According to early indicators, these .church domain names are very popular—.church is in the top 30 of new gTLDs out of an estimated 1,000+ suffixes! This window of opportunity to be part of church innovations is worth considering and preparing for, accordingly

Did you know that the Internet name space is quickly expanding far beyond the commonly used domains ending with .com, .net, or .org? And that .church domain names are coming soon?

If you didn’t know, you are not alone. One survey showed that 54 percent of Americans are unaware of the new gTLDs (generic top-level domains) and that they have begun to launch, but other parts of the world (including U.K., Germany, and China) have much greater awareness.

In 2014 so far, the Internet has launched more than 250 new gTLDs, with the most popular new domain extensions include: .xyz, .berlin, .club, .guru, .photography.

The launching of .church domain names is imminent—churches and pastors need to be aware of this opportunity. Here are five reasons your church should consider registering a .church domain name:

1. Protect your church name. This is called brand protection in the marketplace. Your church name is valuable and you may consider protecting your church name against someone else using your church’s name as a .church domain name for cybersquatting, watchdog blogs, bad publicity, misrepresentation, parody, impersonation, porn, religious cults, or other crazy things bad people could dream up. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and the Internet isn’t exempt.

2. Get a better domain name. Just as logos and website designs get a refresh from time to time, this is an opportunity for a memorable, meaningful, and shorter domain name. (And a .church domain name can help with your search engine ranking too.) For example:

westdallascommunitychurch.com could be westdallas.church

newlifechurch.tv could become newlife.church

livingwordonline.org could be more meaningful with livingword.church

westsidefamilychurch.com could become westside.church

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