A recent agreement between ICANN and Verisign concluded that .COM domain prices will hike up to a total of a 70% increase within the next decade. A continuous trend of 7% per year until 2029 with a 2 year gap in between where no price increases will take place. Along with the increase, Verisign will pay ICANN an additional $20 million dollars which is intended to contribute towards the insurance of stability and security of the domain name.
Previous price increases have successfully occurred in previous years for .ORG, .INFO and .BIZ domains with minimal disagreement and friction.
However, due to the popularity and dominance of the .COM domain in the industry this increase will cause quite a stir. Close to 146 million out of the over 350 million domain names registered to this date are .COM domains, therefore any changes to pricing on a .COM domain name has massive roll-down implications for companies and individuals who make use of the extension.
The impacts of this decision will ultimately draw customers away from using the popular .COM domain, giving way to .africa and the new gTLDs to spike in sales as their favourable pricing will be highly competitive to that of the increasing .COM domain in the near future.
New customers are encouraged to look towards alternate domain name extensions in order to benefit from the reasonable prices coupled with the increasing popularity and simplicity of custom TLDs, .BRAND Names and gTLDs.
Custom TLDs, such as .games ($15.00), .bike ($25.00), .football ($16.00),.run ($16.00) and many other specific domain names can be used for a variety of individual and business needs, creating short, memorable and fun URLs and emails which ultimately draw customers towards your various sites. All of these custom domain names and more are available for registration on our Gateway Portal.
.AFRICA is open for organisations, businesses and individuals who wish to embrace the unique, resilient and dynamic roots of their continent, Africa. The benefits of owning this prime gTLD include; showcasing your brand and it’s commitment to connecting the African continent to the rest of the world and giving you the edge to forge your individual online identity alongside people with the same background and ideals as you. For only $2.00 on the Gateway Portal for the month of February 2020, now is the prime time to move over from a .COM to a .AFRICA domain for your individual and business needs.
.CITIES (.capetown, .joburg, .durban) are also on sale this February and aim to help you distinguish your organisation in the major cities of South Africa by pinpointing your location, thereby increasing SEO as your brand reassures customers of where you are based from the get-go. This allows locally relevant products, services and content to be found by your prospective customers quicker and more efficiently.
