.ORG Domains Top the Charts with Six Figure Sales

A recent headline caught my eye the other day. It seems recently that .ORGs have been garnering record sales, which is surprising given the current economic climate and the fact that .ORG has really never actively courted the secondary market. However, we are monitoring it because we believe investments in building brand value and differentiation will start showing up first in secondary market results.

One of the first things we did to differentiate is to build on a successful foundation, because .ORG IS inherently valuable. As one of the original TLDs, it has longevity and worldwide recognition. And unlike .com, though hugely successful, .ORG conveys a message of trust and specific content. If the Internet is the fast growing metropolis, then .ORG is the green oasis of valuable real-estate. You know you are likely to find good content behind a .ORG address, which of course means higher search engine rankings and of course, the penultimate goal - TRAFFIC.

Speaking of traffic, we found something unexpected in talking to various stakeholders about security. Did you know there are pretty savvy Domainers already demanding DNS Security (DNSSEC) from their registrars? Prior to our announcement of DNSSEC implementation, they were already demanding to know how soon their registrars could support this service. For them, it's all about protecting their traffic. So interestingly enough, .ORG becomes differentiated from other TLDs for Domainers because we plan to give means to secure their traffic.

So having started on a good foundation, we went further by highlighting the valuable content (or what we call the .ORG Community) through our “World Voices” Campaign. We invested in new branding, logo, and innovative programs such as the Webby Awards and viral videos that tell the story far more effectively than we could. I am not sure if all these efforts were behind the record sales, as they are all long-term investments…but the indications are positive.

We will be spending more time building the value of .ORG, as we believe the .ORG Community is worth the extra effort and valuable to everyone – including Domainers and the secondary market.