Know Your TLDs Before You Buy a Domain Name

When you attempt to register a domain name, you must choose which top-level domain you will be using. The top-level domain (TLD) is actually the extension of the domain name. For example, the .com is the top-level domain or extension in yourdomain.com. Many people think that the extension is included for no specific purpose. This could not be further from the truth. The domain extension or TLD actually indicates what the kind of entity the domain belongs to. For business you always want to buy a domain name that ends in .com. Here is a list of the most common TLDs and what they are used for.

.COM – Anyone with a personal or commercial site may buy a domain name with this extension. However, it is most commonly used by commercial entities. It is, by far, the most popular web domain extension and also the most valuable.

.NET – This is another general TLD, but it is mostly companies involved in internet communications and infrastructure buy a domain name with this extension.

.ORG – Buy a domain name with this extension and you are likely to operate some type of organization. Mostly non-profits register this type of domain.

.BIZ – Since .com has become so crowded with names, many business are registering this domain extension. It still reflects a commercial identity and allows you the opportunity to purchase your company name if it was already used under the more prevalent .com extension. Personal web sites may not use this extension.

.INFO – This top-level domain is steadily rising in popularity. If you have a personal or commercial web site, you can buy this domain name extension.

.PRO – Doctors, lawyers and other professionals buy this domain name extension when they are ready to display web sites with information about themselves and their occupations.

.COOP – This TLD is used by organizations that want to denote their status as cooperatives.

.NAME – Individuals buy this domain name extension to promote their personal web sites It must be comprised of your first and last name.

.AERO – This is a new option for the air-transportation industry.

.MUSEUM – The domain name extension is self-explanatory. In case it’s not obvious, only official museums may use this TLD.

.EDU and .GOV – Both of these domain names are not available for public registration. Only educational institutions and government agencies respectively are allowed to use these domain extensions.

IMPORTANT: For commercial and business use you should concentrate on finding a .com name first. Numerous studies show that surfers will consistently type .com into their browsers before any other extension. If you own MySite.net but your competition owns MySite.com then you will lose hard earned business. This is why .com names are so valuable and why NameSeek deals almost exclusively in the .com TLDs.

Once you own your .com name then you can acquire the .net, .biz, etc. names to keep those names from your competitors. You can point all your names to one web site.