Hi Joe, can you please introduce yourself and explain what your service/product is offering?
I am one of the founders and CEO of Harrow. Harrow is the “Operating System” for DevOps.
We provide a revolutionary platform that centralizes, combines, enhances and automates any scripting tools.
We manage access rights, foster collaboration and improve transparency and security.
Harrow is easy to adopt and integrate and will work alongside existing tools and processes.
Harrow closes the gap between developers and operations whilst building a bridge to management.
What were the main reasons for you applying for an .io TLD?
It works really well for our target market. We build software developer tools and “I/O” has a nice ring from computer science nomenclature.
How do you see yourself differentiating from other TLD extensions?
.io allows us to mention in part of our product name, essentially that we’re a tool for software developers. We’ve seldom seen .io used by “normal” companies, but for tech companies it’s ideal.
What will make .io a success?
Growing tech/software market.
To what degree do you feel having access to an .io TLD will enhance your existing online strategy?
It’s our only domain name, we would have had to name our product differently if it wasn’t for the availability of a .io domain. Whilst there are other TLDs available most are awful, especially the new batch, but .io is unusual and catchy.
How will .io impact search engines?
Google announced in 2013 that they wouldn’t penalize foreign domains in English speaking results, and whilst .io is a regional domain name, for English speaking search engine users at least, it doesn’t seem to have any negative impact.
Do you think that the adoption of .io extension will make it easier for potential clients to find your website?
Possibly, we also bought hrw.io which we use for shortlinks, it might only be a couple of characters shorter than our full domain but for us a 5-letter, 6-byte short link is really helpful for ads, Twitter and social media.
To what degree do you think the introduction of new web address endings will fragment the internet within the next 5 years?
I think that most traffic is driven by search engines, so the reaction of search engines to these new TLDs will be interesting. The proliferation of new TLDs has caused a lot of domains simply to be grabbed and parked with businesses and celebrities defensively buying up variations on their name on the new TLDs which has been unfortunate. A lot of the new TLD registries seem disreputable and some of the nobler ideas such as masking .xxx and .adult from browsers with age restrictions were left behind.
Which of the of new web address endings do you think your company has or might consider applying for?
None, the new TLDs are interesting for new businesses who might have an opportunity to name themselves “yoga.guru” or similar, but for us “.io” is sufficient.
Over the next 3 years, do you anticipate that your organisation will invest in this area and purchase additional web addresses with the new endings?
Unlikely, as a (software) developer product we’re proud to count “.io” as part of our name and brand.
Which business benefits do you think will apply to the introduction of new web address endings?
None. Browsers are already hiding URLs, and browser vendors thinking about dropping the address bar all together I think the reliance on search will increase, and the domain name will become nearly irrelevant.
Do you think the introduction of these new web address endings will mean you are more likely to go to a company’s website by entering the web address into your internet browser, rather than using a search engine?
I don’t think it matters much. Most of the time I navigate with the Chrome address bar, and it makes not much differece if I’m searching the web, searching my history or typing in a whole domain name.
Which of the new website endings do you think will make it easier for you to find things on the internet?
I don’t think it matters too much what extension you have on your site, for us it’s a nice part of the story, sometimes you can have some fun with them (my co-founder is http://lee.hambley.name), but principally I guess most people click links in email or on social media or in search engine results.
What do you think the internet will look like by 2020, in 4 years’ time?
Hard to guess, our traffic contrary to most trends is nearly exclusively desktop, probably because we build tools for software engineers. For us we expect an increase in mobile usage across the board, and a larger variation in bandwidth and screen pixel density.
What was your approach choosing the right domain name?
Having identified that we wanted an “.io” domain, we searched for free domains and worked for something that had the right feeling. In these times it’s nearly impossible to find a good un-registered .com name.
Where did you register your domain name?
nic.io
Thank you for the interview Joe. http://harrow.io