for television websites, open for general registration. It is yet to made strides in the domaining world, but nevertheless, a very attractive and memorable domain extension.

Probably the most widely used ccTLD; .co.uk is owned by the United Kingdom. Due to its huge popularity, premium, short and keyword rich names for this TLD have all been taken up. Some time ago, .uk.co was marketed as an alternative extension to .co.uk, however, the registrants of this TLD were in for a shock when it was taken away from them without any warning. The dot co (.co) ccTLD belonged to Colombia, which did not allow its use as an alternative for the .co.uk version.

Some brandable ccTLDs not available for Worldwide registration

Dot la (.la) is a very attractive name for the American city of Los Angeles and marketed for entites in this city. However, this ccTLD actually belongs to the tiny Asian nation of Loas. The LA Names Corporation has the rights to market .la registrations.

Dot ws (.ws) is seen as a “brandable” extension for the term website. Dot ws, however, is owned by yet another South Pacific nation known as Samoa (formally Western Samoa).

Your Say!

This post was written with the intention to introduce you to some ccTLDs and their origins. All of you know about dot tv, but how many of you had actually known that it was a ccTLD? I guess, most you didn’t! Same with  dot me and dot la. In fact, how many of you know that these countries existed? Again, not many, eh!

What is your country’s ccTLD? Should it be opened for worldwide registration? What is its “branding” potential? Please discuss by commenting below.

View Forsaken's Profile      Subscribe via RSS