Stuart Fuller, Director of Commercial Operations and Communications at NetNames, comments on the 30th birthday of the dotOrg domain name, and how TLDs can help non-profit organisations establish an online marketing strategy.
dotOrg was one of the six original Top Level Domains launched in 1985, along with dotCom and dotGov. As opposed to dotCom, which represents commercial interests, dotOrg was launched to reflect charitable or not-for-profit organisations. Thirty years later, the name space has over 10.5 million registrations, making it the seventh most popular Top Level Domain today.
Although the domain space continues to grow, it has slowed significantly in the last few years, as many of the most popular dotOrg spaces are running out. This should not be a concern for charities, however, who can take advantage of the launch of thousands of new domain name endings being launched. With the new options including dotCharity, new third sector organisations have the opportunity to generate noise around campaigns in a novel and exciting way by registering with new name spaces.
The 30th birthday of dotOrg highlights the success and heritage of the web, but also signals the start of a new gTLD generation, giving not-for-profit organisations the chance to extend their online real estate and raise awareness by strengthening digital presence around the world.
By Stuart Fuller
Director of Commercial Operations and Communications
NetNames
www.netnames.com