Determining if Dot-Com is the Best for Your Domain

When most people are choosing a domain name, the .com extension is the only one that comes to mind. There’s a good reason for this- most of the biggest websites use that extension. It’s also the most common "guessed" domain extension. But, there are many others out there to choose from.

To capitalize on people guessing your domain name, choose a .com when possible. A guessed name is when a customer or client types in what they think your Web address might be. That represents a small percentage of buyers looking for specific sites, but it can result in sales.

If you can’t get a .com name, it might be a good idea to choose a different name for the domain to one that has the .com name available. An extension other than .com will still be viable, but it may not result in the same amount of traffic that a .com name will.

The time to buy .net, .org, .cc, etc., extensions is when you already own the .com name. After you have the .com, it’s important to protect your site’s image and clientele by buying all of the available extensions. Having the .com and leaving the .org available leaves that domain open for a competitor to come in and set up a similar site that can easily be confused for your own. Your site’s reputation can be tarnished by a scam artist who uses those domains to capitalize on your good name to defraud customers who trust your reputation.

When you decide on a potential domain name, be sure to check which extensions are available. When deciding where to buy domains, look for one that allows you to see what’s currently available. A site like GoDaddy will have a place to buy the domain as well as an extensive search feature that lets you check which extensions have been bought and which are available.

Once you check your chosen names, you can choose the domain names that have all of the extensions up for grabs. If you use GoDaddy, you can buy all of them at once in one purchase, keeping every extension of your name protected and within your control.