You’re a web professional, so we don’t need to explain the value of a good domain name. Your domain is your identity, and that’s priceless.

Sometimes it feels like an appropriate domain name is as hard to find as a unicorn playing an accordion. There’s a few tactics you can use, misspellings and hyphens being the most common, but that leaves you explaining away your poor domain name to every client you meet.

The best option, and the only really positive move, is the new TLD for designers: .design.

Branding with .design

For years, the accepted wisdom has been that you must register a .com, anything else is secondary. But for the design industry .design is now the must-have TLD.

.design domains work just like any other, but they immediately communicate to your clients what business you’re in. As a branding exercise, you can’t do much better than to put “design” front and center on everything you do.

What really makes .design stand out as a domain is that it’s an internationally understood word. From New York to Berlin, from Paris to Mogadishu, “design” means design to billions of people. And for millennials, “design” is as important as “cool” was to their parents.

The best thing about .design? The domain squatters haven’t moved in yet, which means you have a limited-time opportunity to register the domain you’ve always wanted, but couldn’t get.

Boosting SEO with .design

Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no inherent benefit in using .design over any other TLD; Google will not prefer your website when it ranks sites. It is possible that a .design domain benefits sites thanks to the keyword “design”, but the jury’s still out on that. And to the human eye, .design clearly communicates what you do and will provide context to your branding, boosting clicks and interest.

What is undisputed is that the best domain for your site, is one that is appropriate for your content. Rather than misspelling, or using hyphens, .design offers the opportunity to register a domain that is appropriate to the natural keyword searches users perform. There are simply more .design domains available to match your content.

Microsites with .design

.design doesn’t just work as a primary domain, it’s a sensational option for blogs, online style guides, media kits, and more. Huge corporations like Facebook and AirBnB are embracing .design to provide a home for, and give a voice to their design teams.

Most web users understand that domains other than .com, .org, and .net, indicate geographic specificity. For example, most users know that .ca is for Canada, and .jp is for Japan. What this means for .design is that users already understand it represents a specialism. A .design TLD tells people instantly that you’re a specialist in your field.

Register a .design

“Design” is reportedly the most common keyword in .com domains, which means it’s only a matter of time before the domain-squatters move in, register your domain on the cheap, and then demand $thousands for it.

Standing out from the .com crowd, with an appropriate .design domain name, is an essential choice for any design professional.

To help you grab the perfect domain for your design business or portfolio, the registrar Porkbun is offering an incredible deal to WebDesignerDepot readers: register your .design domain for just $5 for the first year. Every domain Porkbun sells always comes with free Whois Privacy and SSL certs as well.

[-- This is a sponsored post on behalf of TopLevel --]