The Official .TEL Discussion Thread

[brendan52190]

Hi

For this, let's assume that .tel will not be a total flop.

What type of keywords will be most valuable for this extension? Will it be geographical keywords, like newyork.tel, losangeles.tel, etc, or what else?

[spoofies]

Geo keywords and anything you would look into a phonebook for. Doctors, lawyers, food, etc.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-n...0012009-1.html

Quote:

Organizations that own trademarks from countries as diverse as the United States, France, South Africa, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom have applied for.tel domains including Yell.com, Yellow Pages, Les Pages Jaunes, Paginas Blancas, L annuaire and Les Pages Blanches.

[brendan52190]

So would the singular or plural form be best for these keywords? so lawyer.tel or lawyers.tel for example

[Ms Domainer]

Originally Posted by brendan52190

So would the singular or plural form be best for these keywords? so lawyer.tel or lawyers.tel for example

*

My take:

If you're one lawyer wanting to give your clients an easy domain to remember, then lawyer.tel.

If you're looking to create a phone web/directory of lawyers, then the plural would be best.

*

[Spade]

You really need to look at the technical requirements for .tel - Its not supposed to be for websites.... Its a TLD for an online business card (kind of)....

Do yourself a favor, and consider this TLD (at all keywords) valueless.

[brendan52190]

Originally Posted by Spade

You really need to look at the technical requirements for .tel - Its not supposed to be for websites.... Its a TLD for an online business card (kind of).... Do yourself a favor, and consider this TLD (at all keywords) valueless.

But taking lawyers.tel, for example, you could create a directory of law firms, and I think that gives it it's value...

[spoofies]

Monetizing .tel for domainers

http://rikkles.blogspot.com/2008/11/...domainers.html

[saucey]

I am getting excited!! I just got my my email reminding me to have my credit card "topped" up for Jan 31! That is when the "preauthorization" happens...then actual registration is on Feb 2nd. I like the way they are doing this. It gives you time to correct any problems that may occur during preauthorization, rather than just losing your reg on the day "of".

Saucey o e o weee oooo

[JamesDavid]

Potential is there for this extension, why, because its universal and different....

I am VERY VERY excited, I pre-regged names and I hope I get every single one....

[saucey]

Good Luck JD!

[brendan52190]

How many have you guys pre-regged?

I've taken my chances with 5 that I really like

[usualcliche]

I went for 5 names on open reg day etc through domainmonster hope to get at least 1 of those names etc

[cobainer]

Why .tel?

1 - A .tel plays a fundamentally different role than a traditional .com,.net,..., 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, and will not penalize a company for having both a .com and a .tel, as opposed to those that multiply websites under .com, .biz, .co.uk, etc... This will give companies double presence, with both a .com and a .tel.

2 - The .tel data is fully structured, and therefore very 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 (reading a fax number as a main number, for example).

3 - .tel communications content is very easy to maintain, and can be updated at significantly shorter intervals than .com informational content. This gives search engines more incentive to re-index .tel content at shorter intervals as well.

4 - Local search engines will index by preference .tel data thanks to .tel's focus on communications and location information.

5 - Finally, .tel has the best ROI in the SEO/SEM business, being extremely cheap ($15-$20/year) given all the features above.

[sdsinc]

Originally Posted by brendan52190

But taking lawyers.tel, for example, you could create a directory of law firms, and I think that gives it it's value...

One thing is for sure, it will take a lot of promotion work. You won't get a lot of natural traffic on a TLD that few people even know exists.
.tel like telephone ? The very name does not even make sense to me

Honestly, I do not see any appeal for the masses. As an investment it is probably the worst extension you could pick.
Since you cannot develop a conventional website on .tel (I always wonder if people truly realize that) your directory of law firms will be a sexy as gopher
I would rather use YP.com...

Make sure you don't invest more money than you can afford to lose. Or better yet, assume it will be money flushed down the toilet.
Good luck

[JamesDavid]

Originally Posted by usualcliche

I went for 5 names on open reg day etc through domainmonster hope to get at least 1 of those names etc

I PRE REGGED 5 names, so they are about $400/each... I got an email this morning saying that a name I pre-regged about 2 months ago is a restricted name: "info.tel" so now I have 4 pre-regged......

*** One thing I do think is funny though.... .tel main site is a .org.... not a .tel..

********** Also why do you think GoDaddy didnt become a reg for the .tel domains?

[bgmv]

Isnt this another variation of .mobi??? Except for the development aspects and limitations of .tel the extension seems to be very similar to what .mobi was supposed to accomplish

[kemjika11]

This is another horrible TLD, but just like .me and the likes, its almost guaranteed to suck more $$ out of people who play into its hype....

[spoofies]

Originally Posted by bgmv

Isnt this another variation of .mobi??? Except for the development aspects and limitations of .tel the extension seems to be very similar to what .mobi was supposed to accomplish

How do you figure? .Mobi is supposed to be mobile websites. .Tel isn't supposed to be a website at all.

I pre-ordered 25 landrush at Domainmonster, canceled that down to 3 within a couple of days, and then canceled that down to 2. However, I hope very much to get both.

I also got an e-mail from DM.

Hongkong.tel
Name.tel
Org.tel
Singapore.tel

I regged those for general availability but was informed today that they are unable to grant my request. I am assuming companies had successfully regged during sunrise.

[Roondinurpado]

Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.God will appreciate it.

[bgmv]

Originally Posted by spoofies

How do you figure? .Mobi is supposed to be mobile websites. .Tel isn't supposed to be a website at all.

Thats why I said, "Except for the development aspects and limitations of .tel ..."

[Ms Domainer]

*

What's the difference between .tel and .mobi?

Apparently, a lot!

From what I can tell, .tel is primarily for mobile device use. It's like an electronic business card that can be updated immediately by the owner and be fully accessible to mobile devices. Users will be able to set their own parameters (private info, accessible only to a specified list and public, available to all), but within a very specific format. In other words, you won't be able to add bells and whistles to it; its simplicity is its strength. As long as you pay your registration fee, your .tel address is something you can place on a physical business card, a name that will never change, even if you change jobs, emails, etc.--that is, if you remember to keep your .tel info current.

You can also add keywords for search engine optimization. For example, for my profile, I would add "writer," "educator," "domainer" as my main keywords.

This info comes from here:

http://www.telnic.com/registrars/downloads/vipguide.pdf

And, yes, there is a web presence, albeit minimal. See:

http://justin.vip.tel/

I'm not connected in any way with telnic. Like all of you, I'm just curious as to why this service is any different than any other TLD. I would think that you could set up a simple "card" yourself that would resolve well on mobile devices. You would just have to refrain from putting a lot of bells and whistles on the "card."

For example, why couldn't I take writer [dot] me (which I own and is not for sale) and set up an electronic card on a subdomain, such as Ms[dot]writer[dot].me (don't click; the subdomain doesn't exist).

Or you could dedicate an entire domain for this purpose; I recently registered a three-letter .me, which would work well for a card (because it's short), although it's not very descriptive of me. On the other hand, I was able to nab my son's initials (.me).

From what I can tell, the only advantages to .tel: (1) the possibility of getting your first name or last name domain as an electronic business card. Or a descriptor of what you do for a living, such as lawyer or doctor, which, of course, are gone in other TLDs. (2) Having a preset card template.

Flipping possibilities? At this point, minimal. It's really expensive (landrush "premium" = $375.00 for three years). In the future? Maybe, but it's a long shot.

Having said this, I have applied for two, hoping to get one, but not totally upset if I get neither. Kinda hoping I don't get both, though, though I'll deal with it if I do (one is an extreme long shot).

Here's why I have applied for .tel (with the hope of getting one): at some point (and I'm guessing here--I have no inside info), it could be possible to use a .tel for your public Whois information. Certainly the infrastucture would be there. The .tel offers privacy and public features, and the owner decides what is private and public (though I would think that a registrar would specify a minimum amount of available info required).

IMO, investing heavily in .tel would probably not be wise (unless regular prices drop dramatically); in essence, you're selling "contact management" features.

*

[S~]

Originally Posted by JamesDavid

*** One thing I do think is funny though.... .tel main site is a .org.... not a .tel..

...well wouldn't this be because you can't develop a website on a .tel name?

[JamesDavid]

poker.tel, any value?

[sdsinc]

Originally Posted by S~

Originally Posted by JamesDavid *** One thing I do think is funny though.... .tel main site is a .org.... not a .tel.. ...well wouldn't this be because you can't develop a website on a .tel name?

How ironic

[bgmv]

Originally Posted by JamesDavid

poker.tel, any value?

how could you monetize it if you cant put a site on it? a poker directory?