Relying on spreading a website's address to consumers has never been
a good way to market online.

Unless a firm is the lucky holder of a truly simple domain name
(Hotels.com, Diet.co.uk and so on), it cannot hope to make enough
consumers remember its address to keep it in work.

The majority of online business is directed through search engines. A
buyer does not open a browser and try to remember the address of
Inter Flora, they open Google or Yahoo! and search for "buy flowers
online".

However, ICANN's latest decision to massively expand the number of
top level domains available is going to make the battle for online
audiences even harder.

As the number of variations increases and the complexity of web
addresses grow, consumers will become even less likely to remember
them, making the importance of decent SEO even more pronounced.

Furthermore, the ICANN move will create considerably more scope for
cybersquatting and brand infringement, as unscrupulous people aim to
cash in on a firm's reputation by purchasing its name within a new
top level domain.

There exist ways for brands to challenge such developments, but it is
vital firms are in a strong ranking position in anticipation of such
a threat. The last thing a brand needs is to be outranked in search
results by the cybercrook hijacking its identity.

Secure high visibility for your domain now, use paid ads if
necessary. Just make sure your corporate space is easily found before
the internet expands even further.