Order of Domain Extensions for For-Profit Company Based in U.S.

[zenmushin]

For a US-based for-profit company, but with a global recognition, I am trying to determine the best order of domain extensions. I realize I do not want to use .org for a for-profit business as it seems misleading and may alienate customers. I also think that .info might be suitable for an informational website, but I don't think it is that appropriate for a corporate website. So, this seems to be the most appropriate order. Does anyone have any thoughts?

.com
.net
.biz
.us
.org
.info​

 

[zenmushin]

Bump.

 

[Name Trader]

I'd put .biz below .us, otherwise agree with your order. In fact I'd only put the top two on the list.

 

[zenmushin]

Thanks for the thoughts. In terms of the .us above the .biz, I was thinking that a user in a non-U.S. country would be more apt to interact with a .biz entity because it seems to have a more global appeal. The .us domain seems to indicate that we are a U.S.-based company and perhaps our clients are only U.S.-based.

Do you agree or disagree? Just trying to get my own opinions to evolve!

 

[Havela]

In fact I'd only put the top two on the list.

Agree. I've never seen a reputable business use any of the other extensions (not saying they don't exist, just that I haven't seen them).

 

[namemarket]

Agree. I've never seen a reputable business use any of the other extensions (not saying they don't exist, just that I haven't seen them).

That may be so in Europe but not in the U.S. where there are lots of TV commercials, news and media coverage involving a dot-org extension. In addition, org is the only gtld which can get good typein traffic other than .com. In fact, sometimes you may see as much or more well known org's vs com's especially in certain categories like health, wellness, disease, services, gov, educational and others (no, I don't mean mostly with non-profits). Contrarily I rarely if ever see .net and the 3 others used in the media or getting typeins.

Here is my ranking:

.com
.org
.net
.us
.biz
.info

 

[clearskies]

.com
.org
.net
.biz
.us
.info

I see quite a few biz in the UK and Europe. One massive one I know of is the big MRO outfit

http://www.brammer.biz/

 

[Havela]

That may be so in Europe but not in the U.S. where there are lots of TV commercials, news and media coverage involving a dot-org extension. In addition, org is the only gtld which can get good typein traffic other than .com. In fact, sometimes you may see as much or more well known org's vs com's especially in certain categories like health, wellness, disease, services, gov, educational and others (no, I don't mean mostly with non-profits). Contrarily I rarely if ever see .net and the 3 others used in the media or getting typeins.

I do not think .org is a good fit for typical for-profit companies, which was what was mentioned in the heading.

Naturally .org is a reputable extension in and of itself, and I've seen plenty of reputable .org websites. As you say they may typically be found within public services, universities, health, etc.

But if I were to choose an extension for a typical profit-based global company, I would go for the dot com, or if hard pressed the dot net, and would not consider the others. If the company was European with in-country customers only, I would go for the ccTLD, then the dot com.

 

[Name Trader]

Thanks for the thoughts. In terms of the .us above the .biz, I was thinking that a user in a non-U.S. country would be more apt to interact with a .biz entity because it seems to have a more global appeal. The .us domain seems to indicate that we are a U.S.-based company and perhaps our clients are only U.S.-based.

Do you agree or disagree? Just trying to get my own opinions to evolve!

You were asking for companies based in US. So in that case .us should be above .biz. But if you are changing the question to non-US companies, I wouldn't even have .us on the list.

To be honest. If you are a global brand you must have the .com, but if you are localized in one country you must have the cctld first and .com second. I wouldn't put my business, in either case, on anything else. So that shortens the list substantially

Sure .biz is used by a few companies. But they are usually using it like "fantasy" (the word is on the tip of my tongue, but wont come out) url. I would never put my business on a .biz domain. I'd do what I said above. I'd use the .com, or if I was local to one country, I'd use cctld, and get the .com for brand protection (if I could get it). I wouldn't put my business on anything else, ever.

And it wouldn't be longer than 10-12 characters, two words (max) either. So it can be remembered.