A Dot Com or a Dot Whatever - does it matter anymore

.com .net .org are giving your site sort of maturity, like old wine,
other than that, I think all those new TLDs are more descriptive,
more specific, more closely related to subject matter.



fastreplies

I always vote for .com, because many people will try .com first. Your visitors don't need to remember your extension, they just need to remember your domain name. So, .com will get lot of direct traffic than other extensions.

If you have the type of website where you want repeat customers/visitors and referrals, always go with a .com.

You can scream it from the rooftops on your website but when push comes to shove, most people remember domain names as being .com, even when they aren't (just like people always remember toll free phone numbers as being 1-800 when they aren't).

If you go with a .net, .org or anything else, I guarantee you that a decent percentage of people trying to return to your site (or visit it for the first time from a referral) are going to end up at your competitor who owns the .com version of that domain name.

Dot Com or nothing Steve.

Only because myself or no other human being looks up a website with any extension other than dot com. Standard. Hallmark. Whatever.

Prefer TLD

Just look at the foolish replies...a dot com or nothing else.

There is a great, big, beautiful world out there....day got dat dere internet nowadays....

You people have no idea about the internet. You get a domain...install wordpress...

.com was the default for the united states. Did you know that? Uh...no.

Look at the clown replies about how great a .edu is.... then proclaim .com is king!!!!!

Many cities, counties, govt, and anyone else....uses a .us... go figure.

The new york subway chose a .info of all things.....

If you don't actually know that there are deadly tlds, then you are indeed CLUELESS.

Any spammed country is fatal....

.tk was on that lost. Cleaned up a tad. Still should never use it.

Worst domain: .zip

Honorable mention: .xyz

Most trusted domain: .jp

Honorable mention: .church

You people just send me ROTFLMAO...when you claim you don't click or anything without it being a .com.

You are missing out on a lot stuff!

Paul

.com is still preferable domain than others, but now a day business is using business-specific TLDs for attraction.
You should care about other aspects of a website more than a domain.

I like Paul. Keepin' it real!
Type in Google "delicious" and the first thing that comes up is del.icio.us
That's a .us AND and sub-domain. I've been seeing many various domain name extensions with professional companies. And if you have something memorable then people will know where to go.
As far as the .com and .net for the two keyword of the domain name (I just bought btw) is that the .com is parked and the .net is an dslr camera website in Indonesian. The keywords are not branded (yet) and they are short and easy to remember and even rhyme with the extension.
I believe the dot com need was so at one time but this world has changed.
At the same time if there is a dot com available I will buy it. There is another domain I am going to buy and it is a dot com. But some of those cost a fortune if they are short and use popular keywords too.

Welcome back to civilization sjkstone, a lot has change since you left to live in a cave 10 years ago.
As for updating you on the changes that has occurred, let's start with the changes in the domain name industry.

There has been an influx of domain extension in the last few years. Aside from country name extension, most common dictionary words are now domain extension.

Search engine no longer favors dot com domain over others. If your website is strong in the backlink, content and other vital seo factors, it'll rank high regardless of it's domain extension.

This means practically every domain extension is equally acceptable to search engines. But the acceptance of domain extension to humans depends on the niche. Dot com domain is practically the only domain that is acceptable in every niche.

If you use some domain extension in some niche, no one will take you seriously, so you have to be mindful when choosing domain extension that isn't dot com. Don't choose dot p0rn when your website is about video games.

Prefer for dot com as well as a quality once. You can also use dot net or dot org.

My choice is .com like most of the others.

I think from an SEO standpoint it doesn't matter at all. I think you can rank with just about any domain name out there. There once was a time when .info domains were seen as bad. I don't think that's at all the case now. That doesn't mean all of these extensions are desirable. In fact, I'd say most of them are just gimmicks. Pay close attention to the renewal fees. Some of them are pretty expensive after the first year.

I do think it's a bad idea to venture too far off from the world of .com. Why? It's all about branding really. No one is going to remember a .xyz domain. They may even type in the .com when trying to visit your site. I rarely remember .net or .org domains. I think anything outside of .com is really a waste of money.

With all of this said, it may make sense to buy an extension that's from a certain country. If you are in a country where people normally visit those sites, then go for it. Just remember that the audience isn't going to be a global one. Few people remember extensions from other countries. For local SEO it might actually be a very effective means of branding. For the world, I don't think it's a good idea.

It all goes back to who you're marking to. Plus, you want to build your brand more than anything else. Make your domain something people can easily remember. Doing this will ensure that they're able to come back again. Repeat visitors is a must for content based sites. This is even true if you have a blog that's an extension of a paid service. A visitor more than likely won't buy the first time they visit your site. It may take a few visits before they're ready to buy. A simple domain that's easy to remember will make it more of a possibility that they'll come back.

Yes now it matters a lot in SEO. The Domain extension signifies your goal and geographical location. A dot.com, Dot.org are global extensions. They are good for global outreach and targetting global audience. but not good it you like to target a specific country or a certain linguistic group. so if you like to target a specific country choose a country specific domain or make a subdomain of your website. which help you get a better rank than your global counterparts.

.com .org . net are basically the brandable domains other than the dot xyz. as far as SEO only dot com does matter but not that much. google is giving importance to gtld domains (geographical domain).

if ts us based or you are targeting an international market i would always go with a .com when available over anything else still.