“If you have an extension that matches your passion or your profession, it’s better than a .com.” 🌐
At DomainFest 2015, I spoke with Raymond King, who has been in the domain business since about 2000 and runs Top Level Design, the registry for .wiki, .ink and .design. 🎙️
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 📚 From ICANNWiki to .wiki
- 🎯 Finding audiences for .ink and .design
- 💎 Why new TLDs carry meaning
- ⚡ How SnapNames grabbed expiring names
- ⚠️ Trademark squatting doesn’t pay
🎥 Watch the full episode:
📚 From ICANNWiki to .wiki
Ray’s first focus was .wiki. He has long run ICANNWiki, a nonprofit with information on ICANN policy and profiles of people and companies in the space. He also ran a wiki company, AboutUs, that used wiki technology to build content on websites quickly. 📚
To grow .wiki, they built a start site that helps people get a .wiki name and install MediaWiki, the wiki equivalent of WordPress. Bloggers write and readers comment, but in a wiki, people collaborate on articles together. For a policy view from ICANN, read Mary Wong’s interview. 🔗
🎯 Finding Audiences for .ink and .design
Each TLD has several audiences. .ink targets tattoo artists and parlors, writers and bloggers (“your ink”), and the actual ink industry. .design covers interior, graphic, web, furniture and lighting designers. 🎯
So they go to industry conferences, such as AIGA for graphic designers and the AIA for architects, to put the names in front of the people who’ll use them. Content matters: he noted that, by Alexa, the most popular new TLD site was a .wiki site.
💎 Why New TLDs Carry Meaning
Domains are like real estate with limited supply. .com dominates, but new TLDs offer far more availability to the left of the dot, and the names mean something: graphic.design tells you exactly what’s there. 💎
Back when .info and .biz launched, they were seen as alternatives when you couldn’t get the .com. Now, geography (Vegas, NYC, Asia) and professions (law, plumber, design) give names real semantic value. He also suspects the TLD is a meaningful signal for search, though Google won’t say. For a registry’s view, read the .CLUB team’s interview. 🔗
⚡ How SnapNames Grabbed Expiring Names
Ray’s first company was SnapNames. Its first version was a little utility he wrote that checked WHOIS records every hour and emailed him when one changed. They made it faster and faster, until they had hundreds of servers next to the registry, ready to pounce. ⚡
His advice: find out which registrar a name is at, since that suggests which backorder service to use, and sign up for several if you’re unsure. To look up owners, he recommends DomainTools. For more on expired domains, read my expired domains and backlinks tips. 🔗
⚠️ Trademark Squatting Doesn’t Pay
Trademark issues come up when registering, copyright when publishing content. There are clear trademarks, clearly generic words, and an ambiguous middle (apple is a fruit and a company), where intent and usage matter. ⚠️
His rule of thumb: don’t trade on other people’s trademarks. You risk a UDRP and losing the name, and you build a bad reputation. If you later apply to run a registry, your record gets checked. He was at DomainFest to learn how to approach Asian markets, especially China, with its extra policies and cultural differences. For more legal context, read Zak Muscovitch’s interview. 🔗
📝 Key Takeaways From the Raymond King Interview
- 🎯 Market each TLD to its real audiences
- 💎 New TLDs can say what a site is about
- ⚡ Use backorder services for expiring names
- 🔍 DomainTools helps find domain owners
- ⚠️ Avoid trademark squatting
❓ FAQs About Raymond King
Who is Raymond King?
A domain industry veteran since about 2000 who founded SnapNames and runs Top Level Design, the registry for .wiki, .ink and .design.
Are new TLDs better than .com?
Ray says that if an extension matches your passion or profession, it can be better than a .com because it tells people what to expect.
How do you grab an expired domain?
Check which registrar holds it, then use backorder services, signing up for several if unsure.
🎙️ More Inside A Hustler’s Brain Interviews You’ll Love
- Brian Michitti Sedo Domain Broker Interview at Domainfest 2015
- Interview With Jothan Frakes co-founder of NamesCon at DomainFest 2015
- Monte Cahn Shares His Domaining Experience at Domainfest 2015
- Interview with Simon Cousins Co-founder of Allegravita at Domainfest 2015
Would you pick a new TLD like .design over a .com? Tell me in the comments. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.