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Choosing The Right TLD
There’s a lot of debate in the domaining world about which TLD ’s are best, and how the TLD of your domain will affect your rankings in search engines and the value of your domain. It’s my experience that the TLD you choose does not directly influence your sites rankings in search engines. I have several .info, .com and .net domains and I have not noticed any significant difference in their ability to rank well in search engines. Having said that though, when (or if) it comes time to sell your domain, many buyers have their own preconceived notions of which TLD’s are better. This comes down to personal preference so it’s important when selling any domain that you reassure potential buyers that the domain extension either suits the domain or is good for some other reason. Many people perceive that because .info domains are cheaper to register than any other TLD , they must be rubbish - this simply isn’t the case. I’ve actually met many people who believe that TLD’s which describe their content are worth more than .com or .net domains. I don’t necessarily agree with that 100%, but I do think it’s worth taking into account. No matter what your thoughts on TLD’s, the safest option is always a .com domain. The .com TLD is the most widely recognised and trusted TLD for web surfers. If the .com you want is already taken, then I recommend you consider what the domain is being used for and choose another available TLD which suits it. Here is a list of common TLD’s and their originally suggested use:
* .com - Recommended for commercial entities.
* .org - For miscellaneous organisations, including non-profit groups.
* .net -For companies involved in Internet infrastructure.
* .biz - For a business related site.
* .info - For an information providing site.
* .edu - For colleges and universities. (Not available publicly)
* .gov - For government agencies. (Not available publicly)
* .mil - For the military. (Not available publicly)
* .tv - For television/entertainment.
* .name - For individuals
* .mobi - For sites that are designed for mobile devices.
My personal opinion is that if you are developing a website, it is better to use the relevant TLD where there is one available. This helps your visitors easily identify the purpose of your website. For example, the domain DomainingGuide.biz implies that the site is a business venture, and so will be trying to sell something to you (the visitor). Whereas DomainingGuide.Info implies that this site will provide information on domaining - GUESS WHAT? It does! Most domainers don’t strictly stick to the recommendations of the above list, but if you are planning on selling a domain, then you might find it easier to sell if the TLD is .com (i.e. suitable for any type of website). I think that having a TLD that matches your website content is doing a service to your visitors and is also helping to keep the internet easy to navigate for everyone. People should be able to expect a certain type of website simply by the TLD it uses. In some countries (Australia is an example), there are greater restrictions on which domains can be registered by different entities (E.g. .id.au domains can only be registered by an individual and must only use letters from the individuals name, .com domains can only be registered by registered businesses). Which brings me onto my next point. Each country also has it’s own country specific domains available. These are known as ccTLD’s or Country Code Top Level Domains. I only recommend using a ccTLD If your website is targeted at a particular country and you only expect visitors to be from that country. Web site’s which use ccTLD’s are unlikely to gain the trust of visitors outside the country that their domain is specific too - that is bad for business. There are always exceptions to this rule, one example that springs to mind is Del.icio.us’s successful international use of the .us ccTLD. The .us TLD is intended to be a website specific to the United States. The interesting point here is that Del.icio.us have used the domain name of icio.us and added a subdomain of del, to form a readable, one word domain - "Del.icio.us" or "Delicious". I really doubt that you didn’t know that already, but I think with a bit of research and effort, you could probably find a domain like this yourself. Even more interesting is the fact that apart from the length of the domain (icio.us), it appears to be a pretty unmeaningful, useless domain. |
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This intel was contributed by mwhiz
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May, 2012
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