New Domain Name Extensions Like .photography
What do you think of the new domain name extensions? I'm talking about the .photography, .photo, .photos, .camera, .reviews, .guru, .(fill in the blank). There are A LOT of brand new extensions! It's pretty overwhelming... right now. Some day it won't be.
I don't have any kind of special degree that makes me an expert on this topic. All I have is common sense and here's what I think.
Right now, Google and everyone else is saying that these new extensions aren't going to effect the way we browse the Internet. A lot of people are saying that the companies who sell domains like GoDaddy and others are just trying to make a lot more money... you're right, they are.
But underneath all of these new extensions being sold by the name registrant's, lies a nice smooth river of solution that is going to solve the problem of the Internet growing way to big. Lets me ask you a question. Who's buying .photography right now? Probably Photographers... I bought mine ;) Here's another question. Why would anyone else, but Photographers, spend the money to buy .photography? There really is no reason, except if you're business smart and got the jump on domains like wedding.photography or something easy like that, which will probably sell for a lot of money in the future.
Professional Photographers are probably the only ones who are going to spend the time, money and effort to register the .photography extension. So, a couple years from now, when Google starts asking the question (hopefully they've already started) on how to categorize professional photographers in their search algorithms, don't you think that anyone with a .photography extension is going to have a leg up? Seriously, .com can only last so long in a world that is trying to go completely online. If things don't change, think of the alternative. New Photographers are going to have to use something other than their name to get a .com for their business.
It took me forever to get joehendricks.com, but most people aren't going to be as fortunate as me. When the .photography extension came out, I jumped on it! If you're a Photographer, you should jump on it too, if only to preserve your name before someone else gets it! Seriously though, my name with a .com on the end doesn't really explain what I do. I could be anyone with that domain name. In fact, there are a lot of people name Joe Hendricks! There's Joe Hendricks, who's a professional bike rider, an awesome fitness trainer named Joe Hendricks and a senator named Joe Hendricks. So how do we differentiate all of these people with the same names? Now you can buy joehendricks.bike, joehendricks.training, joehendricks.fitness and they will probably come out with joehendricks.senator ;) The point is, everyone can have their own name in the business they run now!
Here's another example for you. When you do an "incognito" search in Chrome for "Nashville Wedding Photographer", 2 of the first page results aren't photographers at all. They are Wedding Wire and The Knot, who display photographers that pay to be a part of their service on their front page. These 2 services are supposed to be helping you find the "right photographers" for your wedding. This is another reason why I believe these new extensions are going to change the game of search! What should be showing up on the front page of Google are the best professionals photographers in the Nashville area that are actually shooting weddings for a living. The .photography extension can help to make that happen.
I've used the .photography extension as an example, but the same applies to any business that you are in. You can be a florist, trainer, chef, .... the list goes on. We now have a way categorize businesses by profession and it's going to take off like a rocket once people get use to the simple task of typing something other than .com ;)
Here is the best point that I can possibly make to you right now. I could be completely wrong, there's no doubt about it! But, if you decide to take a chance on buying your specialized extension and it doesn't work out, then you've only lost $20-$90 depending on the extension you buy. But, If I'm right, and you decided not to get your specialized extension, well then.... you might be paying someone else thousands of dollars down the road who snatched it up before you. Seriously, get your .photography right now if you're a professional photographer.