Tips For Choosing The Right Top-Level Domain

If you're thinking about buying a new domain name, you not only have to come up with a name, you also have to consider the TLD that you'll use. The TLD comes at the end of your domain name after the "dot" symbol. For years, the .com TLD has been the most popular extension used. It's easily recognizable and usually chosen first. Original TLDs However, there may be other reasons why you would want to use a TLD other than .com. If you are a nonprofit organization, you may want to use the .org TLD. It was created in 1985 along with .net, .mil, .gov, .edu and .us as one of the original top-level domain names. It was originally created with the intent to be used by organizations that are noncommercial. TLD For SEO Purposes While there are many different aspects that go into Google's algorithm for ranking a website, the TLD of your domain name is probably not one of them. You can choose .com, .org or something more obscure like .plumber, and it really won't affect your ranking in the search engines. Your content marketing, link building, internal link structure and internal SEO will play a much larger role in determining where your site ranks If you really have your heart set on a certain domain and the .com isn't available, it probably won't hurt to choose another TLD, especially if you are trying to create a brand. TLD For Branding If you'd like to use a nontraditional TLD for branding, it may help people remember your business. For example, if you own a plumbing business in San Francisco, you may want to use a domain name and TLD combination such as sanfrancisco.plumber. This type of domain name and extension may catch someone's eye when they are scanning the search engine results pages. Protecting Yourself If you do purchase a.com TLD, a common recommendation to protect yourself in the future is to purchase the .net and .org domain name extensions as well. This will ensure that someone doesn't try to hijack your hard work by registering the same domain name with a .net or .org extension if you are using the .com TLD. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/9vuoo3/whichshouldibuynetorgor_com/.