The .com domain name real estate market has been saturated and it is getting more and more difficult to stand out online. The release of the .tax, .accountant, .consulting and .expert domain extensions give accounting professionals new options in claiming their online real estate. The good news is there are many options available. The negative is the cost ($50 - $100 year) and whether the consumer will recall these domains as quickly as a .com domain name. .cpa is supposed to be released later in 2014, but perhaps there are some legal hold ups getting in the way. Stay tuned.
Data from earlier this year shows that many of the new domains are being registered. .Guru has close to 30,000 registrations and .photography has topped 10,000. Most others are in the 1,000-5,000 range. So while the jury may be out on the long-term demand, many accountants are realizing it may be time to leave the comfort of the .com world.
From a marketing perspective, a .com would be the preferred way to go. Having keyword rich URLs is always a benefit, so perhaps there is some SEO lift from the new extensions.
