Finding the perfect domain name

SO you have chosen your domain name, but when you try to register it, the .com version is already taken. What do you do? Chances are, your domain registrar has already suggested you switch to .org, .net, .biz, or some other top-level domain, but should you?

This school of thought says that if you have the perfect domain is memorable, easy to spell, and catchy, it won't matter what top level domain it has.

This is true if you have a company name that is already well established and you don't want to change it to accommodate a website domain. Then, becoming "mycompanyname.biz" is preferable to some other domain name even though it is less popular.

.COM or Nothing

Many people believe that the .com domain is the only domain worth purchasing because that's the one that most people assume when typing in domains. While it is true that .com domains are very popular, there are lots of businesses which use other top-level domains (TLD) without a problem.

What you have to think about is how your customers are going to access your site? If they are going to type in your company name into the URL bar and hit enter, then getting the .com domain is a must.

But if you can brand your site with the .net or .us and get people used to using that, it won't matter. Another solution is to use the top level domain as part of your entire corporate name. The well-known social bookmarking site Delicious does this quite well with their domain: http://del.icio.us.

.ORG and .NET Domains

After .com, the .net, and .org top-level domains are easily the most popular. There used to be a distinction that .org domains were for non-profits and .net domains were for Internet companies. But as there is no regulation, that quickly went out the window. And these days, anyone can get a .org, or .net domain name.

If you can't get my perfect domain name as .com but you can get it as .net or .org, you should probably buy one of those. The only real drawback to these top level domains is that some registrars charge extra for them.

Country Designation

Country designations are top level domains that are supposed to indicate products or services available in that country. These are domains like:

.US - United States

.CO.UK - United Kingdom .com address

.DE - Germany

Some country domains can only be registered by businesses that operate in those countries, while others are available freely to anyone willing to pay the domain fee.

For example .tv is actually a country top level domain, but many television stations have bought domains using it.

Keep in mind that even if you can use a country top level domain while not operating there, it may not be a good idea. Some people may get the idea that your business is only available there, when in fact it is global.

.BIZ, .INFO, etc.

There have been a lot of top level domains suggested and implemented for various reasons. The .biz domain is for businesses while .info should be to provide information about something.

However, there is no regulation on how they are used. These domains can be very tempting as often they are available when the more popular .com, .net, or .org are already taken.

Source: New Straits Times - 1Klassifieds