VictorPitts.com

You want PROOF that .COM is still KING?

It is said that there are not quite as many people use the expression “dotCOM” to describe the online industry or business as there were a few short years ago.  It is said that the best .com domains are taken.  A few believe that the new gTLDs rolling out to market in 2012 or 2013 will erode the .com’s dominance in the world of domains.  It said that search engines are gTLD neutral and that .com has no advantage in the search engines.  Having said all that, there remains this to be said about .com domains as a group.  THEY DOMINATE all other TLDS. I offer you three proofs of this.

TRAFFIC
Quantcast recently published their Top Million Sites in terms of traffic.  DotCOM domains were used for 74.5% of the top million websites.  Alexa has similar numbers from their list.  Why is dotCOM so dominant in traffic? Possible answers include:

1. DotCOM brand globally known
2. DotCOM has similar domination in the number of domain units registered
3. DotCOM names enjoy favorable position in most head-to-head battles with other domain tlds using the same domain string, because older creation dates.  This is a minor factor in Google’s ranking algorithm, but is nevertheless there and proven to be a factor.
4. DotCOM is the most likely domain used in direct navigation

AFTERMARKET PRICE
For 2011 according to DNJournal August 7, 2011, dotCOM domains account for 86 of the top 100 domain sales of 2011. Prices of junior gTLDs are on the rise as people buy more of those domains because trust in alternative TLDs is on the rise, Registrars are becoming more supportive of alternative TLDs, desire to secure a great search engine keyword for your domain string has becomes more important.  Many domainers will only trade in dotCOMs, and many businesses feel the same way.  DotCOM is still the gold standard that all other TLDs must be compared to for investment purposes or building an online brand

QUANTITY REGISTERED
73% of gTLDs worldwide are dotCOM domains.  That dominance is difficult to overcome.  While other TLDs represent potential traffic or earnings, and have the potential to deliver more in the future – dotCOM domain deliver today, and most people I’ve polled believe that this will not change in the next 2-3 years at least.