Google enters the domain registration market with the launch of Google domains. Currently the domain registration services from Google are available only in the US. The registration services are supposed to be rolled out to other nations soon.

Priced at a $12/year, we will see a lot of bloggers and small businesses shifting to customized domains. With Google providing third party website hosting, designing, and development services, the shift should be smooth and easy.

How will this impact SEO?

SEO comes naturally in the course of events, there would be by default a need for building websites that are search engine and mobile devises optimized. If a blogger shifts from blogger to an independent domain name, Google may be able to provide some support towards a seamless transition, hopefully without impacting the rankings. The interesting and challenging part will be when bloggers, who are in more or less similar positions in the SERPs now, make the shift to independent domains. How will they rank after making the shift? This is where SEO will have an even larger impact. We will have to wait and see how Google treats websites with different TLDs (many generic TLD extensions were opened last year) in terms of rankings. This is going to be an interesting ride and I am keenly waiting to see some results. The availability of a variety of extensions to choose from is really good news for many. From a business perspective, businesses are now able to get an extension that truly reflects what they do and give them identify. For instance, “.recipes” domains would clearly indicate that the website is to do with “recipes”. It will be easier and effective for both the businesses and their seekers.

I am wondering if there is a check in place for extensions. Can anyone register these extensions? Or do businesses need to provide some proof of the relevance of the extension with their business? Especially for specific Top Level domains such as . coffee, .cab, .education etc.

The below-mentioned URL provides details on the domain registration services and the TLDs provided by Google and other domain registrars :-

https://support.google.com/domains/answer/6010092?hl=en

What are your thoughts about this move from Google? How will Google’s domain registration services impact businesses on the internet?