Landrush for .nyc top level domains is underway and applications for websites are coming in fast. There are already myriads of .nyc applications, and dozens of live sites on the web, ranging from local businesses to government offices. Live sites belong to the City or were part of the exclusive Founders program, but New Yorkers can apply for their domains now, and get them the first weeks of October.
Forward thinkers and early adopters include generalassembly.nyc, the popular coworking community, First Lady Of New York City Chirlane McCray's at flo.nyc and Casey Neistat now casey.nyc, among several others.
The arts in New York are also getting involved with .nyc domains like brooklynmusicfestival.nyc, murals.nyc, and mtf.nyc. New York publications are also jumping on this opportunity, such as gothamist.nyc and gaycitynews.nyc. By reporting the news of New York City on a website with a .nyc domain, a strong identity that New Yorkers will be inclined to align with is created.
For some websites, the .nyc domain is about stating a New York presence and/or involvement. Newyearseve.nyc and winterseve.nyc are perfect examples of this. Other businesses and corporations have created short, memorable and meaningful web addresses, such as bees.nyc, row.nyc.
These websites benefit from using the .nyc domain in several ways. By branding themselves as exclusively New York, not only do they get a memorable and cached website name, but also receive search engine SEO advantages, amongst other benefits.
According to the directors of one of the official registration services, HelloDotNYC (www.hellodotnyc.com), the search engine (SEO) benefits are also showing from the start. Typing in the keyword "bees nyc" into Google, gives one of the early adopters, the New York City Beekeepers Association, the first result. These results will most likely vary in accordance with keywords that have higher or lower competition rates, but there is a clear benefit that can be seen right now.
New Yorkers can apply for .nyc domains now. Delivery of the domains that go through a successful application process is scheduled for the first weeks of October. New Yorkers can beat the date and apply now in the "early bird" Landrush phase at registration services like HelloDotNYC https://hellodotnyc.com
