When you start your business or online empire, one of the first things you want to think about is building your website. As we’ve explained, a website is a crucial part of cultivating your brand. If you’re wondering how to build a website yourself in the first place, keep in mind that this technical aspect of your site is made much easier thanks to providers of paid website building services, who provide extensive guidance. The second task, of course, is to obtain the perfect domain name for your needs. Website building services, 1&1 included, can help you in the process of locating and registering your domain, but often the hardest step is deciding which type to use in the first place.
When people think about registering their business with its own top-level domain (TLD), the first one that springs to mind is the classic option, .com. Nowadays, registering your website with a .com extension can be tricky, as so many of the prime web addresses have been snatched up (hence the so-called dot com boom in the 1990s). Obviously, your website name has to be catchy enough that users will memorize it – and perhaps most importantly of all, relevant to the product, brand or service that your website is dedicated to.
Without further ado, here are 10 domain name ideas to help you in your decision-making process.
1: .net
Favored by those in the advertising sector and network operators, .net is very much a big player in the global domain name sphere and often seen as an alternative to .com. As a multinational extension, it’s perfect for businesses with a global audience or for those who operate internationally and don’t want to be anchored to site visitors from just one region. For example, UK2 is a well-known web hosting company based in Britain, which makes use of a .net domain name in order to signal that their reach extends beyond their islands’ borders to the rest of the world.
As you can see that the .net domain names are sold at very premium price and has an equal importance when it comes to branding and reputation.
2: .org
Much in the same way as .net, .org is one of the strongest and most widespread alternatives to a classic .com domain name, .org is a generic top-level Domain (gTLD) generally reserved for sites which offer a free public service. It is used by web giants such as Wikipedia, Craigslist and WordPress, who use the domain name to help boost their credibility as important services.
If you are operating an organization and your service is liaison with this motive, .ORG domain can best suited your brand and you can easily gain credibility when it comes to branding.
3: .country
In addition to there being less competition for domain names than .com, another benefit of a country code TLD such as .co.uk (United Kingdom), .fr (France) or .de (Germany) lies in that it specifically targets a niche area of business where a company is either based or serving a select region only, while appearing noteworthy and professional. This makes it ideal for purely domestic vendors or service providers, as well as those looking to expand to new international markets. The Times newspaper, for example, uses a .co.uk domain name, which allows it to signal that its roots are in the United Kingdom, though it reports on both local and global issues.
Here you need to understand very important point before you opt for country specific domain. If you are operating your business by targeting a specific country then an then go for it! If you are planning to expand your business and may extend your offering to other countries, either go for country specific multiple domains or have a .com / .net or other generic domain extension.
4: .tv
Unsurprisingly, .tv is a popular extension for those in the media industry. Short for the registered country domain of Tuvalu (a Polynesian island), 80% of this domain is owned by Verisign and predominantly used by television and video-related businesses. Twitch.tv is a platform for live streaming video, as well as a subsidiary of Amazon. Though Amazon itself uses .com, the fact that it approved .tv for Twitch is a strong endorsement of the power of this domain name.
We have found that many video / entertainment industry specific websites started using .TV extension. For example, if you are running a cooking channel, having .TV domain can be more beneficial to you.
5: .biz
Anyone starting an online business should consider .biz as a viable option for securing the full URL of their choosing, which still conveys the nature of their company. This domain name is perfect for a range of businesses, from shipping companies like eShipping.biz to agricultural ventures like Grapery.biz.
It is always advisable to review copyright terms before you secure any domain names as having a different extension on copyrighted terms may result in legal issues in the future.
6: .City
Inhabitants of 39 world cities are now privy to a range of personalized.city domains. New Yorkers can enjoy a .nyc ending, .london in the UK and .paris for those in France as an alternative to the classic .fr extension. These specific city extensions make a great alternative to a generic country code TLD, to ensure local businesses can get the URL address they want. A bigger example of a company that has made use of this advantage is London & Partners, which acts as London’s official promotional company. Their main URL is simply business.london, which shows they’ve decided to use their .london domain name to highlight their ties to the city at the heart of their business.
If you are operating a local business or your service is limited to a specific city, this domain extension can be best choice.
7: .Me
As well as the country code TLD of Montenegro, .me offers new websites a chance to secure a specific web address. When it comes to the personalization of a domain name, nothing could be more of a personal web address than .me! Starting a Life Coaching business? This TLD is particularly popular among those seeking to create a personal brand or sell lifestyle services to others. It is also ideal for businesses that cater to creating a personable environment. Mindspace.me, for example, provides co-working spaces like meeting rooms and offices. Since catering their services to professionals’ well-being is a big part of their business, .me is the perfect choice.
If you are a photographer, consultant or a blogger who want to build a personal brand, .me domain with your individual name can be best option to go with.
8: .gg
The.gg domain (originally native to the Isle of Guernsey) has become popular among gaming sites since the GG acronym is the short form of the expression ‘good game’. Anyone thinking of starting a tech or website aimed at online gaming or related subjects might want to check out this domain name as an alternative to a .com. Dream Team, a self-described e-sports and gaming recruitment and management network, uses gg to signal to gamers that they’ve found the hub they’ve been searching for.
9: .ac
The Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha islands have given their name to a domain extension synonymous with educational sites and academic institutions. The most well-known website examples stem from this type of site. This includes the United Kingdom’s Newcastle University (which uses the combination ac.uk), as well as the Faith Mission Bible College in Edinburgh, Scotland. The .ac ending is also often linked with services such as accounting, consulting and even air-conditioning businesses.
10: .co
.co is the country domain of Colombia. This very desirable alternative to .com is listed as its leading global competitor and is widely used among startups, innovators and entrepreneurs, therefore it’s an ideal choice for starting out a company website for a new business. Modalyst, a drop-shipping company that was started in 2015 and is growing quickly, is a great example of a website that uses this domain in order to increase its respectability.
This is the era or innovation and many startup has launched in last couple of years. We have seen an unique trends where startup choosing the .co domain extension for their brands. You can also try this one incase if you are looking to acquire an unique one word domain name for your startup with .co extention.
At the end of the day, it’s all about letting strategy blend with creativity. If one of the 10 domains extentions we’ve described seem helpful, pair it with your company’s name (or a different identifying moniker) and you’ll be ready to take on the world wide web.