the dot com domain has been registered, would you like to take the dot NET or dot ORG domain? which one do you prefer and why? would you use a ORG domain for a web directory and why? DMOZ and BOTW are both ORG. it's a really a good question and seldom discuss here.
My personal preference is: 1. Try to get a .com domain. 2. If it's parked then try and get a .org or .net domain. (I prefer .org) I don't register a .org or .net domain if .com is being use 'actively' Good question btw.
I would prefer to take a branded name which has all TLD's available and then use the .com only. If looking to establish a brand, .com and all TLA capture is important. - My advice, switch to another name and follow the above.
I would follow humm's advice. If you have to decide between the two, I'd go with .net for a commercial site.
I'd recommend thinking of another name that has a dot com avail, or if you absolutely need that name, buying it if it's only parked. The thing about .net's is most people forget it's a .net. Everyone automatically assumes in their mind websites are .com. I even find myself typing in wikipedia.com (and other sites) even though I know the proper address is actually a .org. Dot com is definitely the way to go and if you're using this site for the long haul, do whatever you can to find and a get a dot com you'll want. You'll be happy you did later on.
I would prefer .org domains as it's easy remember (that's only for sites other than directories as it would be augur well for SEO purposes) But for directories I would go with a different.com
If you have enough budget, register both. Or if you directory is famous in future, and somebody regiter yourdomain.net and yourdomain.org, you will be frustrated by that.
WallaceYeung, the issue is really interesting. The most popular domain now is ".com". Nowadays people aren't anxious about their site to correspond to its domain name. But it haven't always been like this. ".Com" means commercial project; ".net" - a project that referes directly to WWW; ".org" - site, belonging to some organisation; ".biz" - business project, company; ".info" informational page. About 10 years ago site owners were following these rules when selecting domains. That's why the first web-directories has "org" domains: dmoz.org (1998), lii.org (1994), vlib.org (1991), botw.org (1994). Nowadays people select domains at their own judgement. But I prefer to follow old-fashioned cannons and have chosen exactly ".org" for my directory.
The old directories that used .org did so because they saw themselves as a group trying to achieve something - similar to Project Gutenberg. Unless you plan on branding yourself as a group of some sort, to me, the use of .org is misleading. Like many others have said, I think it's folly to try and brand a .net or a .org if the .com is already taken. Sure, it's harder to find good names but you'll just have to get a bit more creative.
.org is for oganisations, .net for networks. I'd say a web directory is much more of a network than an organisation, unless you've got some sort of non commercial motivation behind it? Personally I don't like registering .orgs
That's why the good business man would buy up most variables of their domain to prevent the .net buyers.
Personally I would prefer the .net but I don't like sharing names with other sites so I'd choose a different name and buy a .com.
I usually try to register .com but when its not available I take the .orgs. I dont think there's any diff between .com, .net or .org extensions.
Except for the fact that 90% of people assume your domain is .com and when trying to return to your site type in .com?
The purpose of domain extension is for branding. IF you can brand .net or .org why not use it. I'd prefer .net
If you have a big project going on then you'd certainly need to get the .com. I prefer .org in any case though; .NET always looked to me like "substitute" for a .com; i.e: a webmaster who couldn't manage to get the .com, registered the .net; So go with .org