Until just a few years ago, it was not possible to own a .art domain name. It wasn’t until May 10, 2017 that the .art domain name extension became available to the public for the first time.
Along with the .art top-level domain name extension, hundreds of other new domain name extensions were introduced to consumers over the past decade including .cool, .ninja, and of course .tech like the website you’re on right now.
At the time of this writing in late 2020, there are around 1,500 total top-level domain name extensions. White it remains true that the vast majority of websites online today end in .com, I predict it’s only a matter of years until the distribution of top-level domain name extensions will look very different.
With so many options, which top-level domain name extension should you choose? Just because the target market for .art domains includes artists, museums, art galleries, and dealers, does that mean you should get one for your website?
Let’s find out.
Does Anyone Use .art Domain Names?
Yes, of course. As of September 20, 2020, there are over 86,000 registered .art domains names spread across 163 countries according to namestat.org.
It didn’t take long after the introduction of .art domain names for major art institutions and studios like The Louvre and Pixar to scoop up domains name like louvre.art and pixar.art respectively. Granted, these examples are just domain redirects meaning that they simply link the visitor to louvre.fr and pixar.com.
On the other hand, artists like Christian Schaffer and Yulia Lebedeva actually host their main website with a .art domain name.
One art website in particular that is relevant to me personally is teamlab.art. When I traveled around Japan in 2019, I visited the stunning immersive art exhibition called teamLab Borderless. You can watch a video that I filmed at this art exhibit in Tokyo below.
Isn’t .com Better Than .art for SEO?
As someone who is quite familiar with search engine optimization (i.e. the process of structuring your website in a way that search engines like Google find favorable), I know who to turn to for the answer to this question. And that would be none other than John Mueller, a Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google.
In the video below, John explains that a .jobs domain name doesn’t have any impact on SEO for job-related searches (or any other searches for that matter). The same goes for .art domain names and all other top-level extensions.
You don’t get a special bonus for having a keyword like that in your top level domain.
The opposite holds true too. A .com domain name isn’t seen as superior to other top-level domain names like .jobs or .art for example.
In other words, all top-level domain name extensions are seen as equal in the eyes of Google and other search engines.
Built for Artists and Artwork Alike
Not only do many artists and institutions have .art domains, but individual artworks have been assigned a .art domain name too.
In fact, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has implemented a service unique to the .art top-level domain name extension called Digital Twin. Digital Twin integrates additional fields into the domain name registration for a particular .art domain name that contain an artwork’s Object ID. An Object ID is essentially a unique identifier to the work of art and the artist. An Object ID includes the following information according to the International Council of Museums.
- Type of object
- Materials and techniques
- Measurement
- Inscriptions and markings
- Title
- Subject
- Date or period
- Maker
Artworks like nativity.art and yugen.art are good examples of artworks utilizing the Digital Twin feature of the .art domain name extension.
Does .art Makes Sense For You?
Let’s face it. At the end of the day, most websites have some commercial aspect to them. That’s part of the reason most people elect to buy a .com domain name.
Whether you choose to host your website behind a .com or a .art domain name, keep in mind that you always have to option of registering both and redirecting your visitors to one or the other.
In any case, if you do decided to proceed with registering a .art domain name, I can recommend Dynadot as a reputable domain name registrar. Prior to becoming an affiliate for Dynadot, I studied dozens of different domain name registrars and came to the conclusion that Dynadot was among the most affordable registrars with none of those surprise fees that are common elsewhere. Check out my domain name price comparison video if you aren’t familiar with this topic.
Get a .ART domain from Dynadot for only $3.00 when you use coupon code DOTART20 at checkout! 
