The problem with unique top level domains (tld)
Posted by Adam Hayes
With all of the new top level domains (tld) out there many people are tempted to purchase more and more unique names. You can get .xyz, .link, .healthcare and .guru. Unfortunately, web users are so used to using .com that they assume that everything ends with .com. This can be a nightmare for businesses using other tlds.
I have owned both ahfx.net and ahfx.com since we started business back in 2002. Using the "correct" .net extension for our business, since we were an Internet services business has shown me just how much people simply assume that your domain name should end with a .com. I have clients who regularly send email to my ahfx.com address, even though I've never given that address out to anyone. It was originally set up "just in case" someone typed the wrong ending. I'm sure glad that I did, because people do it all the time.
Other problems can arise from email programs refusing long tlds. Spam filters identifying many of these new tlds as spammers. (I'm looking at you .xyz and .link). Other times search engines and browsers don't correctly handle tlds, especially longer tlds. I have a new client, One Source Healthcare, that when you type in their full address "http://www.onesource.healthcare" into the address bar in Chrome, that it asks "did you mean to go to:http://www.onesourcehealthcare.com" while it shows you a google search for it instead.
So the next time you want to grab that vanity .name tld or .WhatEverIsTheNewestFad be aware that you may have an uphill battle not only with educating clients and customers, but with email problems and search engine problems as well!