Telnic’s dot tel
by Ok, so here’s the buzz for all your dedicated webbies: in early February of this year, .tel domains became available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis. This is one of the biggest innovations on the web since the launch of .com. As with .com, where those that understood the potential early saw a great return on investment, the purchasing of .tel domains in the first weeks of availability will offer as great an investment opportunity.
A .tel domain allows the owner to create a personalized or branded online presence without needing to build a website or pay for monthly hosting and management. All other top level domains require further investment and the development of web pages or email accounts, whereas .tel does not. All existing top level domains are concerned with locating and hosting websites, while the .tel is not. Rather than being stored in web pages, making them difficult or expensive to access over mobile devices, the .tel allows businesses and individuals to store an unlimited number and all types of contact information directly in the Domain Name System (DNS) as data records.
How can .tel domains be monetized?
Because the .tel owner cannot host their own website under their domain, there is a temptation to believe that monetization of .tel will not be possible. Quite the contrary is true. The .tel adds a huge number of ‘click to purchase’ monetization opportunities, especially targeted to mobile cellular devices, that shrewd investors should appreciate.
The following may provide a few ideas:
1. Incorporate Premium Numbers for Voting and Betting Services – A business can use their .tel to easily set up, integrate and manage time-sensitive tasks such as SMS voting for a favorite TV reality show (i.e. American Idol) with one-click functionality. Viewers could use the choices under the .tel to vote for their favorite celebrity.
2. Vanity Name Numbers – A .tel domain can follow the same model as vanity name numbers. For example, 1800-Flowers.tel, 1800Lawyers.tel, 1900VoteNow.tel, each acquiring customer from the mobile space with easy-to-remember domain names.
3. Reference Companies under Generic Names – A business can use the .tel to reference industry specific services. For example: Hotels.tel, Plumbers.tel, Insurance.tel, Locksmiths.tel, etc. Each .tel domain could easily have multiple sub-domains for navigation to local providers or specialists.
4. Drive Traffic from Mobile Devices to E-Commerce Storefronts – A business can use the .tel to offer storefront services and collect micro-payments for downloads, products or services. For example: a celebrity fan club site can provide news, chats, or downloadable mobile content such as MP3s or ringtones.
5. Increase Search Engine Optimization – A .tel plays a fundamentally different role than a traditional domain (.com,.net…) and has very specific and unique content, and is published in a different format and medium (DNS instead of Web). Therefore, Google and other search engines will want to index .tel content in addition to .com content. The .tel data is also fully structured, making it easily readable and understandable by search engine crawlers, as opposed to standard web page content that needs advanced parsing algorithms that often misunderstand the content. The .tel will reveal itself as an important SEO/SEM tool.
6. Publish a Global Yellowpage Directory Listing at a Reduced Cost – Companies spend thousands of dollars advertising in online directory service solutions that are highly fragmented. The entries are expensive, restrictive in what kind of contact information may be published and do not allow live updating. Most importantly, the listing is typically local, not global. By contrast, the .tel provides a global online directory that provides a company with instant worldwide exposure. It integrates all means of communication in a single place that remain under the company’s control. It allows unlimited updating and management of the contact information and keywords in real-time, and it increases search engine visibility and discoverability – all without the need to build a website and all for only the cost of a domain name.
This is especially meaningful for small and medium sized business who want an online presence or a directory listing at a low cost.
Also by CASPER JOHANSSON
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If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
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