What is a .me Domain?

The .me domain is a growing trend for good reason: it seems personal. After all, what’s more personal than me? This domain extension offers a lot of versatility for websites names, personal blogs and resumes, call-to-action websites, and businesses seeking to emphasize personalized marketing.

But what is the .me domain? Where did it come from? And why should you use it? Let’s take a tour of one of the internet’s favorite domain extensions!

If you’re ready to register your .me domain now, start your domain search now.

The Origin of .me

The .me domain was initially assigned as the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) to Montenegro in 2007 by ICANN. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a non-profit organization in charge of managing the global Domain Name System.

But what’s a country code top-level domain? A ccTLD is a domain reserved and used for a country, sovereign state, or territory identified with a certain country code. So in the case of .me, that’s Montenegro. However, ccTLDs affect the search engine results – if you’re browsing in a certain country, you’re more likely to get results with ccTLDs associated with that region.

So how come .me is being used globally? Herein lies the secret to this domain’s charm.

Although it’s technically a ccTLD, it’s actually treated as a gTLD by search engines, Google ads, and ICANN. A gTLD, which stands for generic top-level domain, is the last level of a fully-qualified domain name and gets the best SEO treatment when it comes to search engines. gTLDs are not restricted to geo-targeting like ccTLDs. In other words, they come up in web searches globally. The most popular examples of gTLDs are .com, .net, .org, .info, and so on.

The .me domain started being treated as a gTLD rather than a ccTLD by algorithms as it was treated that way by web users and webmasters. This isn’t the only case in which a ccTLD is treated as a gTLD – whenever a ccTLD becomes alluring and popular with internet users, it migrates in status as a gTLD. Some other examples of ccTLDs which are treated as gTLDs are .io (initially assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory) and .tv (initially assigned to Tuvalu).

The .io domain is a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) which was assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1997. So, in reality, its origin has nothing to do with the now-adapted input/output abbreviation. It’s simply a ccTLD domain – a domain which is normally used and reserved for a country, sovereign state, or a dependent territory which is identified with a country code. Generally in SEO, using a ccTLD gives search engines the message that your website is targeting a particular country or region.

The question that remains is: how did this domain get to be treated as a gTLD?

Why You Should Use .me

The .me domain extension has many benefits which have made it popular among internet users and sent it to the global gTLD category.

Let’s look at what’s so special about .me and why you should use it!

.me Is Ideal for Personalized Marketing and Branding

As many big brands today are aware, personalized advertising is key to success in today’s global market. Big surprise – people like being treated like they’re human! Go figure. The .me domain allows businesses to emphasize on the personalized service of their brand. Businesses and individuals also use it for personalized email accounts!

Just think about it – you can come up with a lot of smart and cheeky marketing messages in your domain name. Some examples would be check.me, follow.me, buy.me, and so on. These types of call-to-action URL addresses can really help motivate your potential clients.

The .me domain is also a great way to display your resume, blog, or website and establish your personal online presence. It’s your website, so why not put an .me at the end of the domain?

.me Offers a Lot of Versatility

The .me domain offers versatility of two kinds: domain name creativity and domain name availability.

In terms of creativity, just think of how many marketable words end with me: resume, home, name, time… In fact, Time Magazine also owns the ti.me domain, which leads directly to their .com homepage! You can also use phrases that end with me, like bite.me! Plus, you can invite your site visitors to contact you through a domain name that suggests it, like message.me!

Now let’s talk about availability. Keep in mind that all gTLDs get treated the same way by search engines – so whether if a domain is a .com or .me doesn’t matter – Google will treat it the same. However, there are a lot less available .com domains than .me domains. Therefore, you’re much more likely to find and buy a .me domain!

Ready to get started? You can register a new .me domain with Domain Name Sanity today.