The .CO domain is becoming the hottest domain name for new startups

Domain names ending in .CO are ubiquitous among startups these days. But .CO wasn’t always a popular domain choice. In fact, they couldn’t be registered by businesses outside of Colombia for many years.

So how did we get from a domain used only by people and businesses in Colombia to one used by companies like Twitter, Angelist, 500 Startups, Fresh Greens, and Bird?

As .CO is about to celebrate its 11th birthday in July, here’s the story behind the domain.

Early history

The domain .CO is what’s called a country code top level domain name. Any time you see a two letter domain name like this (think .CA), it’s a country-code domain name. Starting in the early days of the web, these were handed out to countries for their stewardship.

Colombia’s .CO domain was originally handed to University of The Andes in Bogota, Colombia. It put in place strict rules about who could register a domain name. The domain was mostly used by Colombian businesses and they could only register domains at the “third level”, e.g. example.com.co instead of example.co.

Over time, the University considered lifting restrictions. Colombia’s Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications stepped in and went through the process of finding a partner that could make .CO more than just a little-used domain for Colombia. It found this partner in .CO Internet S.A.S., a company formed to bring .CO to the world.

.CO ready for lift-off

In 2010, .CO Internet relaunched .CO as a global domain. It marketed the domain as a simple, short domain name with lots of built-in potential. It helped that people think of co as short for “company”, “corporation,” or “commerce”. It’s also only one letter off from .COM, the most common domain name extension.

The 2010 relaunch was a big success. Domains became available for anyone to register on July 20, 2010, and over a quarter-million .CO domains were registered within the first couple of days.

The launch was helped by big companies getting on board. Twitter began using t.co as the default link shortener for tweets. Amazon bought a.co and Google announced plans to use g.co as a URL shortener.

Domain Marketing

The launch gave the domain some inertia, but .CO Internet had to sustain it. It turned to heavy marketing to get the word out.

The company realized that it was hard to convince companies to switch domains. The easiest time to get a company to select a domain extension was when they were starting out. So why not target startups?

At this time, there was a renaissance of sorts in the startup world. Starting a company became the cool thing to do and a legitimate career path.

.CO Internet marketed where the startups were. It had a presence at startup-friendly SXSW in Austin. It partnered with Startup American Partnership, 500 Startups, Tech Cocktail, Startup weekend, and Startup Bus.

It made an even bigger splash by releasing Super Bowl commercials.

All of this marketing worked. Companies started using .CO domains because they could get short, memorable domains that weren’t available in .COM. By early 2013, there were 1.5 million .CO domain names registered.

This caught the interest of other companies. In 2014, .CO Internet sold itself to another domain company for $109 million.

Read More

4 reasons why blogs are great for business

For years, people have been saying blogging is dead—but is it true? If blogs are truly irrelevant, then why, for example, did 66 percent of marketers report using blogs in their social media content in 2017, according to Social Media Examiner? If blogs no longer matter, why are so many businesses deciding to get on board? Is everyone blogging without reason, or could blogs actually have something to offer?

Here’s the truth: In 2021, blogs are still good for business. Through blogging, you can reap several key benefits that make the practice worthwhile—from new leads to better website traffic to a way to connect with customers.

Curious to learn more? Here’s a look at four key reasons why your business might want to invest in blogging today.

1. Blogs improve website SEO

In today’s saturated internet, any business that wants to boost traffic has to think about search engine optimization—the practice of building content and authority to create higher search engine rankings—if it’s going to be found. Blogs are a huge part of this. How? Consider this: According to research, websites with blogs have about 434 percent more indexed pages than websites without them. That’s a huge difference, but also one that makes sense. When you consider how blogs feature pages and pages of content in the form of posts, you can see how there are enormous opportunities for building keyword-rich text that gets picked up and featured by search engines. This is why companies with blogs tend to have more inbound links, more indexed pages, and more indexed links overall. So, if you want to build a more robust website to attract search traffic, blogging is the place to start.

2. Blogs generate leads

Because part of generating leads involves building trust, blogging is a huge asset here, too. According to HubSpot, B2B marketers with blogs attract 67 percent more leads than those that don’t blog. Why? Part of the answer is exposure. The more times a prospect has contact with you through your consistent blogging, the more likely he or she is to choose your product or service. It’s become more familiar, more credible, and more valuable in the prospect’s mind. The helpful content you post allows you to build authority, trust, and value that makes it easier for a prospect to fill out a contact form or sign up for a newsletter. To make the most of lead generation through blogging, focus on creating quality content that provides value to your target audience—and use clear, compelling calls to action (such as offering a free consultation or providing an e-book to download). Over time, this naturally helps bring leads to you.

3. Blogs connect you with customers

Regular blogging is a great way to give your business a clear voice, whether that’s authoritative and professional, fun and relatable, personal, or something else—which makes it a great way for customers to connect with you.

As you create content, you are naturally showing your audience what you care about, why they should trust you—and it gives them something from which to respond. You also get to choose your topics, allowing you to share your take on various aspects of your industry that you might not be able to talk about on your main site. The readers who come to your blog hear from you, learn about you, and have a better sense of who you are and what you offer as a result. They also have a place to post their comments, message you, and enter conversations that lead to relationships.

4. Blogs build and communicate authority

While it’s true that technically anyone can blog, it’s also true that consistent, quality content is rare enough that it naturally sets you apart in the field. In other words, any business that consistently churns out quality content becomes an authority in its field. Whether your industry is HVAC services, vacation rentals, marketing support, or sportswear, when you keep writing posts relevant to your audience, you become a voice people trust. Simultaneously, producing quality content forces you to strengthen your own knowledge. Why? Regularly writing about your industry demands that you know your stuff—forcing you to dig into topics, stay on top of new developments in your field, and practice articulating what you know.

So, back to the original question: Is blogging, in fact, dead? Based on the four benefits listed above, the answer is no. Or, at least, blogging is alive and well for the business world. Any brand that’s looking to boost SEO, generate more leads, connect with its audience, and become an established authority in its field can’t afford to ignore blogging today. For an investment of time, you reap a gold mine of business benefits. So, take the time to craft helpful, informative, useful content for your audience—and, through blogging, reap rich rewards for the long haul.

Read More