Architects – What’s in the extension?

January 23, 2014

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Architects, if you have not booked a domain name for your website yet, wait. As .archi and .architect TLDs may be soon available for architects. TLD stands for Top Level Domain of an Internet address, for example .com, .net and .org.

I remember the time when architects in India started thinking about having a website for their practice. Well, believe it or not, many architects I know were hesitant with the idea of a website itself, as they strongly considered it to be a form of advertisement. The Architect’s Act, 1972 does not allow architects to advertise. Anyway, we are not here to discuss whether a website is a form of advertisement or not. Now that many architects have their websites up and running, we would like to delve into the choice of TLD (Top Level Domain).

.org was among the favourites for architects in India, again, for the reason that .com appeared to be more commercial for architectural practice. But, things are not same now, many architects have embraced the change and have opted for .com TLD. Though, I have not heard of any architect going for .biz TLD. Please share if you know of any.

Recently ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) announced .archi and .architect TLDs for architects.

In our opinion, .archi and .architect TLDs are very long. I would have preferred .ar, but the same is also the Country Specific TLD for Argentina, like .in is for India and .us is for the United States of America.

But how much effect does TLD have on the website? In our opinion, very less. Just make sure that your website name is easy to remember, and type.

There are thousands of architectural firms who are using .com and .org TLD and are highly searchable. TLDs have very little effect on the searchability of a website, and what matters more is the content and frequency at which the website is being updated, design an structure of the website and how much search engines can penetrate into it for reading and storing the information. So, go ahead …com, .archi or whatever that pleases you..but have a website.

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2 Responses

Ashok Goel says:

January 24, 2014 at 10:41 am

I agree with the suggestion. Architects should make maximum use of websites. The Architects Act does not prohibit the use of websites.

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abeee says:

February 1, 2021 at 12:54 pm

Really nice thought…

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Architects – What’s in the extension?

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“Appropriation of public spaces is the genesis of political movements, of ideological apparatus, and of endangering the city’s multi-dimensional fabric.”
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Architects – What’s in the extension?

ArchitectureLive!

2 Responses

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“Appropriation of public spaces is the genesis of political movements, of ideological apparatus, and of endangering the city’s multi-dimensional fabric.”—Dr. Seema Khanwalkar

“… people like Sen [Kapadia] don’t really leave. They become the questions we continue to ask.”—A Tribute by Nuru Karim

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Wall As a Public Space
“To read public space only as a spatial condition, as a matter of square footage, zoning, or physical access, is to miss half the picture.”
—Reshma Esther Thomas

The Map That Was Never Yours
“If publicness is reduced to what is legally accessible, then these landscapes were never public to begin with.”
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“Appropriation of public spaces is the genesis of political movements, of ideological apparatus, and of endangering the city’s multi-dimensional fabric.”
—Dr. Seema Khanwalkar

“… people like Sen [Kapadia] don’t really leave. They become the questions we continue to ask.”
—A Tribute by Nuru Karim