How to Snag Your .realestate Website Domain Before Your Competition

A new website domain extension is set to debut next week, and Realtors looking for a memorable web address with plenty of SEO potential should take notice.

Website names with a .realestate domain extension go on pre-sale Tuesday, Sept. 18. That means Realtors will be able to purchase domains like Chattanooga.RealEstate or SmithandBrooks.RealEstate.

But, wait—what do we mean by pre-sale? Sales of .realestate domains open to the general public on Nov. 26—but starting Tuesday, members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) or the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) can snag their desired domain before the masses are eligible to.

There is, however, a caveat. In order to secure a .realestate domain, you must own an active .realtor domain. But good news--if you don't already have a .realtor domain, they're free for the first year. So if you're interested in a .realestate domain, take the weekend to get set up with a .realtor domain so that you're squared away for Tuesday's pre-sale.

Do you need a .realestate domain?

If you have an existing website, you probably don't need to switch to a .realestate domain. If your current site has been around a while and is consistently updated, it probably has strong SEO. Since switching to a new website name would essentially erase all your search engine goodwill, it's worth keeping your established name.

Instead, consider redirecting the .realestate domain to your main site, or creating an entirely different site on the .realestate domain--for example, a neighborhood focused site. Also, if you've trademarked the name of your real estate team or practice--Ann Jones Real Estate™, for example--consider reserving AnnJones.realestate so that your company's name isn't taken by somebody else.

If you have no website, a website with weak SEO, or the .com domain you really want is already taken, .realestate is an excellent choice. Why? Because it matches the way consumers search. A prospect looking for a new home in your area or information about the local housing market may type a phrase like Oakland real estate into Google. If your website is Oakland.realestate, you're likely to rank higher in that search because of your site's address. (That's just one facet of SEO, though. Backlinks, credibility, and length of time established all count towards strong SEO, too.)

NAR members can visit get.realestate to check their pre-sale eligibility. Have questions? Visit the .realestate FAQ for answers.

Other Domain Extensions for Real Estate Pros

.realestate is the latest domain extension in a long line of domains that many interest real estate agents and brokers. Here's a sampling of more domain extensions that you may want to try:

• .apartments
• .broker
• .buy
• .condos
• .community
• .estate
• .farm
• .forsale
• .frontdoor
• .homes
• .homesense
• .house
• .land
• .living
• .luxury
• .properties
• .property
• .realtor
• .realty
• .rent
• .rentals
• .sale
• .town

Dot com alternatives are a fun way to differentiate yourself from the competition. And with a well chosen domain name in play, you can potentially earn your website a lot of welcome SEO juice.