Better Web Addresses. Which One To Use?
Web address is what people mean when they say “Domain name”. You know many domains starting with General TLD’s (Top Level Domains) - .com, .net and .org. As they are some of the oldest web addresses it is hard to find one that is good and short enough. Most English names, words, and phrases are already registered as general TLD’s.
Just think any kind of word that you consider to use for business name, trademark or just service or product name. They are all occupied! So what to do when you chose a name for your business but the .com domain is not vacant.
First thing to do is to check if .net and .org addresses are still available for registration. They might be! The chance to get one of them is not very good but you may get lucky. If all General TLD’s are registered by someone else then check if the name you want to use as web address is vacant with your national domain extension.
I would even advice American, UK, Canadian, Aussie and even any other businesses to choose their country domain instead of getting .com, .net or .org name. Dot-US is a quite new. The domain has been set in 1985 but it became popular after 2000. On April 24 2002 NIC.us, the official registry for .us web address has released second level state domains.
There are still many good words or phrases available for registration with .us domain. So I really suggest Americans to use their national web names. it is not just patriotic, it is very convenient. The other good thing about .US is that the web addresses taht use this extension will increase their market value.
To buy expensive dot-com address?
Don’t do that unless the web address you are about to buy is essential for you business activities. Think of already registered domains which are used for any purposed as a used car. It is not a property. Well it might be if the previous owner cared about the web address and the web site it hosted with the it. I can suggest anyone who wonders whether to buy already used web address or not, to visit Archive.org and to check what did the previous owner do with the domain name.
My advice not to purchase second hand addresses which have been used by someone else. The domain name is not a physical address of a web site. It is more brand than street or suite number on the web. So, start creating your web brand from zero point.
Exotic web addresses
There domain extensions such as .NU, .TO and many more who offer an opportunity to anyone to register a popular word or phrase which costs at least $50,000 under .com domain. So spending some time to find a good exotic web address may worth!
.EU
I like it a lot. European Union is becoming the world’s leading economy. Well it is still less innovative than America, Canadian and even than some Asian markets. But it is more stable. The same is with European names. Their launch was less good than expected and most site owners in Eu still prefer to use a General TLD or their national web addresses. But I’m sure that .eu names will become very, very popular and will be very appreciated not only in Europe but worldwide.
The best web address is the one that explains best the business. It may be a brand, a work or a phrase. Once ready with it the site owner can go with any available domain extension.