Celebrating 15 Years of the .ME Domain with YOU
An online home. A call-to-action. Your digital signature. However, you look at it, .ME is a lot more than just a domain name.
And what better moment to talk about the endless possibilities that come with .ME than this, when .ME is celebrating 15 Years! We currently have .ME domains on promotion now.
Ivana Gazivoda from domain.ME, discusses how the .ME extension started, how top brands and personal website owners are using .ME to enhance their online presence, along with how Domain.ME are celebrating .ME domain's birthday by hosting a contest with some aweso.ME prizes.
How It All Started
It all started 15 years ago, in 2008, when the .ME extension opened for public registration and the very first .ME domain was registered.
And others quickly followed. With over 50,000 domains registered in the first 24 hours of going public, the .ME extension quickly swept the digital world.
In fact, a huge milestone has been reached just recently, when .ME celebrated over 1 million registered domains. Currently, the number is around 1.2 million registered .ME domains and counting, with registrants coming from 200 countries all around the world.
.ME Writ Large – How Top Global Brands Use .ME
Not to be outdone by these trends, large corporations too are taking up .ME to enhance their online presence.
.ME quickly got picked up by global brands like Facebook, PayPal and WordPress. For example, WordPress launched wp.me, and became the first company to use a two-letter .ME domain.
Similarly, Facebook used .ME to create its shortest link for Facebook (fb.me) and Messenger (m.me). And PayPal decided to use a .ME domain for a memorable link for sending money (PayPal.Me), and even a short URL for that link (pp.me).
But, it’s not just that large companies are opting for .ME once they’d already gotten big and had used some other domain extension. There is also companies that made their first steps with .ME and used it as a part of their online identity from their very beginnings.
Take Ele.ME as an example. Currently the largest food delivery service in China, Ele.ME’s inception was hardly pompous. Namely, two students experienced how slow and complicated it was for them to get food deliveries. And that’s when they started talking about starting their own food delivery service. Today, it’s become the largest food delivery service in the world’s most populous country, and has since been acquired by another Chinese giant - Alibaba - in a $9.5B deal.
(By the way, “Ele.ME” roughly corresponds to a Chinese phrase meaning “Are you hungry?” and illustrates how .ME can be used as a domain hack in various languages?)
All The Difference A (Personal) Website Can Make
.ME isn't only for large companies anyway. No matter whether they are a business or just one individual, anyone can register their own .ME domain.
And that is what they did. Individuals from all around the world chose .ME for their websites, recognizing just how important a personal website is for their online presence.
Although useful and indispensable in online branding, your online identity cannot depend on social media alone. When using social media, you are constrained by the strictly predefined rules of the platform. Not only does this mean that you are seriously limited in how you can present yourself. But also, it means that thousands of your competitors are using the same tricks as you!
Therefore, social media alone will not put you above the rest. A personal website, however, allows you to build your online identity in a way that sets you apart from the competition.
You see, a personal website allows you to engage with your audience on your own terms and in your own unique way, thus helping you maintain a memorable personal brand. It’s the space where you build your online identity the way you want to. Used properly, your personal website will tell others who you are and what you are really all about.
And what better way to tell your own story than with the most personal domain name? The .ME domain gives your website a personal touch that no other domain extensions can, and lets other people know that you're approachable. And if you're a business, .ME tells your audience that you're after building personal relationships with your users.
Whether you’re a business or an individual, .ME is synonymous with building a brand with a personal flavor. It is the foundation of an online home where you can present yourself in a way that’s personal, memorable, and unique.
And because of that, the best way to stand out and enhance your online presence is with a personal website on the most personal domain extension.
A Special Contest + Amazing Discounts On .ME Domains.
At domain.ME, for our sweet fifteenth, we want to give back to the .ME community and have fun. That is why we’re hosting an online contest, and everyone is invited to participate! We’re talking about some aweso.ME prizes (a MacBook and Amazon gift cards, to be precise) – all to help you set up or revamp your online presence.
The contest itself will be simple to take part in, and anyone can participate.
It is starting soon, so be sure to sign up here to be notified. Good luck!
Get to know more about the author: Ivana Gazivoda
Ivana began her career in marketing straight from college and realized right there, in the beginning, that she wants to stay, and explore and learn everything that is about it. While trying to connect the domain industry with socially responsible business and projects that will really make a difference in the community, she is no stranger to sūryanamaskāra, ūrdhva dhanurāsana, and other asanas. For her, a perfect day is a day that starts with doing Ashtanga yoga somewhere by the sea.