Is it an advantage to have a .com

[agua]

When buying a domain, is it an advantage to have a .com?

If so - to what extent?

[Cutter]

The .com's advantage is primarily so your visitors remember your name. When you are investing money in a premium domain name, .coms are worth far more than a .net, .cc, pretty much anything.

Does it give you any other advantage as far as search engine optimization? Not really.

[agua]

So if its for a short term datafeed site - a .com doesn't really matter, but if it for a huge long term content site - it could have an effect... is that correct?

[thebillionaire]

yea, keep in mind that long term things usually end up paying better

[John]

Check out http://www.websitepublisher.net/article/choosing_domain_name/ if you havn't already.

[agua]

Thanks again.. I did check out that article, but found nothing regards the advantages of .com, .net. info etc... Good article though

Now I have a list of 12 domains, 9 .com and 3 .nets... decisions decisions

[Cutter]

In the end it usually just comes down to money. A good .com is going to cost you money if its taken.

[LuckyShima]

Very difficult, although not impossible, to brand a non .com

If you don't have the .com and you try to establish a brand you are just promoting the .com. If you have the .com it does not matter (so much) that you don't have the .net.

[James]

Whenever I try to get to WPF from another computer (on the one I'm on right now requires nothing but pushing 'w' and enter and I'm here) I always end out at the .com site.

[agua]

I think I'm going for the .com version.

This is more of an experiment with Amazon - so branding isn't an issue here (well I hope not :))

I'm not sure if I'll get any type ins anyway - but there is some great advice in this thread.

[etech-martin]

There are seven Generic top level domains as .com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org. Domain name registered in three of .com, .net, and .org has no restriction but the other four have limited purposes. If your site has no any restrictive purpose then .com is good alternative as it is the most popular and most of the people are trying domain name with .com extension only. ;)

[Cutter]

I wish I had a .edu :)

[Chris 1]

Most people while typing a name in the address bar tend to type and associate .com with a name. If you happen to register a .net or a .info or any other extension and your competitor has the same name with a .com extension, you may lose a potential customer.

[MrGeeK]

It also depends on your target market. If your targetting people in a particular country it can help to have a domain from that country, two reasons:

1. People seem to trust their own ccTLD more than .com.

2. Localised Google will list your site higher.

[Nikkular]

I think it all depends on what type of site you have and who your targets are.

Say your site is a online store for canadians, you would definately want a .ca, it tells us that we wont be ripped wqhen we find out we paid more because of USD >.<

.com is more for companies, or at least thats how i see it.
.org is more for organizations, say charities and what not

Say you want to promote a free service, try straying from .com, since its often associated with things you must pay for.

That's just my personal opinion.

Personally, my site is registered as a .net. Why? Well mainly because the type of site i have, all the other big name sites have .nets. Say i used a .com, people might still type in .net simply because there used to it. Well that, and I personally like .nets. I do plan on using a .com once i get my professional site up however.

[Vinnie]

I know that personally I always try the .com first, the only exception being .org for nonprofit organizations. I'm pretty sure most surfers think the same way.