How to Register a .tv Domain

When setting up a website, you have to choose a domain name. You could go for one of the most popular, go-to options: .com, .net, etc. Or you could switch things up and opt for something a little different, like .tv, which has some interesting niche uses and is fast becoming a popular option.

In this guide, we’ll explain what a .tv domain is, how to set up your own .tv site, and some reasons why you might want to pick the .tv domain name.

What Is the .tv Domain?

The domain .tv is a country-code top-level domain or ccTLD. ccTLDs are assigned to different countries, all over the world. There’s .fr for France, for example, .us for the United States, and so on. These codes tend to be very popular in their associated countries but sometimes have global appeal, also.

The domain .tv is the ccTLD for the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu, which is a small place, extending across just 10 square miles and home to about 11,000 people. Yet, despite this, its .tv ccTLD ranks among the top 50 in the world today.

What’s more, the .tv ccTLD is actually a big contributor to the Tuvalu economy. It accounted for over 8% of the country’s governmental revenue in 2019, for instance.

Registering a .my Domain: A How-To Guide

Next, let’s find out how you would go about registering a .tv domain. Certain ccTLDs come with strict rules and requirements about who can use them and how they may be used. Fortunately, that is not the case with the .tv domain – anyone can use it, no matter where they live.

Since there are no restrictions to worry about, the registration process is generally quick and easy:

1. Choose a name for your website.
2. Check that the name you want is available with a .tv domain.
3. Find a trusted registration partner that offers .tv domain registration.
4. Enter your site details, pay the relevant fees, and claim ownership of your .tv site.

The process is generally quick and easy. There are no specific criteria you need to meet to set up your site, and the minimum registration period is one year.

Uses and Reasons to Invest in a .tv Domain

We’ve covered the “What?” and the “How?” Next, let’s explore the “Why?” of setting up a .tv site, and some use-cases for the .tv domain.

TV and Video-Related Sites

A big reason why the .tv domain is so popular and makes literally millions of dollars for the Tuvalu government each year is because it matches the abbreviation for television: TV. Because of this, it’s a popular choice for TV or video-based sites, or streaming platforms.

Indeed, one of the world’s biggest and most valuable streaming sites – Twitch – uses a .tv domain name. If you want to set up a similar site, or you have a brand or business that has something to do with televisions, a .tv domain name is a practical and out-of-the-box choice to use.

Strong SEO Performance

The issue with many ccTLDs is that they have variable performance on Google and other search engines. Most of them do well from an SEO perspective in their associated country but don’t always work as well in other places. For instance, .fr sites rank highly on France’s Google, for example, but not elsewhere.

However, a big benefit of .tv which elevates it above numerous other ccTLDs is that Google actually treats it like a generic TLD (gTLD). That means a .tv site can theoretically function just as well as a .com or .net site in terms of its search engine results page rankings.

Availability and Affordability

Another reason to invest in a .tv domain is the fact that it’s way easier, and often cheaper, to get a .tv address than it is to get a .com or other, popular domain names. .com names are notoriously difficult to get due to the massive popularity of .com and the number of sites already in use.

With .tv, even though it’s relatively popular, it’s not at the levels of .com, .net, and so on. As such, you can usually get a .tv address with whatever name you have in mind, all for a reasonable yearly rate.

Register Your .tv Site Today

So, if .tv seems like the perfect fit for your online plans, why wait? Register your .tv domain today with the help of a trusted registration partner.