Buying, selling, and broking domain names can be big business. People will pick up the good and hold their ransom or auction it off to the highest bidder. When you are forced to buy ‘i-wanted-this-in-a-dot-com-but-the-only-had.org’ your entire business model may be cut off. But how much impact will it have on business?

Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD)

According to Google, if you want to compete in search engines, it is important to have a gTLD. It becomes even more important that you are a global brand because these domain extensions do not target a specific country.

Here we’ve referred to a list of those generic top-level domains:

#1 .COM

com domain extension means “commercial.” At launch, .com was intended for e-commerce sites. Today, it is the most widely used domain extension, serving more than half of all websites. Many see it as the default domain extension and its ubiquity makes it a preferred choice for most online businesses, organizations, personal websites, and blogs.

The .com extension has only one downside but it is a big one: availability. The perfect .com domain name for your business already has a good chance of being accepted by someone else.

#2 .NET

The next domain extension is .net which is the second most popular TLD after .com. It stands for “Network” and was created for websites that specialize in network-based technologies, including ISPs, email services, and database services. In recent years, .7 has come to live in the same place as .net .com Some businesses choose this extension if their preferred .com domain is taken.

#3 .ORG

This TLD was created for a non-profit organization and was limited, so “.org” Although this restriction has recently been lifted, its original purpose remains – .org is commonly used by foundations and charities, educational services, open-source software projects, and other non-profit organizations. Any website can use a .org extension, but for many, .org implies that the organization behind the domain is non-commercial.

#4 .CO

The .co extension was introduced in 2010 as a .com alternative to fill the deficit of the desired .com domain name and stands for “Company” or “Corporation”. Currently, like .com and .net, .co is the most popular online business.

It should be noted that .co TLDs are often associated with country code domain extensions (e.g., .co.uk), and are also the official domain extensions of Colombia. Nevertheless, .co is widely recognized as a .com or .net alternative worldwide.

#4 .BIZ

As the name implies, .biz is intended for online business only. It is the least popular extension on this list, and tends to be the cheapest. Although it is a generic domain extension, the .biz TLD is limited to business and eCommerce websites.

These are just some of the domain extensions we’ve discussed. There are more top-level domain name extensions. E.g:

• .aero
• .cat
• coop
• .edu
• gov
• .info
• .int 
• .jobs
• .mil
• .mobi
• .museum
• .name
• .pro
• .tel
• .travel etc.

Fortunately, from a search engine optimization (SEO) perspective, there is no difference. All domain extensions are created equal. The same onsite and offsite factors are an integral part of a good ranking across the board. However, .com is a recognized norm for domain extensions for businesses. 75% of all websites use a .com extension. This means that if your customers try to remember your domain, they will probably grab .com unless they are truly locked into their memory.

Social pull on domain extensions

Why the SEO value of domain extensions may be the same, the society has put different meanings behind these extensions. For example, it is quite possible that a shopper looking for shoes is more likely to click on a .com link than anyone else, so if you are looking for a church, you are more likely to click on a .org link.

The same can be said about many of the above domain extensions such as .edu, .gov, and .biz. Although branding may vary, the basic SEO involved in ranking a website is the same.

For more information on choosing the right domain name for your business, see our latest article on this topic. Ready to ask us more questions? Contact Internet marketers skilled in sales and marketing technology today for free advice on your website or marketing strategy.