Why the .App Domain Name is Insanely Popular

.App domain names officially became available to register on May 8, 2018, and there was clearly a lot of demand. People registered over 150,000 names ending in .app within the first 24 hours!
Why all of the buzz with this top level domain (TLD)? Should you register a .App domain name? Read on to find out.

What is .App, Anyway?

Starting in 2014 hundreds of new TLDs, or domain extensions, became available to register. These extensions range from industry domains (such as .coffee) to location domains (such as .london) to generic terms (such as .world).
These TLDs have proven popular with many of you. Namecheap customers have registered over three million domains with these new extensions. That makes Namecheap the largest North American registrar for new top level domain registrations.
And now there’s .app, the latest new TLD to hit the market—and it’s a doozy. One reason is that apps are so popular. Another reason is that Google is backing the .app TLD.

A Fast Start

Many new TLDs are niche domains that have fewer than 10,000 registrations. While expectations were high for .app, early registration volumes surprised many industry watchers.
To give you a sense of the scope of the .app TLD: 30,000 .App domain names were registered within three minutes after they became available on May 8. After 24 hours there were 150,000 .App domains registered.
The numbers continue to grow.

How .App Domain Names Work

Interested in a .App domain name? These names are easy to register at Namecheap, and work just like other domain names… with one important caveat.
That caveat is that you must use an SSL certificate on your.App domain name. Without the SSL certificate, most browsers won’t let people access the domain or the website found there.
It’s a good practice to use an SSL certificate on all of your websites. In fact, Google’s Chrome browser will soon let all visitors know that a site is not secure if there isn’t an SSL installed.
Here’s the good news: Namecheap is offering a free SSL certificate with every .App domain!
You can register a .App domain name for only $14.98 and get a free PositiveSSL certificate for one year.
Other than requiring an SSL certificate, .app domain names work just like other domains such as .com.
Google is the registry behind .App domain names. All of the domain names you register at Namecheap are managed by a registry, be it Google or one of many other technology companies.
When you register a .App domain name at Namecheap, we connect directly with Google to reserve the name. You then manage it at Namecheap just like other domains.

Is .App Right for You?

.App domain names are great for companies that offer apps on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and other app stores. Your .app website helps boost your SEO as well, allowing people to find your app in search engines like Google.
The term “app” is now a common term for software as well, so if your business creates software, it makes sense to register a .app domain name.
No plans to offer an app just yet? That might change. It’s becoming easy to create apps that people can use to access blogs, podcasts and other types of content. If you think you might create an app in the future, it makes sense to go ahead and register your site name in .App while it’s still available.

Early Adopters

Here are examples of some of the first sites to be built with a .App domain name:

• Menu.app – Menu makes it easy to order, reorder or pay in restaurants using your smartphone.

• Bark.app – Bark is a parental control app.

• Puppr.app – Train your dog with Puppr.

Now that you know how great the .App domain name is, are you ready to register one for your own business? Get started here.