CIRA executive outlines six-step playbook for launching new TLDs
in plain words
A webinar from Hello Registry featured advice from Jose Torio of CIRA, the organization that runs Canada's .ca domain. He explained how companies launching a new web address ending (called a TLD, like .ca or .shop) should treat it like launching a new product. He gave six steps to help these new domains actually get used, not just registered.
Full summary
Jose Torio, Senior Manager of Partnerships and Growth at CIRA Canadian Internet Registration Authority The not-for-profit organization that runs Canada's .ca domain. Full definition of CIRA, presented a six-step framework for launching and growing new top-level domains during a Hello Registry webinar on TLD top-level domain The last part of a domain name, after the final dot. Full definition of TLD marketing. His core argument is that registry operator The organization that holds the contract or mandate for a TLD and sets its rules. Full definition of registry operator should treat a new gTLD A generic top-level domain added to the internet through ICANN's New gTLD Program. Full definition of new gTLD like a product launch, clarifying its purpose, audience and value before focusing on distribution and demand generation.
Torio's first step urges operators to define why the TLD needs to exist and what problem it solves before identifying who needs it. Step two calls for a specific ideal customer profile rather than targeting “everyone,” starting narrow and expanding outward. Step three asks operators to articulate a clear value proposition explaining why someone should choose their TLD over alternatives; Torio cited .ca's positioning around Canadian identity and trust, distilled into the campaign line “.CA is our domain.”
The fourth step emphasizes building genuine partnerships with registrar A company that registers domain names for customers with the registry. Full definition of registrar, described as the registry The central database and system of a top-level domain, or loosely the organization that runs it. Full definition of registry's sales force. Torio recommends equipping registrars with messaging and marketing materials, investing in co-marketing through discounts or marketing development funds, and weighing both the reach of larger registrars and the closer engagement smaller ones may offer.
Step five focuses on anticipating demand well before general availability The phase when a TLD opens to public registration. Full definition of general availability, recommending pre-launch work begin six months to a year ahead, including website development and registrar onboarding, testing and backend integration. Torio suggests planning for each launch phase One of the ordered stages, such as sunrise or general availability, in which a new TLD opens. Full definition of launch phase, from Sunrise through landrush An optional early launch phase, often with higher prices and auctions. Full definition of landrush and general availability, noting can generate early revenue.
The sixth step shifts focus from registration Obtaining the right to use a domain name for a set period. Full definition of registration alone to full adoption, tracking a journey from awareness through consideration, registration, activation and renewal Paying to extend a domain registration for more time. Full definition of renewal. Torio stressed that activation, getting registrant The person or organization that holds a domain name registration. Full definition of registrant to actually use their domains, supports retention and renewal rate The percentage of expiring domains that are renewed. Full definition of renewal rate, and that sustainable TLD growth depends on both new registrations Domains newly created in a period, also called adds or creates. Full definition of new registrations and renewals.
Torio also listed four common mistakes: waiting until after delegation to begin marketing, assuming the audience is everyone, failing to offer a clear reason to choose the TLD, and treating registrars as an afterthought.