One of our readers recently inquired about our thoughts on the new domain extensions. As you may be aware, in addition to the well-known dot-com extension, there are a plethora of new domain name extensions from which to choose. In this article, we’ll look at the benefits and drawbacks of using new domain extensions for your website.
What are Domain Extensions and How Do I Use Them?
TLDs, or top-level domains, are the last part of a domain name. These are the letters that appear after the dot on the domain name’s right side. Yourblogmaster, for example, has a.com domain extension (i.e. yourblogmaster.com), while Wikipedia has a.org domain extension (i.e. wikipedia.org) (wikipedia.org).
.com,.net, and.org were the first domain extensions. They remain the most widely used domain extensions.
New domain extensions were introduced as time went on. Country-specific domain extensions like.co.uk and.com.de, as well as generic extensions like.travel,.app,.mobi,.photography, and others, were among them.
Today, there are hundreds of domain extensions to choose from when launching a website.
One of these top domain registrars can help you get a domain name. Some domain registrars have a wider selection of domain extensions than others. Each domain extension has a different price tag, and some of the newer ones are quite pricey when compared to the popular.com,.net, and.org extensions.
You’ll still need web hosting to build a website once you’ve purchased a domain name. See our beginner’s guide to the differences between domain names and web hosting for more information.
Should You Change Your Website’s Domain Extension?
For the success of your website, you must select a domain name with the appropriate domain extension. Your domain’s extension has an impact on your branding.
Because most people are unfamiliar with the new domain extensions, they are not as popular. Some users might not even recognize them as a legitimate domain name.
The internet has become synonymous with the.com domain extension. .com domains account for nearly 46% of all registered domain names. For quick typing, most smartphones have a default.com key.
As a result, we only recommend using the.com domain extension.
Domains ending in.com are simple to remember. When entering a website address in their browser, most internet users automatically use.com. Because.com domain names are so popular, they’re easier to brand, promote, and use to help you grow your business.
A.com domain name can be used to start almost any type of website or company. The adaptability already allows you to change the scope of your website and your business even when retaining the very same brand or domain name.
We recommend that you use only a.com domain extension for your new website because of its familiarity, flexibility, and potential.
What Should I Do If My Favorite.com Extension Isn’t Available?
The.com extension is used by the vast majority of websites on the internet. As a result, nearly 136 million.com domain names have already been registered.
This gives the impression that all the good domain names have already been taken. There are, however, a variety of creative ways to come up with a good.com domain name.
- The name of your company and what you do should be reflected in your domain name. Starplumbingservices.com, for example, is superior to starservices.com.
- To make your domain name more unique, try adding small words before or after it. For instance, take a look at starplumbingboston.com.
- Make sure that your domain name is easy to pronounce. In your domain name, avoid using hyphens or numbers.
- Make use of domain name generators available online. These free resources will assist you in locating domain name suggestions that are still available.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some other popular domain extensions, their intended use, and the types of websites they’re appropriate for.
Other Available Domain Extensions
There are a plethora of domain extensions to choose from. To give you an idea of how these domain extensions are intended to be used, we’ve selected some generic and popular extensions.
When is a.Net domain extension appropriate?
The second most common domain extension is.net. It was designed for networking companies, internet service providers, and online community networks to use.
It’s a bad idea to use it for a completely unrelated business website. If you sell networking devices on your website, for example, you can use.net, but not if you sell clothes.
When should you register a.Org domain?
The.org domain extension was first introduced to complement the.com and.net extensions. It’s appropriate for non-profits, charities, religious organizations, and social awareness websites.
It can give the wrong impression to your customers if you use it for a business or personal website. There are organizations that use the.org version of the domain for non-profit purposes and the.com version for commercial purposes.
When is it appropriate to .Biz domain extension
Business is abbreviated as.biz in the domain extensions. The.biz extension, like the.com extension, is meant for any type of business website.
Customers, on the other hand, are less familiar with.biz, making it more difficult to remember. When you don’t use a.com extension, it may have an impact on how customers perceive your business.
When is it appropriate to .Info domain extension
Information portals and similar websites can use the.info extension, which is an acronym for information.
When used on a blog or business website, this extension can give the wrong impression to visitors. In the long run, this will have an impact on your brand’s reputation as well as the objectives of your website.
When is it appropriate to .Name domain extension
Individuals are the target audience for the.name extension. This new, less popular domain extension was created to give people another way to register a domain name in their own name for personal websites.
You can only use it for a personal website or blog due to the extension’s unfamiliarity and limited scope. For a small business website, you should never use it.
When is it appropriate to .TV domain extention
Tuvalu’s tv domain extension is a country-specific top-level domain (TLD) (a tiny island nation in the Pacific ocean). However, tv-related websites all over the world use the domain name.
If your website or business is related to the television industry, you should use this domain. It wouldn’t look right if it was used for other companies or blogs.
Even if you have a television-related website, a.com domain name is still preferable. The.tv domain extension is not used by many well-known television companies. HBO, CNN, CBS, and a slew of others are just a few examples.
There are dozens more domain extensions available, including.photography,.club,.xyz,.blog, and many others. They’re all too specific, less memorable, and restrict the potential of your website in some way.
What about domain extensions that are specific to a country?
If you only want to target users in a specific country, you should use country-specific domain extensions.
Individuals and businesses in that region are the intended users of country-specific domain extensions. Many of these domains can only be registered if you live in or have a representative in that country.
Country-specific domain extensions are ideal for developing multilingual or regionally focused websites.
Some websites make use of country domain extensions to come up with clever domain name ideas. Bit.ly, for example, uses the Libyan country domain extension, while goo.gl, Google’s URL shortener service, uses the Greenlandic country domain extension.
Domain hacks are the term for these types of domain names. While they appear to be cool, you’ll need some serious marketing skills to turn them into a recognizable brand that users remember.
We hope that this article has answered your question about which domain extensions to use for your website. You might also be interested in our beginner’s guide to building a website, which includes step-by-step instructions.
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