How to Position .group to Your Customers

Answer Block: The global consulting market is expected to exceed $1.2 trillion by 2030, and independent practitioners are a growing force inside it. Registrar partners who merchandise .group and its related new top-level domains (nTLDs) are well placed to turn this demand into new registrations and higher-value bundles.

The consulting sector is expanding, and a fast-growing slice of it is fractional executives and independent practitioners are going out on their own. Selecting a domain is one of the first decisions a consultant may make. Registrar partners who surface industry-specific extensions at this moment are meeting genuine purchase intent at the right point in a customer's business lifecycle.

Independent consulting is a growing segment with a distinct domain need.

• Solo practitioners account for roughly 20% of consulting activity in the US, and between 20% and 31% in the UK, with that share expected to grow as demand for flexible, project-based expertise rises.
• The number of fractional professionals doubled from 2022 to 2024 and 52.8% earned over $100K in the past year, making this a customer segment with real budget 
• More than 48 million sites already run on nTLDs 
• Identity Digital's consumer research over three years found a 90% increase in perceived  memorability for websites using nTLDs. 

For a consultant whose next engagement comes through a referral or a cold email, a domain that instantly communicates their practice and serves as a signal of professional credibility before any conversation starts.

Surfacing related TLDs in search results gives customers a meaningful choice at the point of highest intent.

When a fractional executive or independent consultant searches for a domain, the extensions you surface may shape the decision they make. 

• A .group nTLD suits collaborative practices and multi-person collectives
• .consulting fits specialist advisory firms
• .expert works for practitioners whose value is personal mastery
• .partners suits co-founded practices.

A bundle may help build stickier customers.

A consultant registering partners.group also needs a matching professional email address. Bundling branded email and SSL at the point of registration turns a domain sale into a more complete professional identity purchase. A customer with more services attached to a domain has more invested in keeping it active, which may support renewal rates over time.

To learn more about adding .group and its cluster extensions to your storefront, contact the Identity Digital team at partners@identity.digital.