small country TLD... what do you think?

[krest]

I am planning on investing in my country TLD but its a small country and alot of people are not use to the internet here. A lot of generic domain are available to hand register... Do you think it will be a good investment in the long run?

[katherine]

.ng ? It's not a 'small' country
It all depends on the exact TLD.
If you are not prepared to develop them think twice.

If many great generic keywords are available it speaks volume about the popularity of the extension.
Or it could be that it's too expensive, restricted or bureaucratic.
Now, if it's your home country premium domains could give you an edge in business if you use them... your country may be in need of pioneers

[peter]

IF you have serious development plans (not just minisites), you should definitely be investing in your ccTLD. Why compete with the whole world, when you already have an "edge" in Nigeria, where you can find good names as well

[krest]

Thanks for the suggestion. I want to register a large portfolio of names and develop some of them. I discover that a lot of our internet entrepreneur are not aware about the important of generic domain. So my plan is to invest for the future

[Dale Hubbard]

If they're good enough for Microsoft (bi.ng) and Google (googli.ng) then I'd say you were on a really safe bet, if Nigeria is your country. Great investment opportunity IMHO.

[dcristo]

What exactly do you mean by the long run? Like in 20 years?

[Dale Hubbard]

What exactly do you mean by the long run? Like in 20 years?

Like us, he's probably not in a position to know. The nature of 'forward investing' in domains is speculative at best, but perhaps he has a little virgin territory to work on. The .ng domains look prohibitively expensive though...

[radioz]

I want to register a large portfolio of names and develop some of them.

Fools advice - Register only a few of the very best and ones that you plan to use. No matter what, renewing names that produce no income year after year gets very old and makes you poor! I can't tell you how many times that I have seen someone register tons of names only to throw up their hands and let both the good and bad ones expire. Do your research and register only the best. While I don't know a lot about Nigeria, from here at least, it doesn't seem like a country that is completely off of the map. I am sure that at least some are available as they may not be as good as you may think. Be careful.

[krest]

Fools advice - Register only a few of the very best and ones that you plan to use. No matter what, renewing names that produce no income year after year gets very old and makes you poor! I can't tell you how many times that I have seen someone register tons of names only to throw up their hands and let both the good and bad ones expire. Do your research and register only the best. While I don't know a lot about Nigeria, from here at least, it doesn't seem like a country that is completely off of the map. I am sure that at least some are available as they may not be as good as you may think. Be careful.

thanks radioz.... i think that will be a more better investment

[gridtalker]

I am planning on investing in my country TLD but its a small country and alot of people are not use to the internet here. A lot of generic domain are available to hand register... Do you think it will be a good investment in the long run?

If you going to develope them then go for it

[Jeroen]

West Africa is a region full of business opportunities (I spent a few years there but never been in Nigeria). Even the ones with the least purchasing power own a mobile phone these days. My hunch is that the internet will be much more integrated in these regions too.

I would look at what kind of businesses are successful in other (neighboring) countries and see if you can translate the model to your region. Many producers and exporters have no clue about domainnames, websites etc and do not know how to connect to the online business world in other countries. I know the fresh produce niche is such an example. You could help them out by creating a professional looking site and possibly do other things for them too.

[krest]

West Africa is a region full of business opportunities (I spent a few years there but never been in Nigeria). Even the ones with the least purchasing power own a mobile phone these days. My hunch is that the internet will be much more integrated in these regions too.

I would look at what kind of businesses are successful in other (neighboring) countries and see if you can translate the model to your region. Many producers and exporters have no clue about domainnames, websites etc and do not know how to connect to the online business world in other countries. I know the fresh produce niche is such an example. You could help them out by creating a professional looking site and possibly do other things for them too.

Thanks for your suggestion. Its obvious you have to Africa because the number of mobile phone user is growing every year and the internet is become more accessible. My country is also growing and i have spotted some opportunities i will invest in 2012.... I really your comment

[damitssam]

You didn't get on the bandwagon when it was FREE to register .com.ng domains?!

[catchmesleeping]

It really does seem there are lots of good .ng names available - and many people would love to buy domain hack names ending in .ng --- runni.ng, etc. Online it says the cost of a .ng domain is $25,000. I hope you have some better connections, and can get insider pricing!

Major city names might be a good place to start with registrations. Lagos.ng?

[krest]

You didn't get on the bandwagon when it was FREE to register .com.ng domains?!

i miss the free registration

[wantedfree]

If it's something you plan on not promoting on the search engines, then go for it.

If it's for long term, you don't see much smaller country domain names ranked on top of google searches.

Hope that helped.

[Poker]

The domains cost 7,500,000 Naira, and that is for the first 5 years of reg.

7,500,000 Naira = 46,239.21 USD

46,239.21 USD per year = $9248.00

That would answer my question right there.

[krest]

If it's something you plan on not promoting on the search engines, then go for it.

If it's for long term, you don't see much smaller country domain names ranked on top of google searches.

Hope that helped.

You might be right but i believe with a proper SEO in place my ccTLD will rank top in search engine. I want to consult an SEO expert.

[Jeroen]

You might be right but i believe with a proper SEO in place my ccTLD will rank top in search engine. I want to consult an SEO expert.

ccTLDs rank well in their respective countries. Take Europe for example, you will find most top ranked sites have a ccTLD along with some other extensions like, com/net/org etc. This is my observation as a non SEO expert