In the previous article we talked about the release of the new French domain extensions and for the .paris domain name extension. We continue with .bdh, .alsace and .corsica.

The Domain Extension .bzh

The extension .bzh comes from Breizh (Brittany in the Breton language). This top-level domain is, as for .paris, an excellent communication medium for tourism-related businesses. In addition, companies offering Breton products can enhance their image with a .bzh domain name. Of course, that means Celtic and Breton culture will also be eager to mark its identity by a domain name in .bzh, showing to users, even before they see the site, strong membership to the Breton community.

The reservation of domain names in .bzh is open to legal or people living in Brittany ( Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes d’Armor, Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique, Finistere). Booking is also possible for websites wanting to promote the local culture. Websites who are willing to offer content in Breton or Gallese are also eligible.

The .alsace domain extension

The .alsace top level domain refers to the cultural region of northeastern France. A domain name with this extension can allow a company to reinforce its image in this region but also to communicate outside by marking its membership in Alsace. Here, there is also a strong regional image because of the fact that Alsace has always been between two cultures, since the sharing of Charlemagne’s empire.

The .corsica domain extension

The .corsica extension allows businesses, associations, institutions or individuals to have a domain name testifying to their attachment to the Corsican region.

In addition, the name .corsica brings another dimension to the extension. Corsica is indeed the name of Corsica in Corsican language. This extension also aims to promote the Corsican language on the web with the creation of sites written in Corsican.

What is the future for the new extensions?

The future of these new extensions has been told by AFNIC. The association, working together with the owners of the new extensions of France, has devised three scenarios:

First scenario is where the new extensions are acclaimed by Internet users and site creators.

A second where the new TLDs fail to win against historical extensions like .com.

A third where the confusion brought by the new extensions promotes the use of search engines by Internet users to access Internet addresses.

In its conclusion on this subject, AFNIC points out that the success of new TLDs may not be the responsibility of website creators and even internet users. Search engines largely control the development of new web extensions. If they decide to favor .paris, .bzh or .corsica for local searches, site creators will jump on the new TLDs and Internet users will get used to accessing GeoTLDs.

The fact that Google does or does not consider these new extensions in its local SEO algorithms will be a factor strongly impacting the future of these domain names.

Whether or not the success is for the new extensions, the reservation of a new domain name with a geographical extension will always allow an organization, a company or an association to communicate more easily and to reinforce its image.

The trend is now optimistic about the success of new GeoTLDs. Tangible proof is the diversity of created extensions. This non-exhaustive list of GeoTLDs illustrates the craze around the world: .africa, .amsterdam, .bayern, .berlin, .doha, .durban, .helsinki, .istanbul, .miami, .moscow, .quebec .tokyo, .zuerich.