As a website creator, consultant and the owner of a hosting company for both general and radio/podcast sites, I often discuss domain options with clients at the beginning of a project. If the .com is already taken, some clients who are based in the United States immediately consider the .us TLD (top level domain) suffix since it has several benefits: The .us TLD is short, easy to pronounce and understand when stated aloud in person, on the telephone, on the radio, TV or on a podcast, even when said aloud in several other languages. The .us TLD is also great if the individual or organization wants to flaunt the fact that it is based in the United States. However, there are also two negative issues that creators should know in advance.
Privacy
The .us TLD doesn’t currently allow domain privacy. That means that the address you list for the domain’s contacts will be publicly visible in the WhoIs. This may be a problem for some but not all. You may simply choose an alternate address to use to thwart privacy and identity issues. Many other popular TLDs support domain privacy, including .art, .com, .mx, .net, .soy and .tv but .us currently does not, as of publication time of this article.
IDN (International Domain Name) capability for accented domains
For decades, many of my friends, clients and I have been using accented domains. Whenever I propose their use to newbies, the initial objection I always hear is that many potential visitors won’t be able to type in the accented character or assume that it is publicized only for decorative purposes. That is absolutely true, but is easily solved by purchasing and properly configuring the non-accented version of the domain so that it will instantly redirect to the accented one. Only the cost of the domain is doubled, not the cost of the hosting. Here are some examples:
- Type in AllanTepper.soy (without the accent mark) and you are instantly redirected to AllanTépper.soy with the accent mark visible in the browser.
- Type in CarrenoFiduciario.com (without the ñ) and you are instantly redirected to CarreñoFiduciario.com with the ñ visible in the browser.
- Type in DanielAbruna.com (without the ñ) and you are instantly redirected to DanielAbruña.com with the ñ visible in the browser.
- Type in Elgatoqueselecoloacolon.com (without the two accent marks) and you are instantly redirected to ElgatoqueselecolóaColón.com with the two accent marks visible in the browser.
- Type in FaguaLopez.com (without the accent mark) and you are instantly redirected to FaguaLópez.com with the accent mark visible in the browser.
It is as simple as purchasing both domains and redirecting the non-accented one to the accented one. That’s what we facilitate via AccentedDomains.com and DominiosTildados.com. Sadly, IDN (accented domains) are not yet supported by the .us TLD, even though it is supported by many other popular TLDs including .art, .com, .net, .soy and .tv. The .us TLD is missing that capability even though many words and brands in the US use accent marks —even in English. Think about brands like Bacardí, Nescafé and Nestlé. Think about words like piña colada, piñata or résumé. And of course, the second language in the United States is Castilian, and this country is the number 2 worldwide in terms of Castilian-speaking inhabitants. The United States is second only to México, which is number 1.
Conclusions
If you are based in the United States and your desired domain name doesn’t require any accent mark, ñ or diaeresis/tréma/umlaut, the .us TLD is a good option as long as you are aware of the privacy issue and act accordingly. If you would like to request either or both of two missing features be added to the .us TLD, contact the governing authority via its contact form at About.us. I have already done that, as have a few friends who also want these features added. I use the .us TLD with my company site TecnoTur.us.
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