It’s still there. Really.
.Tel has been quiet, at least in the domainer community, for quite some time. There are a couple good reasons for this: you can’t park .tel domains and no one is getting rich trying to resell them for a profit.
The company sent out its latest newsletter today and it has some interesting data.
The first thing that caught my eye was that you will soon be able to add video to your site. But it can only be done via API. I’ve long thought that .tel is an over-technicalized solution geared at non-techies, and this is a prime example. Granted, there are plenty of third party solutions to develop your .tel domain. But why is a third party necessary? .Tel should be easy. It’s not.
The video also signals that .tel domains are becoming just a bit more like web pages.
Now, about those numbers. Here’s a handy infographic from .tel.
In 2011, .tel says the “number of members in the .tel community” expanded by 41%.
I’m not quiet sure what “members” mean. Unless the number of registrants increased by a bunch in December, this doesn’t represent total .tel domains. In November 2011, the last month for which official numbers are available, there were 280,502 .tel domains. At the beginning of 2012 there were 256,566.
This certainly isn’t what Telnic investors had in mind when they plowed $35 million into the company.
On the plus side, 79% of the “.tel community” owns just one domain. And as of February there were an impressive 64,274 .tel IDNs.
(Very) limited TLDs like .tel and .mobi, in the best case, would have become niche extensions.
Just went on the Telnic site and there’s info there about PPC and Adsense for your .tel names. Now I really don’t know what the difference between .tel and other TLDs is…
Tel keeps amazing me. Every year i think everyone will drop it and every year most renew their .tels.
The few .TEL investors that i know will all renew for this year ( i am not one of them).
@Theo
The domains acquired at landrush in 2009 were registered for 3 years. But now they are coming up for renewal. It will be interesting to watch the registrations stats in the coming months.
If .tel is going to go anywhere they really need to change the system to regular dns.
In the way it is, you can’t even add an image aside from a logo, too restrictive.
I have six, out of which two are for brand protection, guess I’ll be renewing them but more for forms sake than any utility, they don’t even show up in searches like they were supposed to.
Do.Tel
1800howcrazyisthat.tel too funny
The logical conclusion and paramount idea of the .tel would be to build a yellow pages-like online directory based upon this framework, and they are
steering this way, BUT no SME would ever put down their entire list of workers in a surgical fashion – are you out of your mind? The phone then
just would not stop ringing from Call Center Cowboys and other data miners! On top of this, why the hell would a bakery, copy shop, or barbershop
want this? Their business is not dependant of the phone, and yes, these businesses make up the biggest part of the service industry!
“Umm hello, do you sell bread?”
“Yes, we do!”
This would have worked end of the 90s, but trends have changed. Besides, social networks are interesting, because you somehow remain anonymous to the
world that is not part of your world.
Zuckerberg can very well talk about an open, connected world, but exchanging business cards is serious matter. Oh yeah, and by the way, telFriends
sucks ass, just in case you thought about “protecting” your data. Just write a business card with invisible ink, if you like!
All the people investing in .tel domains, wanting to build their own directory or buying names just to create a .tel bubble have failed conclusively,
and I can attest because I know them.
.Tel was originally sold as a real-time business card. Although this concept is still valid, one of the biggest attractions of .tel is the simplicity of creating a web presence for a small business for only $10 per year (no hosting, no programmer).
Granted, you get some limitations like a max of 2 images plus logo, but you do get banner ads and adSense if needed. And next week videos will be available.
But to me, the biggest attraction is the ability to easily create SEO-friendly subdomains that match the search terms that local consumers use to find products and services. No other TLD can do this (subdomaining) without a tedious effort from a web developer or the site owner.
So for ten bucks, any business can get a lot for their money.
@ Mark – I’d love to see an example of a .tel ranking well based on its subdomains.
@AA I’ve got tons of examples. Here are just a few from my own domains. Most searches are from google.ca and “long tail”. Single keywords are too competitive without lots of linking.
tobago plantations hotel
shagg salon yorkville
blood plasma Johnstown
ancaster doctors accepting new patients
lcbo york mills
free mobile quizzes
Match the search to the subdomain name and you’ll see the relationship.
Bottomline: for SMB just starting out, they get exposure without an expensive SEO expert.
Forgot to add the results are all within top 10 of google.ca
Thanks Mark. Did you have to build some links to them, I assume?
Each site has a referring link from one main site (kprobe.tel). As far as other sites, some might have some crosslinks but not many.
Well i must say, i own
about sixty tel domain and the are great !
For onley 10 euro you have 3500 pages , and onley the adsene on it is well enough to pay the domains!
And the most dun part is , i am popping up everywer on googler between the big boys
Check this in Google
” pinnen scheveveningen”
“coffeeshop Scheveningen”
See i cover half the first page on Google !
I can onley say i love them!
The big boys that are for years on
the frontpage Google ranking, are totaly in shock!
You can ad banners, adsense, And even video from every buisnes listed on my directory!
And in combination with those rankings i Will blow the oldtimer elite away with those grazy domains!
10 euro coas,t i urn back in à single hrs onley with my adsense , And 3500 pages to rent x €20.00,-
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I said enough and good luck to all of you
Mark has mentioned the unbelievable value-for-money of a .tel domain at approx $10 per year, which includes registration, hosting and in-built SEO friendly construction through every page being a subdomain.
I use Domains123.tel as a way of getting sales enquiries for my domain site Domains123.com – the .tel is automatically configured (by Telnic the registry) to work on whatever internet device is being used, whether it is a non-smart mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop.
Additionally the pages listed on Domains123.tel rank very well in Google for highly competitiive queries.
An example, try entering (without the quotes) the term “golf domain names for sale” in Google.com.
There are 4,300,000 results pages – with two of my .tels appearing on the first page – DiscountGolf.tel at P1 and Domains123.tel at P4.
What better could $10 be spent on ?
Now I made a search of a phrase “history of portrait” (with 12,100 Global Monthly Searches by Google’s Keyword Tool) – and I see my Portrait_tel at first page of Google and at 6th place.
“history of portraiture” (1,300 Global Monthly Searches) –I see it now at first page of Google and at 4th place.
I made these searches from home in Lithuania. Of course, from another places results could be different.
A couple of further reasons to register your own .tel!
Firstly, use it as a way of ensuring you are always contactable – how many people hae their own personal name web site that works on all internet connected devices and gets them found at the top of major search engines?
Using Google.com enter “mike seaton” (without the quotes) and MikeSeaton.tel currently appears in P2 of 10,900,000 results.
Secondly, generate revenue through the use of Google AdSense (you just supply the publisher id and 1 or 2 advert ids to the Telnic control panel) and also text-based affiliate links.
If you need any more convincing of the benefits, look at any non .tel website on your mobile phone and try to find their contact number and call it.
Oh and @chuck, I often call my baker and order bread, and my barber to book an appointment, using a local .tel which they update from their mobiles with opening times and best contact numbers.
This link: http://mashable.com/2012/03/14/slow-website-stats-infographic/ should help you understand why being able to ‘contact’ and ‘browse’ as quickly as possible is not to be sniffed at.
Also many of the branding issues with .tel can be solved by the companies branded app ‘theming’ the browsing experience of their .tel directory on mobile devices. You’ve no need to take it at face value when you can DNS lookup and theme the data client side.
Many organizations and individuals use .tel for their day to day businesses. Few of their .tel names are listed here.
https://domainnamewire.com/2012/03/13/the-state-of-tel-in-2012/
The .tel is not just an alternative to a website. It is a “single point of contacts” for communication.
And also there are various ways to monetize a .tel domain. By using Adsense, Image advertising, Pay Per Call, Renting out tel pages (you can lease up to 2999 sub domains) a .tel owner can earn a decent return from a tel if he/she chooses to develop it as a directory.
A .tel domain off the shelf is just like an uncut diamond.
Please read the link as:
Many organizations and individuals use .tel for their day to day businesses. Few of their .tel names are listed here.
http://www.telnic.org/community-weeklytel.html
@ Dialacab –
You write:
“If you need any more convincing of the benefits, look at any non .tel website on your mobile phone and try to find their contact number and call it.”
This would matter IF I knew that every company had a corresponding .tel. If every company had one, then there would be a benefit because I could just type in their .tel and easily get their contact info.
But so few have them so I’m not going to waste my time looking for their .tel.
I have a few tels and they do give me some traffic and a place on the net for my shop.
But telnic don’t know how to sell.
@ Mike – that may be the issue with Telnic. It gets back to the issue of being too technical. An easy web site for a small business? That’s great. But I shouldn’t need to be a power user to add an image to my domain.
sorry, I meant add a video
agreed it should all be even easier and simple but bottom line is for $10 you get on the web and seo built in and it does work.
some very nice rankings and alot of traffic with less effort then it would take to build out a traditional website + seo.
@Andrew Allemann
Just wandering if you ever owned a .tel domain and tried any of those so called “Third Party Solutions”.
@ TELcp – yes, and no.
BTW, does anyone know where to manage your .tel on Moniker? When you select the domain I don’t see any links for logging in to change the .tel.
I think a lot of us use Third Party Tools all the time. As with most things, some are better at some jobs than others.
If a simple tool was developed and packaged with .tel (as I’m sure it will be) you could stop wandering and start wondering at this great tld.
@Andrew Allemann
I appreciate your quick reply.
Well “manage” .tel link is found at right hand top corner of the root page.
And there is an option (provided in the CTH and thru some third party tools/apps) to display or hide it.
The site which you are referring to may have used the option to hide it.
If it is hidden by default at the time of registration (usually it is displayed) then you need to ask your registrar for the link.
ie.
for name.com: https://telhosting.name.com
for moniker.com : https://telhosting.moniker.com
(Most of the registrar’s have this link beginning with “telhosting”. But not all of them).
-TELcp
I know personally when I go to a business site and back when I was looking at colleges all I wanted was the contact info. I do not like when I call a place and have to wait while a machine tells me one by one to press such and such to redirect to the section or person I need to talk to. I’ve had rather long lists recited to me this way and even managed to either miss hearing or chosen the wrong section and had to call and hear the list again.I would much rather quickly find what number and in most cases extension I need to call via their site than that.
This to me and all the myriad ways to quickly find the contact info you need for a place or person is what tel is for basically.
Also as I and my fiance` are artist we do want to use images and other media to help advertise our skills without interested parties having to go anywhere else to make up their minds.
The problem with .tel is everybody thinks it’s just another TLD which has a lot of restrictions in web design.
Only very few people know the benefits of the concept behind it by storing data inside of the DNS.
Since not many applications are built around .tel, it will need some time for the breakthrough.
But future technologies will depend on spit-second data exchange.
In 10 years nobody wants to open a website first to get the needed information.
You can laugh at me, but I’m convinced in the future EVERY cell phone owner will own a .tel domain, too!
@kilynn there are many sites with images …
http://www.presseteam.tel
http://www.weddingphotographer.tel
http://www.zazzlestores.tel
http://www.for-sale-chicago.tel
http://www.ofertascasarural.tel
All took advantage of third-party tools for imaging and automated RSS feeds. Next week you’ll have video tools as well. However, I suspect that Telnic will be providing easier media management tools soon.
To see a third level sub domain .tel rank well, try a search for “singapore phone numbers” You will find a .tel sub domain on page one of Google, Bing, and Yahoo – normally in positions 2 – 6 on Google. This page receives a large volume of traffic daily, for a long time now. Quite a few other countries too – New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada…
My own tel site is always at the top of Google, only beaten by Linkedin pages, in a search for my name ( out of 25,000,000 results) Same on Bing and Yahoo.
Main problem with tel so far is lack of marketing by Telnic, and too many tel owners not bothering to populate their tel sites. Blank pages are no good for the owners or the future of .tel.
I’ll continue to work with .tel because it’s a pleasure to work with, easy to get to the top of Google etc (sometimes) and costs so little.
See a sample site at http://www.mytown.tel, with short url method, making it possible to have a presentable business card online even if the tel page is a sub domain (sub domain can be under many sub categories deep). Your biz card will always be something like yourpage.yourdomain.tel. No other TLD can offer 3000 tel pages like that just for $10/year.
Hi,
I won’t say much because obviously Mr. AA have never bought/used or manipulated a .Tel domain (well i am assuming based on his replies above). I wish he had before writing this article to be more objective even though some of the points are valid.
Well for me to support my fellow .tel owner, one .tel that i owned filled with few affiliates links (and i mean it few links) made $1000 for an investment of $20. I am quite happy because i am about to replicate the same on my other domains.
So imagine $1000 x 10 = $10000
Keeping faith…
I have a .tel domain. I just haven’t updated it since very early on.
@andrew, I’d be more than happy to show you how to get the best out of Allemann.tel and how to use .tel for other purposes.
Mr Alleman – Lakeway.tel is also available, I’m sure some of my fellow .tel owners & I would be happy to make a gift of it and with your permission develop it, to show you the potential and power of .tel.
.tel is great technology. somebody needs to let this horse get to the starting barrier. its not the horses fault that its still in the training paddock. …but then who knows why sure thing favourites always get beaten. doesn’t make sense why .tel is yet to go mainstream.
Mr. AA that proves our points. U own a .Tel and never used it. How can u tell its use ability if u haven’t tried it? Well at least for the sake of this article credibility…by the way have u had a chance to check the dottel of the week lately? Why not writing a article about it? That would be nice, isn’t it? Thank you for reviving our spirit 🙂
@Kilynn.tel ; As a photographer I had the same problem, I can´t show my photos . My solution telmasters com, thanks Mark. With RSS feeds change the photos with each visit. frankfurt-fotograf.te l. Tel is my SEO power without large expenditure. Google. de and Bing 1P presseteam.te l. I did´t nothing over years, I only wrote my infos . 2012 I learn the life of TEL correctly and with TEL will regularly work and will test.
This is the best thing since sliced bread
“The video also signals that .tel domains are becoming just a bit more like web pages.”
Do you think companies would take up the opportunity if they could display a promotional video within the Yellow Pages? I bet they would!
Video was integrated with .tel today. You can have one video per domain or subdomain as needed. See http://www.Ideas.tel for an example of their new marketing video.
.tel sucks. Enough said.
All the commenters on its favor work for Telnic, including the “This is the best thing since sliced bread” guy.
@Mark Roman
Of course, Telnic always pay USD 1,000 for every good feedback.
Haven’t you known that?
Before you write false accusations, perhaps you should acknowledge there are still external supporters (developers and domain owners) of this TLD working hard to improve the user experience.
Hi Jean Louis,
Why are you using the pseudonym Mark Roman?
Please be decent!