Benefits of a Dot com

The “dot com mania” was synonymous with the boom of the internet. Years later, the dot com continues to be synonymous with the internet in general and websites in particular. When we think of a website, we think of a dot com. It’s no wonder then that the dot com is the most sought after and popular domain extension.

But have you wondered if there really is any benefit to the dot com domain extension beyond its popularity? Does a dot com have any SEO significance? Should you consider some other domain name if your desired name is not available with the dot com extension? Read on to find the answers.

When you are looking to get a website, you want your domain name to reflect your business. You want your customers to be able to easily recall it and, if possible, you want to give yourself the edge by having a keyword or multiples of keywords in your domain name.

It is estimated that there are billions of websites today and there really are no exact statistics to how many websites are out there. Every website needs a name and with every new website another name gets taken, making it harder to find the domain name you would prefer to have for your website.

When acquiring a domain name, you want to make sure that:

• It is relevant to your business
• It is easy to recall for your target customers
• It identifies you with your industry
• It seems credible and respectable
• If possible, it should suggest that you are one the leading players in the market

While the dot com is the most popular domain extension, there are actually over 100 different name extensions that you can choose from. The .net, .biz, .org, and country extensions, are just some of them. Why then should you consider a dot com domain extension before opting for any of the others?

Why is dot com the most preferred domain extension?

• Credibility:  Dot com has the highest recall of all domain extensions. Almost anyone familiar with the web relates to a “dot com”. A site with a less familiar domain extension may not have the same credibility as the same name with a dot com extension.
• Default Extension:  Even if you type in “website” into the browser address bar instead of “website.com”, many browsers today check for the dot com extension by default. As such, instead of returning an error message, your visitors will still reach your website if your website has a dot com extension.
• What was that domain?:  If your customers know your business name but either do not know or have forgotten your domain name, they are most likely to try out “yourbusiness.com” to find your business. Many of them may not think of trying a .org, .net, .biz or other domain extensions.
• Resale value:  You may not be buying a domain name to sell it. But if you were to ever consider selling your domain name in the future, a dot com extension is most likely to fetch you the best price.

It does not mean that you should only have a dot com and other domain extensions are undesirable or useless. That’s certainly not the case. When you look for your preferred domain name, you should always try to see if a dot com is available. Next, you may want to try the domain name with hyphens or different variations of the name.

However, if a dot com is not available for any of your preferred names, you may want to seriously consider one of the other domain extensions. If your business is local or geographically targeting a certain region, you may want to consider a country-specific domain extension. As stated earlier, it is more important that your domain name reflects your business, is easy to remember and spell than to have a dot com domain extension. But it is the best if you can get the perfect name and the dot com extension.