Houston resident, Susan needed to find a good medication online for her common cold. In her quest to find a credible source of information on the same, she was presented with a mind-boggling array of sites. While some sites came with the .com domain and .org domain, there were others that came with a .health domain. Which ones do you think she might have gone with eventually?
Yes, the site marked with a .health domain.
With .com and .org sites being used by almost every website in the world, it becomes challenging for a patient or a healthcare practitioner to pick a credible source of information for health concerns. While some sites did not have very good quality information to make it credible, some sites left a lot to be desired in terms of determining the validity of the information posted online.
This problem is exactly why .health domains have been introduced to the world. The dotHealth domain is exclusive for health tech startups, providers, organizations, and individuals who provide health products, services, and information.
What is a .health [dotHealth] domain?
With .com and .org sites being abundant in numbers, there is very little scope to find credible and reliable sources for health-related queries. This is the primary reason why Miami based dotHealth LLC has taken the initiative and launched a .health domain for brands, organizations, and individuals who provide health products, services, and information.
dotHealth LLC is one of the world’s leading domain service providers and the inventors of the .co domain used all over the world. With the new .health domain, people can conveniently and confidently look for sites that provide factual and true health information. Also, the dotHealth domain provides an immediate visibility boost amongst the target audience in a space overcrowded by .com and .org domains.
The main objective behind this domain is to provide a distinct identity to the best health websites out there and help people gain relevant answers for their health-related queries by excluding the non .health sites and help people take well-informed decisions regarding their health.
Interesting Read: What is PHI and What is Not PHI?
Who is using .health domains? 
.health domains are set to take the healthcare sites to a whole new level of enhanced visibility and quality site traffic. Such distinct and specific domain naming convention will provide the sites a lot of exposure, exclusivity, and branding.
A lot of organizations have already shown interest in shifting their domains to dotHealth. .edu, .org, and .com sites with valuable and credible healthcare information are already preparing to jump ship and transfer to .health domains to gain more exposure and boost their SEO rankings at the same time.
A multitude of organizations and medical institutions have taken interest in this domain. These include –
- Healthcare professionals with credible blogs
- Health tech startups and ventures
- Healthcare product companies
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Hospitals & clinics
- Healthcare payers
- Medical associations and many more.
Why choose a .dot health domain extension?
There are many types of domains available in the market, each chosen by a website in accordance with the nature of the content they provide to their audience. .edu sites are used by sites focusing on providing educational content, .org is used by organizations, and so on.
Likewise, the .health domain will be provided to websites whose primary focus will be healthcare information and product services. So why should one choose this domain? Here are some good reasons why a dotHealth domain can benefit you.
- Instant Connection
The main reason one should opt for this domain is because of the instant connection a customer/website visitor would make by linking your .health website to diet, wellness and, healthcare. The .health is just like any other domain, but just for health-related websites, which is sure to catch a person’s eye if he is surfing the net for healthcare services and information. - Gaining Popularity
The .health domain is relatively new but it is already being used by some of the biggest healthcare websites in the world. This is because the websites with a credible history and a huge audience were given priority domain access which has led to health industry giants like Amazon, Mount Sinai, Boston Children’s Hospital registering with .health among others. - Expert Assistance
The .health domain was launched by dotHealth LLC which is one of the world’s leading domain providers and so, they have a great amount of experience and expertise in domain hosting. With the team of experts present within the company, dotHealth can provide .health domain users all-round assistance and expert advice to make their websites standout online. - Get Branded Website Names
A lot of people face the problem of not getting their preferred name with the domain as it has already been taken. With the .health domain being new to the market, healthcare websites can finally take this opportunity to get themselves their preferred website names and hence add more relevance to their services. - Accessible
.health domains, much like .org and .com domains, can now be bought from your preferred domain registrars like GoDaddy, Encirca and more. The healthcare industry is recognizing the potential of this domain and hence many people have already registered or shown interest in registering with .health domain.
For patients and consumers, a .health domain can offer a better level of engagement. Improving health outcomes becomes more likely when you have access to trustworthy healthcare websites for information and services.
How to get a .health domain?
For years, healthcare professionals and organizations have wondered as to which domain would suit them best among .com, .org, .edu, etc. There have been a lot of fake health sites which have been providing speculated and fact-less data to the masses leading to a growth in misinterpreted healthcare terms and ignorance in identifying the ailments.
This is the main reason why the healthcare community recognized the importance of having a separate domain exclusive to health websites in order to promote healthier living and spread useful credible information.
When the .health domain becomes available in the market, reputed healthcare and wellness websites, health tech startups, professionals, pharmacy companies can apply for the domain access. This domain is said to be exclusive as the people applying for domain access will have to meet a specified criterion. If eligible, the website should follow a set of regulations in order to have the domain access.
The main factor to be considered here is that because the dotHealth domain is new, people can request access early and lock in their preferred domain names.
Also, this domain has already been provided to some of the major companies in healthcare like Amazon and Mount Sinai. As more and more healthcare websites apply for .health domain access, the exclusivity and SEO rankings of the .health domain websites will rise resulting in better health information access to the masses.
All the websites who want to apply for a .health domain have to go through an application and qualification process. This means that wellness and health websites must prove that they are legitimate institutions affiliated with the health industry. You can apply for a .health domain directly through www.get.health/apply.
Wrapping Up!!
The .health domain enables the healthcare industry to have an exclusive online home that improves the credibility and reliability of any healthcare related information that is accessed from related websites.
Mobisoft being a digital healthcare technology partner for healthcare providers, startups, and other stakeholders is excited about this initiative and would encourage the industry to embrace the branded digital presence in .health world.
Author's Bio
Shailendra Sinhasane (Shail) is the co-founder and CEO of Mobisoft Infotech. He has been focused on cloud solutions, mobile strategy, cross-platform development, IoT innovations and advising healthcare startups in building scalable products.
