While perusing the latest edition of the Community Impact Newsletter for Northwest Austin the other day, I stumbled upon an interesting “domain in the wild” sighting for an Austin-based Chinese delivery and catering.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover not only one new domain extension advertised in print but two new domain extensions in the same ad.
I often look disgusted at companies and their ineffective ad designs. But it was quite the opposite with Tso’s ad for Chinese carryout and delivery to central and east Austin.
As you can see above in the image, their ad, in my humble opinion, is very well designed, having great use of the following:
- text size and spacing
- color selection
- promo code and details
- image size and selection
- messaging inviting two target audience groups to two distinct websites
Of course, I held my breath as I typed in both addresses from my phone’s web browser. Not sure what would happen, I was relieved to discover that tso.delivery redirected to the matching .com, tsodelivery.com. 🙌🏾
Simply an awesome ad and a digitally sound strategy if you ask me. Most companies choosing to use new domain extensions to promote their business often forgo securing the matching .com, not realizing the risk of traffic leakage.
As for tso.catering, I was somewhat baffled by it and the matching .com redirecting to a Squareup.com store for Tso. I guess the good news is that the matching .com for tso.catering redirects and provides an opportunity to measure ad ROI and effectiveness using Google Analytics Tracking.
But back to the .delivery and .catering extensions. While I was in the dark on both, how Tso message to visit both sites quickly keyed me in that both were legitimate domain extensions, or someone in the Tso marketing department really wasted a good opportunity and marketing dollars with ill-advised branding of domains.
Nevertheless, I was quite surprised by the stats for both .delivery and .catering domain extensions when reviewing NTLDStats.com.
NTLDStats.coms reveals roughly 6.2K .delivery domains registered, with nearly 65% of those domains said to be parked and on an overall upward trend based on the registration graph below dating back to Jan 2015.
A bit curious about the number of .delivery domain registrations, I took to Google and discovered approximately 76,100 search results for .delivery using the site:.delivery search command.
Reviewing the first 3-5 pages of search results, I was surprised to discover a large percentage of international-based companies branding their digital presence with a .delivery domain.
From pizza delivery to grocery delivery to weed delivery to dispatch service to software platforms specializing in delivery and more, .delivery domains appear to be growing and resonating with end users promoting their delivery offerings.
.delivery domains offer a unique opportunity to include the focal and head keyword to the right of the dot while including their brand name to the left of the dot.
In most cases, the matching brand .com and .com containing delivery has long been registered, which makes a case for using .delivery.
This is likely the case for .catering, too, although I would have guessed there are more .catering than .delivery domains registered. I was wrong. There are twice as many .delivery domains registered than .catering .domains.
NTLDStats.coms reveals roughly 3.7K .delivery domains registered, with nearly 50% of those domains said to be parked and on an overall upward yet flat trend based on the registration graph below dating back to Jul 2014.
Performing a quick site:.catering search using Google, I discovered approximately 28,100 search results for .catering websites.
As with .delivery domains popping up across the globe in and growing in search result rankings, .catering domains are finding homes with a number of long-standing restaurants, delis, and eateries as well as newly launched ventures — Manual’s, Zilli, 1956, Yorkshire Smoke Pit, Buca di Beppo.
In closing, it’s very tempting for a domain investor to blindly assume they can realize gobs of cash equivalent to .com sales.
However, I don’t recommend domain investors casting their lots to strike it rich, investing in and flipping new domain extensions.
As for development opportunities, I do like seeing companies develop their digital presence using new domain extensions while redirecting the matching .com domain.
Although a matching .com is not mandatory, it certainly reduces, if not eliminates, the risk of traffic leakage.
What are your thoughts about the findings above and the use of new domain extensions in general for purposes of investing and development?
As a domain investor and business consultant, Alvin actively participates in daily domain auctions. Outside of auctions, he passionately shares his views, opinions, and vision for how businesses should and should not use domain names to generate greater customer growth and revenue.
