Here's what digital marketers and SEOs need to know about the Not Com revolution. Presented at the Rocks Digital Marketing Conferences in 2016 at the Addison, Texas convention center.

1. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
SEO and the
Not Com Revolution

2. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
About Me
• Senior VP, Agency Services, Advice Interactive
• Brand Ambassador, Majestic.com
• Personal Blog: www.BillHartzer.com
• Practicing Organic/Natural SEO since 1996
• Domain Names and Site Migrations Expert

3. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
Overview
• Background: What are New gTLDs?
• Examples of New gTLDs
• Real World Example: Research Study
• New gTLD Examples
• Process for Moving to a New Domain

4. 2016 Rocks Digital – Background: What are New gTLDs?
What are New gTLDs?
• TLDs: Top Level Domains
.COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO are all TLDs
• Generic TLDs (gTLDs): .XYZ, .BANK, .CLUB, 800+ more
• ccTLDs: Country Code TLDs
.CO.UK, .CA, .FR, .ES, .IT, .COM.AU, .ME

5. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
Total Domain Market as of August 2015

6. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution

7. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution

8. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution

9. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
SEO Factors and Domain Names
• For search, still value in using Keyword Rich domain
• Keyword rich domains must be developed
• Search engines use link data, keywords used in links
• Domain history, reputation are ranking factors

10. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
SEO Factors and Domain Names
• Keywords are how people refer to websites
• Websites use keywords to link to other websites
• A keyword rich domain, with content, will rank
• New gTLDs with keywords in extensions help

11. 2016 Rocks Digital – Examples of New gTLDs
Yeezy.SUPPLY by Kanye West

12. 2016 Rocks Digital – Examples of New gTLDs
TheHungerGames.MOVIE

13. 2016 Rocks Digital – Examples of New gTLDs
Lady Gaga's BornThisWay.FOUNDATION

14. 2016 Rocks Digital – Examples of New gTLDs
Coffee.Club

15. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
Reasons to Move to a Not Com
• Keywords and semantic meaning
• Ability to precisely match key terms to domain name,
for products, services, corporate identity
• No loss of Google and search engine love
• Lack of available reasonable options in .COM
• But, let’s look at a real world example

16. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
New gTLD Versus .COM Study
• Which is better for marketing?
• .COM vs. New gTLD domain name?
• Which is better for ROI?

17. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
Methodology, Requirements
• Use a Controlled Marketing Test
• Real-World Testing, Results
• PPC to Test Ads, Landing Pages, gTLD
• Landing Pages, Conversions the Same
• Test for a Certain Period of Time

18. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
How I Did the Testing
• Google AdWords Ads
• Keywords the same for all ads
• Bids the same ($1.00 per click bid)
• Same Landing Page, Same Content
• Only difference was the domain name used:
www.3CaratDiamonds.com
www.3Carat.Diamonds

19. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
Keyword Examples
diamond price chart
diamond chart
diamond quality chart
diamond carat size chart
types of diamond cuts
diamond facts
3 carat diamond ring
diamond grade
diamond clarity
diamond color
diamond buyer guide
diamond certification

20. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
Ad Examples
Diamond Buying Guide
Download Your Free Carat Size Chart.
& Learn the 4 C’s of Diamond Buying!
3CaratDiamonds.com
Beginner’s Diamond Guide
Download Your Free Carat Size Chart.
& Learn the 4 C’s of Diamond Buying!
3carat.Diamonds

21. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
Landing Page

22. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
Results in 2014
3CaratDiamonds.com vs. 3Carat.Diamonds
• May 2014: Average CPC
3Carat.Diamonds: $.77
3CaratDiamonds.com: $.81
• May 2014: Results
52% Conversion Rate on .COM, 36% on .DIAMONDS
Effective CPM: Costs 2x as much to advertise a .COM
*Effective CPM is the rate spent for 1000 views of an ad

23. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study
Results – Sept. 2015
3CaratDiamonds.com vs. 3Carat.Diamonds
• Results: Average CPC
3Carat.Diamonds: $.77 (vs. $.77 in May 2014)
3CaratDiamonds.com: $.83 (vs. $.81 in May 2014)
• Conclusions:
Sept. 2015: 22% Conversion Rate on .COM, 35% on .DIAMONDS
May 2014: 52% Conversion Rate on .COM, 36% on .DIAMONDS
New gTLD converts BETTER than .COM in 2015
Effective CPM: Still costs 2x as much to advertise a .COM

24. 2016 Rocks Digital – New gTLD Vs. .COM
Changes in Conversions Since 2014

25. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
Finding New gTLDs
• New TLD Stats - https://ntldstats.com/tld
• Calzone - http://www.calzone.org

26. 2016 Rocks Digital – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution
Sample New gTLDs
• .DENTIST
• .PLUMBING
• .CLUB
• .REALTOR
• .PHOTOGRAPHY
• .CHURCH
• .LAWYER
• .ATTORNEY
• .FEEDBACK / .REVIEWS

27. 2016 Rocks Digital – Moving to a New Domain Name
Moving to a New Domain Name
• Don’t take moving to another domain lightly
• Problems can be avoided with proper planning
• Moving to a new gTLD can be done successfully
• Moving may position you better for the future

28. 2016 Rocks Digital – Moving to a New Domain Name
Steps for Pre-Move
• Make Backup of Current Website
• Perform due diligence on new domain name
• Crawl website, save list of URLs
• Set up 301 Permanent Redirects (old URL to new URL)
• Set up SSL HTTPs Certificate for new domain name
(TLS/SSL is mandatory for some TLDs)
• Start marketing campaign, help awareness of domain

29. 2016 Rocks Digital – Moving to a New Domain Name
Steps for Pre-Planning
• Plan a date and time to move to the new domain
• Detail the process for moving
• Who is responsible for what (in your organization)?

30. 2016 Rocks Digital – Moving to a New Domain Name
On Moving Day
• Add 301 Permanent Redirects, Test Redirects
• Crawl Website to check redirects
• Update Social Media, Email Address, Business Cards
• Notify Search Engines of Change of Address
• Submit sitemap of OLD site to search engines

31. 2016 Rocks Digital – Moving to a New Domain Name
After Moving Day
• Watch analytics for changes in traffic
• Watch site for any search engine ranking changes
• Get new links to the new domain name

32. 2016 Rocks Digital – Moving to a New Domain Name
Checklist for Moving to a New Domain
• Extensive checklist is available (one-pager)

33. 2016 Rocks Digital – Concerns on Moving to a New TLD
Concerns on Moving to a New TLD
• Sites have been moving to a new domain for years
• Personally handled over 100+ large site migrations
• No significant issues if done properly
• No significant drops in traffic, search engine rankings
• Issues can arise with duplicate content, bad redirects

34. 2016 Rocks Digital – Why Move to a New TLD?
Why Move to a New gTLD?
• New gTLDs enhance SEO
• New gTLDs add aspect to relevant content not
available before
• New gTLDs encourage keyword-rich linking
• Moving to a new, better address can be done safely

35. 2016 Rocks Digital – Thank You
Contact Me
Bill Hartzer
Senior VP, Agency Service, Advice
Interactive
Email:
bhartzer@adviceinteractive.com
Mobile: +1 (214) 236-4378
Web: adviceinteractive.com
Blog: billhartzer.com
Twitter: @bhartzer
Facebook: facebook.com/bhartzer