If you are a newbie to domains and don’t know what it means. Don’t panic. When someone is looking for a website or a part of it online, a domain is that portion of a web address that helps them find it. It consists of texts, along with an IP address in numerical form, of a website, that people can easily remember when searching for a website. It is a unique text or string of texts that opens a website. Let’s learn about ‘Why Are IO Domains So Expensive?’.
Why Are IO Domains So Expensive?
Perhaps this isn’t strange to you, and you know at least a little about the concept of domains, and you have been searching for the perfect domain to use as part of your web address. You may have, in your search come across the IO domain name, and you want to know more about it. Well, this is for you.
Before we go into the IO domain, you should know that it is a top-level domain. A top-level domain is what ends a domain name. For example, in “check-plagiarism.com”, “.com” would be the top-level domain. Top-level domains are divided into generic and country code top-level domains. The generic ones tell us something about who owns them, an individual or perhaps an organization. Examples include “.net”, “.football” etc. The country code domains usually comprise two letters and are domains used by different countries or territories. For example, “.fr” belongs to France, “.de” is to Germany, etc.
About IO Domain
The IO domain, introduced in 1997, is assigned to the British Indian Ocean. It is the region in the Indian Ocean between Indonesia and Tanzania. However, anyone can use it. And if you’re familiar with all this, you should know that the IO domain is very expensive. In this article, we’ll discuss just why this is so. Just keep reading.
Why IO domains are expensive: Reasons Explained?
One of the initial steps of planning an online business is to get a domain name. You can’t have an online business without this. You’re wasting your time and you might as well just be pouring water into a basket. Domains, like “.org” and “.com” are very popular and commonly used. But there is another one that charges a lot more than they do, the IO domain. Yes, the IO domain is more expensive than its counterparts. We will discuss some of the reasons this is so below.
1. Tech companies love it
Tech companies around the world are perhaps the biggest buyers of the IO domains. It appeals more to them because of its root in computer science. In the world of computers, IO is an abbreviation of Input/Output. This is among the most important bedrock of any technology, new or old. Input/Output describes the computer’s task of receiving data and giving out desired and meaningful information. For example, you are searching for the top ten richest women in the world, and you input that into the search bar on your computer. You just gave it a task to do. Now, the output would be to show you the list of the top ten richest women. As you can imagine, it can be very compelling to a tech company, to have an important computer expression as their domain. They would not mind paying extra, so long as they can have a footprint like that in the computing world. This appeal it gives out to tech firms is one of the reasons it is so expensive.
More groups other than tech companies use the domain too. They include game developers, tech bloggers, programmers, and so on. It’s safe to say that in the future, the IO domain will begin to move out of the tech space into others as it grows more popular. When this happens, you can expect it to become even more expensive.
2. You can get a website with the IO domain easier than the others
The fact that it is far easier to get a website with an IO domain is another reason it is more expensive. As of 2019, about 340 million domains were registered, according to Makeawebsitehub.com. And many of these websites have the “.com” or “.org” domains. Many people are using those two and it is getting harder every year for people to register websites under those two domains. So, most people have switched over to using the IO domain. For example, if someone is interested in registering a website with the domain name, “gotoheaven.com”, there is a very high chance that name is already taken. So, rather than changing the name, the person just switches over to using the IO domain. So, because more people already have their ideal website name taken already in the “.com” or “.org” domain and are switching over to using the IO domain, this demand has made IO much more expensive.
Though note that in you trying to get a site with an IO domain, that has the same name as another in the other domains, you should not plagiarize the site, or else, you might breach copyright laws and get sued. So just don’t. It is a good idea to own a website in both IO and COM domains. That way, no one can copy your site.
3. The registration fees are high
The registration fee for the IO domain is determined by the ICB, The Internet Computer Bureau. And they have set a high price for it. Because the registry has the right to sell out this domain, they also control the prices of the standard registration fees. The exact price they charge is unknown, but in every domain market, IO domains have higher prices compared to their counterparts. Although there could be other reasons for this, the ICB’s high registration fees take one of the top spots. The high fees come because of the high demand.
Also, you should know that the ICB could still increase the fees if the IO domain trend continues to move up. So, if you are planning to get a site with an IO domain, you best get it now or prepare to pay higher amounts of money in the future.
4. The registration process is also complex
You will realize that when you try to compare the registration for IO domains with other domains, the IO registration is much more complicated. The reason for this is that the entire process is handled by British Indian Ocean Territory. And the government has added more steps to follow in the IO domain registration, unlike the others. The government sets up this process for people and firms interested in using the domain and this costs the government a huge amount of money. Because of this, the price for IO domains is high and you have to pay a lot of money.
5. Professionalism and very high quality
Many business owners want to present themselves as professional and having a high-grade service. Well, IO domains go a long way in making this very easy. An IO domain displays more professionalism and quality than the standard domains. In the long term, this helps to bring customer attention and boosts sales. The benefits you receive from IO domains are one of the reasons they are so expensive.
All these reasons and more are what make having an IO domain so expensive.
Is Having An IO Domain Safe?
Yes, it is very safe to use an IO domain for your site. It is one of the best top-level domains to use if you want to secure worldwide attention for your business. Of course, whatever domain you use, you can still take extra steps to enhance security. Here are some of the steps:
- All content guidelines must be strictly followed.
- Your domain name should not be used for illegal actions.
- Enable domain privacy to keep contact info safe.
- Update your contact information with the registrar, so that they can contact you if anything suspicious comes up.
These are some ways to help maintain and improve domain security. And this applies to all domains, whether IO or not.
Conclusion
So, the reasons IO domains are so expensive to have been covered. Due to their high fees and complex registration process, they are usually pricier than the others. But, it is a very good investment to have in the long run. So, if you’re looking for a very good domain to use for your business, an IO domain is just right for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the process of getting an IO domain?
To get an IO domain, you can check in with any domain registrar, and get one that hasn’t been taken. You can also check out providers like Namecheap and GoDaddy.
- How many IO domains are registered?
IO is one of the most popular domains, and as of 2020, about 300,000 websites with IO domains have been registered.
- What country is the IO domain assigned to?
It is not a country, but a region in the Indian Ocean. It is called British Indian Ocean Territory.
- Can anyone use an IO domain?
Yes, of course. Currently, a lot of people and companies around the world make use of it. That so many people use it has changed the IO domain from being a country code top-level domain to a generic one, as it now serves a large audience.
