.net, .org, or .what?

[Menard]

Curious, I am, I am....

*further proof that reading Dr Seuss as a kid can lead to bad results in adulthood


Let's say a .com domain is not available.

(everybody in chorus, "a .com domain is not available")

Which would you prefer: a .net, .org, or .what?


Lately, I had been on a .com kick, checking for options if the .com were not available until I found an appropriate and available .com. (don't ya just hate ending with a period like that )

In the event, however, where a domain carries a lot of weight is the words in the domain, regardless of the .what is, would you have a preference of the .what, and would it, in your estimation, carry any more importance one way or another whether it is a .net, .org, or .whatever?

I personally prefer a .org, but for a niggling reason that has nothing to do with the seo strength of the domain. When typing the url for a .net, I occasionally make the mistake of typing .com instead; it is rare that I do this with a .org. (there's that double period* again)

*You should be ashamed of what you were thinking


I ask this after having searched for a domain name for a site related to pyramid energy. My preference would have been to have a domain of pyramidpower.something, but all of the common tlds are taken (soft, fuzzy, rodent, swiss cheese, deli style cybersquatters ) with only a few European ones left. I tried pyramidenergy and found that the .org was available, and that was surprising to me (of course pyramid energy is a popular subject...naysayer; just like Cybikos are ).

I now have pyramidenergy.org (the others are held by cybersquatters or point to domain holders).

Hmmm..., over 2,000,000 hits on Google for a search for 'pyramid energy', and no domains with those words in them actually have anything to do with pyramid energy. I wonder what the chance is that I can get a top 10 search result by having an actual site, related to the subject, on my domain?

[Andy]

I prefer the .what extension 

pyramidenergy.org sounds great.

[grotesk]

What does .what extantion stand for? 

[Andy]

What does .what extension stand for?

It is a joke, not an actual domain name extension. Read Menard's post to spot where I go the idea from.

[grotesk]

I have got your idea. 

[Teflon]

If i could not have .com i would go for .net that would be my preference.

[Andy]

If i could not have .com i would go for .net that would be my preference.

I went for .org (www.multivar.org) Maybe easier to get an unregistered name and related to trustworthy sites?

[Teflon]

It might also depend on the site itself a site related to sport might work well with a .net since there are a lot of nets in many sports and probably .org would be better suited for a more serious subject.

It is true about .com though it is very rare that i find a preferred choice available.

[Nicolas]

As for me, I prefer .com, .net and .org extensions, maybe sometimes .eu or .in. But if .com extension is not available, you may use hyphen to solve this problem.

[Andy]

I just registered a domain name with .org.uk The only reason being that I wanted an exact match for a keyword for the domain name. This helps you get a high ranking for searches on a keyword. I don't expect anybody to remember the url though.

[basszer]

I prefer .net and .com

[inGodwetrust]

.com is always a preferable domain extension.

[donecweb]

.com is always a preferable domain extension.

I have to disagree. It depends on what the site is about and where the site is as to which domain extension is best. Example: .com is generally for business while .info is for information sites and gov are for government sites.

[Menard]

I have to disagree. It depends on what the site is about and where the site is as to which domain extension is best. Example: .com is generally for business while .info is for information sites and gov are for government sites.

Okay; who's that pretending to be Don?

[donecweb]

Okay; who's that pretending to be Don?

Huh???

[Andy]

Like 99% of webmasters, I would prefer to have a DOT COM domain name but you can still do OK with many other kinds of domain names in my experience. For example, I have a successful site that is a .ws and it has the dreaded dashes in the domain name.

[12noon]

.net .com and .org make a name sound more official and more thought about, but when it comes down to it, it's what content you have on the website that matters more than the name. As long as your website can be found, the name is just the icing on the cake.
 

[Menard]

As long as your website can be found, the name is just the icing on the cake.
 

Choosing your domain name, as well the extension, is part of making your website easy to find. Primarily making it something that is easy to remember for visitors, unless you are primarily building it for search engine traffic. People will have a tendency to think of websites as dotcoms, and many will make that assumption in searching or typing in an address; which is why I would prefer a dotcom if available.

If a dotcom is not available for the domain, barring another dotcom using different keywords, I would prefer a dotorg over a dotnet. For me (maybe this is just my quirk) it is easier to remember the dotorg extension than the dotnet; I have made the mistake of typing out the address for a dotnet and ended up putting in the dotcom extension by accident, which I generally don't make that mistake with dotorgs. Dotorg does have a bonus of appearing authoritative and neutral just by its traditional association with organizations rather than commercial enterprise.

Of course, in the case with PyramidEnergy.org, I was surprised that was available. If the dotnet and dotorg had been available in it, I can't say which I would have preferred; I probably would have taken both, but used the dotorg for the advantages I already mentioned.

[steve80]

I do prefer the .com extension then the .net . THe .org extension is used so much by non profit organizations that might give the wrong impression about your site.

[donecweb]

I don't think that the majority of the people even think about the extension. It is mostly the people in the business that even notice the extensions.

[microvps]

You are incorrect. .COM domain name extension drives people crazy.

[donecweb]

You are incorrect. .COM domain name extension drives people crazy.

In what way does ".COM domain name extension drives people crazy" as I have never heard of it bothering anyone before?

[Queen Bee]

I have never heard of that either, Don. I have always thought of .com as the universally preferred domain name extension.

[12noon]

Has anyone read about .TEL
http://telnic.org/
I think these names will be more for mobile phones.

[Andy]

Has anyone read about .TEL
http://telnic.org/
I think these names will be more for mobile phones.

It's good if the registry is regulated to only include businesses that are making good use of the domain name IMHO

[couponsitescript.com]

Rarely to I get another extension. I used .org, .info. In the last 2 years never.
I look and look until I find a .com available.

[MadMan90]

I like them in this order: .net, .org, .info

[Liliane]

>net, .org and .com are top level domain. Choosing one would not make any difference on choosing others. It would make difference when you would have country specific domain and top level domain. If you want to target your audience on specific to one country only, prefer to have country specific domain otherwise top level domain would be an ideal choice.