ICANN president and CEO Rod Beckstrom warned the public that the group can expect excitement, opportunity, uncertainty and threats in the days to come. ICANN is one of the key players in the function and accessibility of today’s global internet. They have been charged with the task of coordinating and segregating domain names throughout the world and managing the complex, demanding task of enabling IP addresses to recognize each other across cyberspace.

The coordination of individual IP addresses to specific domain names used to be a task of the US government. Since the government has allowed these operations to go private, a few kinks still have to be ironed out.  While ICANN is unable to alter any content on the internet, their intimate control of the global web and much of its inner-workings has sparked some controversy. Beckstrom is aware of the ethical dilemmas and is optimistic about implementing major changes to circumvent them.

ICANN has been criticized for being a group that controls the Domain Name System while many of its key players and leadership positions are occupied by execs from the Domain Name industry. This creates a clear conflict of interest. ICANN is a not-for-profit group who is not supposed to represent or promote the financial interests of any parties. Chief criticisms have stemmed from the idea that power players on the ICANN team can exploit the group’s manipulation of the internet to serve their own corporate needs.

Other criticisms have come from the intimate access these supposedly neutral parties’ possess. This kind of power can invade privacy and lead to motives that are fraudulent . Risk for this type of abuse is wide open to corporate executives who act in a biased, self-serving way. Personal information and data can be used to illegally bolster profits. Any person or group who wishes to register their business as a top level domain name can become an accredited registrar by making an agreement with ICANN. Critics see this is as a clash of interested when the heads of top level domain names are themselves high ranking members at ICANN.

Beckstrom held a speech in Costa Rico where he declared that it is time to “tighten up the rules that have allowed perceived conflicts to exist within our board.” Beckstrom is adamant that the necessary changes needed to make ICANN a neutral public service can be achieved. If Beckstrom fulfills his stated intentions, he will “ensure that absolute dedication to the public good supersedes all other priorities.”

Domain · Domain Name Registration · ICANN · Risk · Security

In the world of internet marketing, web hosting, and all other things website-related, it’s common to hear that something “is king”. For example, SEO professionals are known to declare that “content is king,” while those who register domain name addresses will sometimes say “.com is king” over other extensions such as “.net” or “.org.”

But is that true? Is .com really the best domain extension for every website? Not surprisingly, the answer is more complex than a simple yes or no. The appropriate extension depends largely upon the content and purpose of the website itself, as well as on the target audience that the website’s owners seek to reach.

• .com is the most popular extension on a global level. If your website, especially a business website, is meant to appeal to an audience in more than one country, regardless of geography, then you should put emphasis on .com domains during your domain names search process.
• .co.uk is, of course, popular in the UK, and serves a very different purpose. If your business is relevant to nearby customers (within your town, county, or country), then a “.co.uk” domain extension adds legitimacy by showing that you are nearby.

To provide an example, a company that sells party supplies online would do well to sequester a .com domain name, as their target audience comes from many countries and is more likely to trust a business with a common extension.

However, a company that does roof repair in northern England does not need to worry about global customers. This is a company that provides localized service within the UK to customers in the UK. The more clear it is (to both customers and search engines – we’ll address this further below) that this is a UK company, the better. This means a .co.uk web address extension (often made more affordable when purchased as a package with UK web hosting) is a good idea for that website.

The difference in domain name extension matters beyond customer perception. Search engines take many factors into account when returning search results for peoples’ queries. Extension can be a part of that, especially for local businesses. The more obvious it is that you provide the services searchers are looking for, the more likely you are to show up high in search results. So if someone searches for “UK roof repair” and your roof repair site has the “.co.uk” extension, you’re likely to benefit from that correlation.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s something to take into consideration when you’re running a domain name check for a potential new website. If you can find a domain name for sale that includes a keyword relevant to your business, and also has the right extension for your needs, your website gains a layer of legitimacy simply by having a good address.

.co.uk · com · domain extension · Domain Name · domain name extension · search engines · SEO · UK company · web hosting