The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is pleased to announce that on October 23, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. EDT, NAR members can claim their .REALTOR top-level domain. With a .REALTOR domain, members can instantly communicate to consumers their status as a REALTOR® in their website address, which strengthens their connection to the REALTOR® brand and identifies them as a trusted source for real estate information. NAR will provide one free .REALTOR domain for one year to the first 500,000 members who register.
The Online World Is Changing
We’re all familiar with .com, .net, .edu and the handful of other top-level domains (TLDs), but the Internet has become a cluttered, confusing online landscape. There are currently more than 271 million registered domain names on the Internet today, with too many users fighting for a commercial name space. Registering for a domain has become expensive and difficult, as there are not many .com names left. This is why, in 2005, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began considering the introduction of new, generic, top-level domains (gTLDs), with the intent to bring order to the chaos of the Internet.
NAR has been following this initiative for the past eight years and was one of more than 1,900 applications submitted for a TLD. NAR wanted to provide an exclusive REALTOR® domain to its membership, demonstrating the organization’s commitment to its members and showcasing the value of the $5 billion REALTOR® brand. In 2011, ICANN approved the expansion of the number of gTLDs, which included allowing companies and organizations to create domains for their brands. NAR was among the first associations to be granted a TLD exclusively for its membership and is pleased to finally bring this exclusive benefit to its members this October.
Benefits of the .REALTOR Domain
.REALTOR creates a name space for REALTORS® on the Internet. It allows you and your agents to be instantly branded as real estate experts consumers can trust. And since .REALTOR is only available to REALTORS®, there’s a clean slate of domain names to choose from, allowing you and your agents to get the Web address you want. With .REALTOR, REALTORS® can now stand apart from the .coms, .nets and other TLDs.
To celebrate the launch of this exciting initiative, the first 500,000 members who register will receive one free .REALTOR domain for one year. Additional .REALTOR domains can be purchased at the same time, starting at $39.95 per year with multi-year and multi-domain discounts available. With a .REALTOR domain, brokers and agents in the U.S. will also receive a FREE realtor.com® profile website that can be customized to share content that’s important to you and your clients, including your listings, social media and client recommendations. You can even virtually “check-in” at open houses and showings too, further showcasing yourself as the local real estate expert.
Are You Ready?
It’s time to embrace the changing online landscape. Visit www.about.REALTOR to view all the helpful tools and resources that are available to you and your agents. From videos to fact sheets to naming guidelines, everything you and your agents need to prepare for the October 23 launch is just a click away.
And remember to claim your .REALTOR domain on October 23 at 11:00 a.m. EDT at www.claim.REALTOR.
Claim Your .REALTOR Domain on October 23, 2014
- Instantly communicate to consumers your status as a REALTOR® in your
website address. - The first 500,000 members who register will receive one free .REALTOR domain for one year.
- Pricing for additional domains starts at $39.95 per year, with multiple domains and multiple-year discounts available.
- Domain names will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
- For more information, visit www.about.REALTOR.
Visit www.claim.REALTOR on October 23 to claim yours.
