Owning a domain is now the new black (& yes, there is a .black domain extension, as well as a .red, a .pink & a .blue) ranging from the silly (.photography or .technology) to the convenient (.com, .net, .org, etcetera).
While a few “odd choices” are useful (.bio, .nyc, .xyz, et al), 2 domain extensions people should consider are the repurposed .co domain (formally Columbia’s country code domain) & the controversial .xxx domain (I’ll explain this later!) due to the perks.
What’s So Special About .CO‽
Aside from being a letter short of the much treasured .com (not to mention a better option than .cm or .io), nothing much! 😛
However (as I belatedly discovered) owning a .co domain grants one access to:
- free (or discounted) books
- tickets to geek events
- web services (live video setup, hosting, etcetera)
- car rentals
- web designers, marketing, et al
- access to certain credit cards (odd if you ask me!)
But do not take my word for it:
“Every .CO comes with free access to the .CO Membership Program. Sign up to start taking advantage of the extra perks that come with your .CO domain! (…)”
“Enjoy complimentary access to hot industry events and exclusive invites to networking functions.”
Signing up (.co domain required) & peeking behind the curtain revealed that the .CO domain czars are passionate in helping businesses thrive & will aid budding entrepreneurs sporting the .co domain in their quest to be successful.
Yes, I’m leaving out 80% of the perks discovered within the .co community but I must move on to…
.XXX‽ Are You Fraking Serious‽
First off you do not have to be in the porn industry to register and actively use a .xxx domain, as businesses, bloggers & brands buy (what a tongue twister!) .xxx for professional & personal uses beyond birthday suits!
A few (of the many) examples include:
- Kite.xxx is an extreme Kite surfing (or is it sailing‽) site, porn not included
- Zomato.xxx is dedicated to photogenic gluttony (focusing on food, not females)
- Dickey.xxx is an über geek’s personal blog about code
- Darnell.xxx is my personal health/philosophical blog that is 98% family friendly (see disclaimer)
- xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx (yes, it’s a real domain!) was used as a geeky registration page for HOPE (which stands for Hackers On Planet Earth)
- Many others use it to redirect to their websites (ilana.xxx for example)
Moving on, one benefit of using a .xxx site is that ICM Registry not only automagically verifies that a human being registers the domain but as a courtesy scans active .xxx sites for viruses (the latter which can result in a Google browser ban!)
“In accordance with Registry Policies, all registered and resolving .XXX domain names may be scanned for viruses, malware, phishing activities, browser exploits, and other behaviors or code posing a security threat to any of (i) the websites; (ii) website users; or (iii) the .XXX TLD. (ICM Registry Privacy Policy)”
ICM Registry (last I checked the geekverse) also promotes .xxx websites within their “search engine,” which I will not link here due to it being family unfriendly…aka NSFW! (Not Safe For Work).
Note: ICM Registry also provides promo ad deals (or at least did), although they pale in comparison to what .CO offers.
In Conclusion
Although I have noticed many cool/weird/crazy/bizarre domain extensions being offered, only 2 domain czars are courting members beyond the point of sale.
Hopefully more domain companies will follow .CO & ICM Registry’s lead in building digital communities (instead of just focusing on their portfolios).
