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Should You Choose a New Domain Extension for Your Website?

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Are you wondering whether you should choose a new domain extension for your website?

Apart from the popular dot-com extension, there are many new domain name extensions that you can choose from.

In this article, we will answer the question: Should you choose new domain extensions for your website? And what are the pros and cons of using a new domain extension?

Should you choose new domain extensions for your website?

What Are Domain Extensions?

Domain extensions or TLDs are the last part of a domain name. These are the letters that appear after the dot and to the right side of the domain name.

For example, WPBeginner has a .com domain extension (wpbeginner.com), and Wikipedia has a .org domain extension (wikipedia.org).

To learn more about the domain name system, see our beginner’s guide on what a domain name is and how domains work.

The first domain extensions were .com, .net, and .org. They are still the most popular domain extensions.

As time passed, new domain extensions were introduced. These included country-specific domain extensions like .co.uk or .com.de and niche-specific extensions like .travel, .app, .mobi, .photography, and more.

Today, there are hundreds of domain extensions available that can be used for starting a website.

Domain name extensions

You can register a domain name from a domain name registrar.

We recommend Domain.com. They are one of the best domain registrars on the market, offering competitive rates, domain extensions, and easy-to-use domain management tools.

Domain.com

Some registrars offer more variety of domain extensions than others. The cost for each domain extension will vary, and some new ones are quite expensive compared to the popular .com, .net, and .org extensions.

Once you have purchased a domain name, you’ll still need web hosting to build a website. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on the difference between domain name and web hosting.

Should You Choose a New Domain Extension for Your Website?

Choosing a domain name with the right domain extension is crucial for the success of your website. The extension part of your domain affects your branding.

A .com domain name can be used to create almost any website and business. This flexibility allows you to change your website’s scope or business while keeping the old brand and domain name.

The .com domain extension has become synonymous with the internet. Nearly 46% of all registered domain names are .com domains. Even most smartphones have a default .com key for quick typing.

Most internet users instinctively use .com when entering a website address in their browser. Due to the popularity of .com domain names, they are easier to brand, promote, and help you grow your business.

However, extensions such as .news, .tv, and .fm are growing in popularity as brands try to establish themselves within their specific niche.

What to Do if My Preferred .com Extension Is Not Available?

The majority of websites on the internet use a .com extension. This means there are nearly 136 Million .com domain names already registered.

This would make you feel that all the good domain names are already registered. However, plenty of clever ways exist to find a good .com domain name.

You can start by looking at our free business name generator tool. It helps you find clever business name ideas that you can use for your domain name.

  • Your domain name should represent your business and what you do. For example, starplumbingservices.com is better than starservices.com
  • You can add small words before or after your preferred domain name to make it unique. For example, starplumbingboston.com
  • Make sure your domain name can be easily pronounced. Don’t use hyphens or numbers in your domain name.
  • Take advantage of online domain name generators. These free tools will help you find domain name ideas that are still available.

If you need more help, then see our beginner’s guide on choosing the best domain name for more practical tips.

Let’s review some other popular domain extensions, their intended purpose, and what kind of websites they are suitable for.

Other Available Domain Extensions

There are hundreds of domain name extensions available. We have tried to pick up some generic and popular extensions to show you how these domain extensions are intended to be used.

When should you use the .Net domain extension?

The .net extension is the second most popular domain extension. It was originally intended to be used by networking businesses, internet service providers, or networks of online communities.

Nowadays, it is used as a general extension much like .com.

For more details, see our comparison of .com vs .net domain extensions.

When should you use the .Org domain extension?

The .org extension was initially launched to accompany .com and .net domain extensions. It suits non-profit organizations, charities, and religious or social awareness websites.

Some organizations use the .org extension for their non-profit activities and the .com version of the same domain for commercial activities.

When should you use the .Biz domain extension?

The .biz domain extension is an acronym for business. Similar to the .com extension, .biz is intended to be used by any business website.

It is not as popular as other ecommerce-related TLDs, but is usually available when .com or .net is not.

When should you use the .Info domain extension?

The .info extension is an abbreviation for information and was originally intended to be used by information portals or similar websites.

It works great for documentation and knowledge bases for a product or brand.

When should you use the .Name domain extension?

The .name extension is intended to be used by individuals. This domain extension was created to provide people with another option to register a domain name for personal websites with their name.

It’s a very personal domain, working best for personal websites or blogs.

When should you use the .TV domain extension?

Technically, the .tv domain extension is a country-based TLD for websites based in Tuvalu (a tiny island nation in the Pacific Ocean). However, the domain is used by video-related websites around the world.

One of the most popular is twitch.tv, but lots of video sites use it because it lets users know what kidn of content they should expect. If your site is ecommerce or only produces written content, .tv may not be the right domain extension.

What About Country-Specific Domain Extensions?

In general, use country-specific domain extensions if you only want to target users in that particular country.

The intended purpose of country-specific domain extensions is to be used by individuals and businesses in that region. Many such domains can only be registered if you are in that country or have a representative.

Country-specific domain extensions are great for creating multilingual websites or region-specific websites. Amazon does this with different countries, for example, by using .co.uk for the United Kingdom version or their site or .co.jp for Japanese customers.

Some websites use country domain extensions to come up with clever ideas for their domain names. For example, bit.ly uses the domain extension for Libya, and goo.gl, the now-defunct URL shortener from Google, used the country domain extension for Greenland.

These kinds of domain names are called domain hacks. While they look cool, you will need serious marketing skills to turn them into a recognizable and memorable brand for your users.

We hope this article helped answer the question about choosing new domain extensions for your website. You may also want to see our guide on how to make a blog with step-by-step instructions for beginners and our expert picks of the best WordPress hosting providers.

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Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

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Reader Interactions

5 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
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  2. Utsav says

    Hi,
    I have a website currently running on ‘.in’ extension but I want to move my website to ‘.com’ extension. I have already registered ‘.com’ domain. How to do this?

  3. Lenin Zapata says

    I have registered domains .doctor, .name, .me.
    It is worth noting that these do not affect SEO

  4. Mark Shultise says

    One problem with many of the newer domain names is that the spammers or using them and a lot of people like me or blocking anything that’s not a traditional domain suffix

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