‘Practical Techie:’ The .io domain is a trend in the business world
Many haven’t noticed it, but more and more business websites are now attached to the .io domain.
This top country domain is about the British Indian Ocean Territory. It is administered by the Internet Computer Bureau, a domain name registry company based in the United Kingdom, But, recent years have seen it become synonymous with start-up firms and gaming.
The main reason is that in computer science “IO” is commonly used as an abbreviation for Input/Output, a principal dynamic of machine language software.
Hence, it’s all really about trendiness.
The historic top-level domain for businesses in the World Wide Web has been “dot com.” It has been traditional since the first days of the internet in the 1960’s and then in the web, since circa 1990 and beyond.
Yet, it’s problematic for two reasons. First, as of 2019 there were 137 million .com domain names registered. Second, almost all the gimmicky, attention-grabbing good brand names have been taken. Only bizarre name combinations for a new enterprise may be still inactive.
SIMPLICITY – It’s also about practicality. The io. domain is short and memorable. Easy to pronounce, easy to remember and even fun to say. Also, an entrepreneur must ask: is it safe? The experts say it is. Even though .io is a country-code domain for the islands in the Indian Ocean, it is treated as a new, general top-level domain for the more global searches. This explains why they have become so popular with tech startups.
WHY – Another question … Is it really practical to go the route of a weird domain, instead of the traditional .com? Again, the internet branding experts say yes. If an entrepreneur is starting a new business, it’s a good idea to stand out different from the rest.
Some creative incubators have used word play to set up such startups as pat.io, domin.io, mustach.io, pistach.io, or even portfol.io.
LEVELS – The advantage of having a fresh, trendy and very different domain name that has high level searchability all over global servers, is a sign of the times. One has to remember that the Internet is nothing more than a large collection of computers attached to a telecommunications network and a set of protocols.
All the data that makes up a website is located on one or more specialized computers known as servers. Servers can be expensive to purchase and maintain, so companies, known as domain hosts or website hosts, lease server resources to subscribers in return for monthly fees and the .io domain is still on an affordable price.
At least, until it becomes in even higher demand as is the dot com. The difference in price can be in the thousands of dollars. Something to think about.
