Before you read the transcript, if you own domains that you’d like to get appraised regardless of the extension, visit this new domain appraisal company, AccurateAppraisals.com.
Hi, I’m Nate Babbel, and today I am going to answer the question:
How do I choose between a .com, .org, or .net domain name?
Generally speaking, you will always want to go with a .com domain name. .Com is by far the most common extension. Most people’s first assumption for your company website will be [your business name].com, unless of course your actual extension is in your business name. Plus, .com’s generally have the most clout with Google and keyword rankings.
The .org extension is a very good choice for charity or non-profit sites, this is its most common use. That being said there are successful for-profit sites that use the .org extension. If used correctly the .org can give you a bump in social credence or validation, as internet users could see a .org as a more benevolent site. But you will need to brand the .org with your site name, since as mentioned earlier, .com is the first extension users will assume for any company’s website. As far as google and keyword rankings go, .org’s will do well, though for most profit targeted categories they won’t have as much sway as a matching .com.
A .net extension would be the last choice of these 3 options. It has the disadvantages of the .org extension, but doesn’t have the advantages. From the SEO end of things, .net is better than other extensions, but has lower google rankings weight than the matching .com and .org extensions.
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Interesting post any thoughts on the .co etc and country specific like
.co.uk.
I have used a few .info but would agree that the main three are to date
the best options but when you are limited by budget or choice it is sometimes
very difficult to find a good domain.
I understand google is moving away from the importance on the exact URL name?
Mike
Excellent question. The country specific domain extensions will work excellently in the countries they belong too, but will have less seo sway in the US and other countries.
The .co.uk extension is a good choice if you are a uk entity and does have quite a bit of search engine sway, but your best bet will always be a .com if you want to have a global site (and especially if you want to do business in the US).
Many new startups are using the different domain extensions available, but this seems to be more to have a creative name (and they probably don’t want to shell out the cash for a quality .com).
Yes, Google is definitely starting to give less clout to exact match URL’s, although they do still have a decent amount.
Great post there Nate, I am not too SEO savvy, sjust to ask, what about custom domain names like .ML .Me etc? Do they have lower SEO grounds? Because am about to kickoff a new project but all other extensions seem hijacked already, can i go with mycompany.ml without fear of SEO dropouts? Because .ML quite blends with my brand.
My suggestion is to buy .com, org and net and set up a 301 redirect to the main TLD, which is the .com.
The value doesn’t necessarily weigh in the .com but what kind of names and keywords you use in the URL itself.
However, .com simply looks way better than any other TLD.
very informative but i am still confused. What about .info extension please write back about it. Thank you
What if I havea great .com, but someone else is the owner of the .net version and is just parking the domain? Is it a great risk to build a brand for my .com?
Daniel,
No it is not risky for you to build your brand on the .com. Most likely, the owner of the .net will never do anything with that site and even if they do, just build a better site/business and you won’t have to worry about it.
Even if they do a good job with their brand, unless their visitors remember specifically to type in .net, they will type in .com by default and go to your site.
You have the edge because you own the .com.
Conflicting information on the net regarding the .Net and .Org. It depends upon which site you read is giving out their opinions. It would be nice to have documented research in the pecking order of positions 2 and 3 for the top level domains.
Actually it is better to use. Com because of the domain that .net .org and others as well as .com but better and faster readable in the search engine is .com
. Com is better if your site is for global level but if you want to target your country traffic only then country level domain is also good.