I was checking out a few different domain names the other day, and of course... the .com extention was taken, but noticed that the .biz and .org extentions were available... Was wondering people's thoughts/experiences branding lesser domain extentions... Certainly, .com is preferred, but is if you are able to have your keywords in a .org domain name, and can optimize for search engines... would you choose your .org domain name with the keywords, or a lesser keyword .com name with "-" (dashes)... or even a lesser keyword domain name without the dashes? Look forward to hearing from you...
When com is not available the next bet is net. biz is meant to business related sites, though you can have it for any other website. org was originally the non-profit extension, but today largerly used for any other purpose, including porn info is preferred as the cheaper extension but suitable for informational websites. Name and ws are other popular options when dot.com is not available. There is a prejudge using dashes in domain names, but let me tell you that I lost a long dot.com name joined by a dash For 3 years I've been waiting that people who grabbed it let it drop. In fact it expired a few weeks ago, falling again in other's hands... from this experience I conclude that dashes are not as bad as people believe.
Good post BasedSolutions I agree... tho the tld's these days are not used the way they should be used.
Depends on the domain name, really. Sometimes it's worth to get the .ORG and/or .BIZ if the .COM is taken but in some cases it's better to look for an available .COM
I share the same feelings, that if you can have the .com, then... you can do pretty well, but .net then .org aren't that bad either... but, not as natural as the .com when it comes to it.
Actually, I think a single dash for .com should be fine... Some sites are doing great and they have dashes in their name...I saw a .com (cant remember) with dash and sold for $x,xxx Search engines dont appear to care, but preferably a .com as always..
.COM is the King, then goes .NET, .ORG is fine too. .BIZ, .INFO, .US - only if it's really nice name, smth. like dictionary word, 3 character. Country specific domains good for local market. Good luck with making a right choice!