For REALTORS® and consumers, another huge benefit of the .REALTOR domain is that it eliminates the middleman, says Matt Embrescia, president of Second Generation. “From the member’s standpoint, there are a lot of websites set up to collect leads and then resell them to members,” he explains. “The whole basis of the .REALTOR domain is that it’s a direct connection to a member, as opposed to not really knowing where your information is going. When you go to a .REALTOR site, you know you’re communicating directly with the person at that website.”
Developing the offering for brokers required more planning to ensure the broker was protected. “We had to better understand how the brokerage community would be able to use their .REALTOR domain,” explains Goldberg. “With the brokerage, we had to look at what’s the name of the legal entity doing business in the industry; how do we make sure that the consumer knows it’s a trusted source? And, how do the franchises allow their brands to be used with other TLDs that they’ve been using forever? We had to build the business rules into the system so that brokerages were protected.”
By introducing the .REALTOR TLD for brokerage firms, NAR is offering members a way to enhance their branding. “We’re not trying to take something away from the broker,” emphasizes Goldberg. “It’s about reinforcing the REALTOR®’s brand in addition to the broker they’re affiliated with.”
According to Ken Burlington, vice president, NAR Strategic Alliances and Product Management, and COO, REALTORS® Information Network, the designated REALTOR® for each office is the only ID that can claim the brokerage domain for that firm. “They will be asked to verify when they sign onto the system that they are who they say they are, and only they can claim the TLD,” he explains. “Individual members can incorporate their brokerage name into their .REALTOR domain, provided the member’s name is immediately to the left of the dot. However, brokerage firms must have their company name immediately to the left of the dot—they can add whatever marketing copy they’d like in the URL, as long as it comes before the brokerage name.”
The annual price for brokers to secure a .REALTOR domain is $79. If purchased within the first 60 days, they can buy the domain for $39.50. Brokers can also receive multi-year and multiple domain discounts up to 10 years, says Burlington. “We also have bulk pricing available upon request for brokerage firms and members affiliated with that firm.”
Similarly, only the association executive who has a special NRDS ID will be able to claim a domain for their association, using either the association’s full name or an acronym. NAR has also entered into an exclusive marketing partnership with the Canadian Real Estate Association, the exclusive licensors of the Realtor® mark in Canada. CREA associations and boards will also be able to use the domain to provide consumers in Canada with the same advantages.
NAR also plans to roll out the .realestate TLD to members later this year. “There were 1,800-plus applicants for TLDs just in this last round,” says Goldberg. “We feel extremely fortunate that we were able to secure the .REALTOR and .realestate TLDs. We will launch .realestate later this year. We will give our members the first opportunity at getting .realestate when it’s ready. Those members who have purchased a .REALTOR domain will receive priority registration for .realestate when it becomes available.”
As Tom Embrescia says, real estate is a highly searched term worldwide. “That’s a term people use who are looking for natural search results. That’s exactly what you get with the .realestate domain.”
“If this were a money grab, we’d sell domains to whomever, with no rules in place,” says Goldberg. “But we want consumers to know there’s a trusted, valued resource behind this. It’s all about the consumer at the end of the day. If the consumer builds trust with this, then it will be the place where they will go.”
For more information visit http://www.about.realtor/leverage/benefits.
