When choosing a domain name for your business, personal blog, forum, or website, there are a few important elements you need to consider. First, register a domain name that is easy for your target audience to remember, and doesn’t have misspellings, numbers or hyphens.
Next, you’ll need to get a domain name that reflects your brand or your business nature. It could be your name, slogan or keywords that you want to use to target your niche. Last but not least, it’s your domain name extension, one of the most important things to consider when choosing a domain name.
To give you a complete idea what domain extension to choose, we’ve compiled the 5 most common domain name extensions and the reasons to choose them. After reading this blog post, you’ll understand the differences among some of the most sought after domain extensions, and get the idea of choosing the one that would best suit your business.
Choosing more recognizable domain name extensions can help to boost your brand and SEO.
what are the 5 most common domain extensions?
Here are the 5 most common domain name extensions:
- .com — Commercial > Business / E-commerce
- .org — Organisations > Non-profits / Forums / Resources
- .net — Network > Internet Provider / Services / Technology
- .co — Colombia Country Code TLD / Company / Corporation
- .us — United States Country Code TLD
.COM domain
Most of the business today choose .com domain names due to its popularity. As of the end of first quarter 2018, .com has approximately 133.9m registrations. While .com can be used for any type of website regardless of where your business was registered, it works well for businesses that wish to promote their services or products online. It also proves to your potential buyers or target audience that you’ve made an investment to show the authenticity of your brand.
When it comes to building back links for your website, a .com domain enjoys more advantages compared to a new or an unfamiliar domain extension. Thus when conducting a back link campaign, you’re likely to gain more interest and credibility using a .com domain compared to a TLD.
However, as most of us prefer .com domains, one can expect that many good domain names are already taken. In this case, you might need to consider domain names with other extensions, such as .net, .store or other country code top-level domains like .sg or .my. In fact, the most important thing is whether or not your domain can help you build a unique brand name.
.ORG domain
For .org, it was originally for non-profit-organisations, but it is now open to any individual or organisation. .Org domains are one of the original TLDs, and they perform well and have the search power just like .com. Moreover, since it is less popular, many good domain names are still available.
If your website is for education use, or a community forum or non-profit service that provides to your web visitors, then .org domain extension is also highly suitable. If your goal is both for-profit and non-profit, it is recommended to get both domain name extensions. Use your .com domain website to promote your products or services, and use the .org domain website to interact with your visitors or community.
.NET domain
The .net domain name extension stands for internet. Internet providers or network service providers are the main group that uses the .net extension. Many websites that are tech related are using .net domains as well. Since .net isn’t as popular as .com, many good domain names are still available, and chances are high that you’re able to get a domain name that fits perfectly for your website or business.
A very great example of a website that uses .net is slideshare.net, which lets users create slideshow just like Wix and WordPress. Choosing a .net domain is a very good way for SlideShare to promote its brand as it provides free service that is accessible for everyone.
You will have to make sure that you don’t use .net if you’re not running the related industry. For example, most restaurants don’t use .net domains because the target audience might think that the business is tech related. This can result in many unrelated visitors coming to your website. However, if you run an online food delivery platform, it’s totally a different story.
.US domain
This is one of the most popular domain extensions. However, it isn’t like other domain extensions that you can register openly; registrants must be U.S citizens or businesses that are registered in the United States.
It’s a good idea to register a .us domain if you’re looking to target the U.S market. However, the downside is that you’re unable to WHOIS protect a .us domain, which can be a deal breaker for many people. Yet, it is still a great way to brand your business and target the U.S market.
A great example of website using .us domain name is whos.amung.us , which sounds like “Who’s Among Us”. This website offers real time analytics service for your website or social media channel. It is like an alternative of Google analytics.
.CO domain
The .co domain is actually the country code top-level domain extension for Colombia. However, there isn’t any restriction for registering this domain extension and it has been accepted as an international domain name extension that represents company or corporation. You’ll also come across some clothing stores or brands that use this domain extension as it somehow represents clothing.
Moreover, .co seems to be more suitable for new startups. It creates some kind of uniqueness and creativity. Compared to .com, .co is newer, shorter and in line with the younger generation. If you wish to target the younger generation and make your website stand out, it’s a good idea to go for .co.
Are you wondering if Google gives similar treatment on ranking for .co domain websites? Worry not! Google has labeled .co as a generic domain name extension. As long as your website is providing quality content, has good SEO, and doing all the things it should, it will show in Google search results pages.
Another reason that you might want to go for a .co domain name is similar to what was mentioned earlier — it isn’t as popular as .com domains, and therefore many good domain names are still available, which in turn gives you higher chances of getting a domain name that is perfect for your business.
Options for other domain name extensions
There are more than a thousand domain extensions you can register for your business or website. Certainly the 5 mentioned above are not the only options, but they’re the one that you can get started with.
Anyway, other options are also available, such as:
- .info – it stands for information
- .store – a great one for E-commerce sellers; your audience knows who you are right away
- .online – did you know that the word ‘online’ is understood in over 24 languages? Perfect to build a universal brand
- .tech – the short for technology is perfectly for you to showcase your tech brand or highlight what you love about tech
- .website – 14th largest new domain extension. Great for startups, companies, blogs and personal profiles.
There are many factors that you should take into account when choosing a domain name for your website or business. It must perfectly reflect your business brand and unique identity. Domain name extensions are important when it comes to showing your business nature, and increasing your chances with Google search results and SEO.
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