There are many different domain extensions that can be bought these days. A domain provider is always forward in presenting you with your options and offering you them to buy. They obviously want to get more business from you but are they providing you with a useful service?
.com
The .com extension is by far the most popular. Many domains use it and have other extensions as well. It is the most popular extension and therefore one that many people tend to go for. It has the advantage of being memorable for customers and it does not associate the domain with a country. This can be an advantage if it is felt that this will cause them to be discriminated against in some way.
Local country domains
It can be useful to have a domain extension that reflects the country that you are based in. This can help customers know where you are based and may even provide some loyalty from those that live in that country. They are often used in association with a .com but sometimes used instead of it.
Other Domains
There are a number of other extensions that are available. These include .tv, .info, ,org, .edu and many others. Some of them are industry specific and so it would be relevant for them to be used. Some people think there is an advantage in buying every possible domain extension for their domain. This needs to be done within reason as there may be a lot of these. Perhaps just ones that are relevant to your industry, business, location or brand may be a good starting point.
One reason for having lots of domain extensions is that no one else can take advantage of your reputation by having a close domain to yours. If you have a .com, they may choose to have the .de and hope that Germans try the .de first and arrive at their site. This will increase traffic and may arouse more interest in their site and they may even take some of your customers.
However, having too many domain extensions is very expensive. It is worth considering which ones will be worth buying and which will not. If your business is very local then it may be worth just having the local domain.
You may find all of the domains are not available or some are very expensive and so that may limit your choice somewhat. It can be worth checking this out before you decide on a domain name. You may decide that having a domain name that is similar to another is worthwhile as you may get some misdirected traffic or you may think it is better to have something unique so that it is easy for customers to recognise and find you. It can be a tricky decision and it is worth checking what your rivals are doing to get a clue as to what is common practice in your industry.
Rachel is a passionate blogger who loves to write on latest in SEO. She occasionally writes for Name Perfection, a company specializing in brandable domain name.
