If you want to build a website, you’ll likely go to a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy.com and start checking which dotcom names are still
available. Chances are, your first choice may be registered to someone else.
If you don’t feel like battling with others to scoop up the
remaining, catchy .com names, you have a lot of options now according to NPR, which ran a story recently about the launch of new generic top level domain (gTLD) names such as .cool, .buzz and .coffee.
If you’re not familiar with the acronym gTLD, this is the extension that
comes at the end of a web address such as “.com”, “.net” or “.org”. Per NPR, there is demand for new gTLDs since there’s a lack of real estate for those
that want to set-up a new site on the web. I may not be able to register the name heather.jackson.com,
but as of this writing I could register other modest URLs such as
heather.jackson.cool, heather.jackson.hot and heather.jackson.rocks.
The thing is, the Internet is not as crowded as you may think
or NPR suggests. Since the early 2000s, there has also been the option to
register URLs with generic top level domain names such as .biz, .info and .name.
According to Domain Tools, .biz only has 2.3% of the number of registered domains as
.com. This means you still have the potential to grab some new Internet real estate in the .biz neighborhood. Be forewarned: even though .biz, .name and .info have been around over 10 years, they do not have the same cache or familiarity with consumers as .com does. If negative brand perception is not a concern, you can be assured that there
is no penalizing effect to SEO from using a new gTLD. Matt Cutts at Google has gone on record to dismiss the SEOs out there who state that having a .com name will improve your search engine results page (SERP) rankings.
My personal recommendation would be to stick with a .com
name unless one of these rules apply:
- You need to protect your brand across the web
- You see the potential to resell the name at a profit
- You would like a catchy website name for personal use
