Domains -- to .com or not to .com?

.com is both great and overrated.
It's easier to remember a website with .com -- Some websites I type "url" then .com even though there actually a .net, or .org, etc.

My next candidate would be these, if .com is taken:
.net
.org if your website has no direct gain from it.

But if you're just starting out, and you REALLY want the domain to be "Money", and .com is taken, a .net won't hurt.

.com is always a #1 preference. #2 is .org, then .net sometimes .info is ok too, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Definitely stay away from .co

Hi Brock,

I currently own about 50+ domains with .com, .net, .org, and a few .info (and I'm in the process of buying multiples now).

From what I've read from a number of "gurus" the first 3 are acceptable in that order of preference. However, just as important (some say more important) is to have the keyword in the domain name (and perhaps followed with "review" or "bonus").

Hope my opinion helps.

Doc Reed

Brock,

The answer to your question depends entirely on what you're trying to accomplish.

- If your intent is to simply have a domain that will rank well in the search engines, .COM .NET and .ORG are pretty equal.

- If your intent is to advertise your domain in print, radio or TV, always go with a .COM for the simple reason that a percentage of your potential visitors will type in .COM regardless of what your ad says. You will sacrifice a percentage of your prospects to your competitor because of this. That can make or break your campaign.

- If your intent is to build a long term site and pour a lot of money, time and effort into it, use a .COM. Again, if you don't own the .COM, your hard work will pay off for the owner of the .COM.

Yes, I have many other domain-extensions among my collection.

.com would be my second choice.

I prefer .info, in principle, because my sites are "informational", and when I asked all my customers and potential customers, in eight different niches, what domain extensions they prefer to see on sites like mine, the majority of those expressing a preference said ".info". And what they think matters more to me than what I think.

.info domains, I hope I need hardly mention, are not in any way disadvantaged for SEO, even though there's still a highly misguided and ill-informed urban myth to the contrary occasionally floating around - in spite of all Google's and Matt Cutts' persistent efforts to stamp it out.

So I buy the .com and the .info, when I can, and I use the .info for my niche sites and for all the SEO, and I just redirect the .com to the .info. (I'm only really buying the .com to make sure nobody else does, though that in itself isn't a bad reason at all).

I have a few .net's as well, and a .me (that was the most expensive domain-name I've ever registered). I even have one .net for which I don't also own the .com, because I just couldn't buy it (and I haven't used that one yet).

I certainly wouldn't want to not buy the .com. As Gene says above, if you don't own the .com, your hard work will pay off for the owner of the .com. So I need to own it, even if I don't use it. (And for potential resale, clearly, the .com will normally be easier to sell, though that doesn't concern me, so much).

to .com or not to .com that's the question, if org or net emd is available, then go it, or go .com with suffix like ~tips ~reviews etc.

I go for exact keyword match first and foremost. If it's not available in .com then I got down the list until I find one available.

I have .info domains that rank on the first page of Google, so TLD isn't as important as some like to make you believe...

Thing is with Google you never really know... there is a fine line between what they tell you is true and what is actually true...

In my opinion i think .com is the best one you can get, you can't go wrong with that one
but they are mostly taken so if you can't get a .com, just get a .net . org

If none of those are available I just look for another keyword unless its a real money making keyword

I have wondered about the dot IM Tld. Has anyone ranked this on the first page of Google?

.mobi extensions are being valued pretty high right now.
The .com names can still be used - just set a dash or number after the keyword or keyphrase. It might work well.

If your going for the bigger authority style site I would say get a .com,for the smaller niche style site .net or .org is what I use,I'm thinking of trying out .us,.biz and .info's in the future to see how they would perform.


Steve

I have a few very nice .info names including but not limited to "jeanswear", "charter flights", "injury law", "vintage wine" & "karaoke machine"

If you can get an exact match of a highly desired term then you will do well; more often than not these domains in the .com will bankrupt you before you even start and if you shove extra keywords into the top tier then you are going to lose anyway when people cannot be bothered remembering your name.

It is after all, all about the catchment and while .com certainly has a slight legacy advantage from the time when most searches were done by randomly typing URLs it is not the be all and end all of the internet.

I would much rather have an EXACT match phrase or keyword in .info than random words shoved onto a .com like roadkill.

Be truthful here, when was the last time you TYPED in a URL directly?

Don't put .com on a pedestal, it doesn't deserve to be there and if .biz had been around at the time it could very easily have been its day rather than being a poor excuse for revenue for the registrars.

I think it's best to stick with .com's if only because most people assume the .com extension or at least try that first.

If I'm speaking with someone offline and I tell them my domain name, hopefully they'll remember the name if it's memorable but if it's a .net or .info etc I don't trust that most people would remember that part - they'll most likely go home and type in the .com one first and if someone else owns that then it causes confusion AND they get my traffic.

When buying domains, unless I specifically want something other than a .com I'll always get a .com. It might take a little more effort to find an available one but I think it's better long term. As far as I'm concerned the whole ".com" thing is too firmly entrenched in our psyche for me to try to buck it.

.com and .org for us. They seem teh best and rank better I think.

I cannot confirm that, just what we are sort of seeing at the moment anyway.

I think it depends upon the nature of your website or business. .com, .edu, .org, .net, .info and so are the extensions which help the visitors to categorize your website. If your website is about education or related to education than it will be better to choose .org extension which will clearly show the type of your website to visitors even if they have not opened it. If you have commercial website you can select .com extension. If some dating or friendship site than .net will be better. In my opinion all are good and have their own worth.

.com is always good but you can do other as a mini sites to link back to your main site.

I think to a lot of non IM people .com = trustworthy/authority so having a .com may help with conversions. Just a theory, I have no evidence to back that up.

Thanks so much for your thoughts. I really appreciate your opinions. I had no idea so many people were experimenting with TLDs that weren't .com extensions.

Depends on what it's being used for, if it's a landing page your directing paid traffic to then no.. If you need it to be ranked in the SERPS then stick with the top 3 TLD's .com, .net, .org

To be honest, any one comment that states their opinion regarding this matter as a fact or doesn't at least make it very clear that the statement is a personal opinion, I take not seriously. Because no one can say for sure which is best for SEO purposes. This is a part of search engines algorithms and thus only known to a few people in the world.

That being said, I prefer .com .org and .net depending on the niche.
Personally I believe there is no significant difference regarding SEO value.
.info I like to stay away from, simply because I have personally outranked dozens of .info domains. And I never see a .info domain on top of the rankings for anything other than a little competitive niche/keyword/keyphrase.

Now bear in mind that the absence of .info domains in high rankings most likely is largely due to the fact they are not (yet) as widely used as other TLD's.

My 2 cents

Mark

.com domains get you better search engines rankings, so I will definitely go for it!

I would go for.com as a first choice, then .org , however if you are just targeting say the Uk, you should go for .co.uk .

Here's how I operate:
1- I register .com's when I care about the domain name and I want it to last or score with the big G. thru organic SEO.

2- I register other non .com domain names when I'm more concerned with getting a website up and sending my own paid or similar type traffic to it. In this case I really don't care about what G. does or if G. indexes my site. It's more about saving money in the case of a .info for example and pushing paid traffic, bookmarking etc.
Also non .com domains are more disposable, due to a non .com having a lower value or worth than a domain name ending in .com.

I always go for .com only.I have no second choice

I'd like to. org .net and. info aie fine.