Domain name extensions – What are they

Domain name extensions have become a big business. Over the last few years a large number of registries have opened up and there are now over 300 extensions to choose from. (and this number is set to increase)

But before you rush in and buy a name with any old extension, take a step back and ask yourself if it can truly serve your business or plans.

If you want to sell bikes in Australia then Bikes.au might seem like a good name to have. But unless the extension is widely known and accepted in the Australian market this extension will not do you any favours.

The problem is that when most people think of a site they think .Com, .Net, .Org, and so your site and hence business could be quickly forgotten.

Country domain extensions

There are markets where the local extension is popular, .co.uk (England), .de (Germany), .ca (Canada) - In some cases these are even accepted on a par with the major Global extensions. But this is exceptional, and these companies / Individuals usually own the .com extension.

WHY own the .Com?

Well they are looking to create a global brand, and the local country extension doesn’t have the credibility or brandability of one of the global majors. Thus making it almost impossible to build a strong global brand on a country extension.

The major global extensions are:

.Com .Net .Org .Info .Biz.

 

Out of all the extensions .Com is the king. It is by far the most popular and recognizable extension. When you think of a web address you normally always think .com.

But when .coms are selling for up to $15 million per name and even average ones are selling for $xxx,xxx this sometimes isn’t always an option. So you have to look at an alternative extension and that is where the other major Tld’s come into play.

Arguments abound as to what is the next best extension after .Com, but it’s silly really as they can all be used for different things and all have their strengths and weaknesses.

.Net is generally considered the next best extension and it can work with almost any combination of words.

.Org was originally for non profit Organizations, but there has been a growing trend amongst businesses to use the .Org alongside the .Com as it seems less commercial and more friendly.

.Info is perfect for informational sites, e.g. Football.info, Fishing.info, ClassicCars.info – If filled with useful and authoritative content they can become very popular sites.

.Biz is very popular amongst small and mid size companies. But it’s wise to be careful and selective with your choice of words e.g. DogLeashes.Biz or GreatMeals.Biz – look ridiculous, whereas Mortgage.Biz, Cash.Biz, work and are very brandable.

So my advice to you is buy dot Com if possible, but if not, go for one of the other major extensions mentioned above.

To build a global brand you first of all need to be recognized and remembered, after that it’s up to your strategy and design to bring the punters to your door, but at least you’ll have gotten off to a good start.

List of domain extensions:

.com Pronounced “dot com.” A top-level domain name used for commercial Internet sites.
.net A top-level domain name used for Internet administrative sites.
.org A top-level domain name for organizational Internet sites.
.info A top-level domain name for sites of a more informational nature

.biz A top-level domain name for Commercial and Business sites (Very popular amongst Small and Medium sized Businesses.)

Country Domain Extensions List

A

B

C

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z