Next best alternative to ".com" ?

[MrCat]

Hi everyone!

I am very new here and would like to ask what would you suggest the best next alternative to a .com extension? Is it .info, .net, . biz?

 

[Kate]

It depends on your purpose.
It could be either of these or .us or something else.

 

[Coastalguy]

Too broad of a question.

Usually the .biz is not the next alternative but there can be many an argument on whether its the .net, .org, .info, etc (depends on the name).

When all things are equal...I would reg the .net but that's just me.

Welcome to NamePros,
ST

 

[MrCat]

Thanks for the advices

So I guess that this would depend on the niche of your site. ".us" or ".ca" and others are relatively to suggest the location of your site. Are there any pro's and con's also in choosing a domain extension?

 

[Mike]

Depends on where your target group is geographically located. If you're sporting a product that's global, or the domain name could be searched for globally, i'd choose .net, other than that, i'd go for a ccTLD such as .us.

Only in very special circumstances would i chose a .info. Such as NYC.info is certainly worth it's weight in gold.

IB

 

[painperdu]

If your site is strictly geographically dependent then there's no question that the correct country TLD is important.

Also, I suggest you put more concentration into brandability of the name and not focus on how close you can get to the keyword. For example, I cringe whenever I see a domain name like "AcmeHomeDoorInstallationCompany.us". I've actually seen a few of these advertised in various places around town. The problem is that it requires too much mental resources of potential customers. Among other things, it's hard to remember exactly and easy to confuse with other similar companies.

I think a better name would be something like "GoDoors.us". The point is to have a name that is easy to remember and hard to confuse with competitors. My advice is to spend more effort into a name that is easier to brand.

 

[acronym007]

if it's for development purposes then it's wide open. For traffic, nothing beats .com or compares. Sometimes people say geographics is important to which I agree but only to a small extent. Domains are global, all domains are global. You might choose an extension that sounds right, that looks better, that fits the tld. Suppose you choose property for example, very generic but your in the US and you want to advertise your property, maybe you choose property.mn because you live in Minnesota. See, .mn has nothing to do with Minnesota but it fits for this purpose. The door is wide open and there are many reasons to choose any number of tld's if the .com is not available.