izo-pod said:
You make some excellent points. A generic domain is no guarantee of success, alternatives get virtually no type-in traffic, and extension fashions come and go. I can square all of three of these points with why people should register .pro.
Firstly, generic domains are no guarantee of success. I hand regged .pro domains that would cost thousands of dollars to buy in other alternative extensions but sound half as credible.
Surely paying reg fee for a generic .pro is better value than having to bid more than anybody else for a .me or .asia, pay a rip off annual tithe for a .tv, or overpay for a hyped ugly extension like .mobi?
Secondly, all alternatives get virtually no type in traffic so why pay a premium for a .biz, .mobi, .tv, .me when undeveloped they would still get very little traffic?
Only 1 in 6 internet users navigate by typing domains into their broswer. The 5 out of 6 who don't use search engines so SEO is king and .pro is at no disadvantage to other alternatives so why reg weak watered down generics in other alternative extension when you can get the real deal in .pro?
Extension fashions come and go but that's why I would avoid .asia, .me, and .mobi. They were very well marketed, most registrars offered them, and alot of domainers banged their drum, they had every chance of succeeding in the short term but also further to fall when the crowd move on. .pro is still virtually unheard of so with only 21,000 registered people are still getting in at the beginning. You can't say that about any other gTLD.
A .pro domain is more than just a generic keyword paired with an extension. The extension becomes part of the brand. People stuck the letters pro before and after words to make company names long before the Internet so .pro has an innate appeal as a domain extension.
.pro doesn't need hype to prosper, it's survived in the most appalling conditions during the past 4 years, archaic restrictions that ruled out 99.9% of registrants, obscene $99 registration fees, only 1 registrar, and no marketing.
Hopefully, the tripling of .pro registrations will convince RegistryPro to focus on the three things that brought that about;
1) Lower reg fees. .pro is still overpriced, reg fees and renewal fees need to fall to $10,
2) Development friendly restrictions. The more people who can register .pro, the more people will register .pro. The revised restrictions are an improvement but the extension won't succeed until RegistryPro ditch professional certification in favour of just professional use. Keep the extension professional but judge people on their output not on the letters after their name acquired 10, 20, maybe 30 years ago, before the Internet even existed.
3) More registrar choice. The only real success here was Network Solutions. Hostway and DomainPeople don't really count because they are part of the Group that owns the registry. The situation is still dire, there is no real choice and you can't transfer .pro domains. RegistryPro have got to get a big volume registrar like Godaddy selling .pro, they sell virtually everything else so I don't know why they can't offer .pro.
