Technical details are a pain in the arse, I know, but these details could end up biting you there if you don't pay attention. Choose your pain wisely! Or else your web site might end up with a name like Best-Mobile-Alabama-Realtor.tv…

Dot Com or Dot Why Bother?

.COM is technically referred to as a "top level domain", as is .NET, .ORG, .TV, .WS, and a slew of others. Some of these weird little names are actually top level domains for foreign countries! .TV is really for the country Tuvalu, a small island in the Pacific, who sold the rights to a domain registrar company in the USA. Now this company, The .tv Corporation, is hawking .TV domains everywhere: "Not only is TV the most recognized two letter symbol in the world, but it's also now becoming the most meaningful web address for the evolving Internet!" That sounds like marketing BS to me. The web is evolving into television? Give me a break.

In addition, there are 7 new top level domains that will reportedly soon to be available, including: .INFO, .AERO, .NAME, .PRO, .BIZ, .COOP, and .MUSEUM.

While these are great for the registrars that sell them, are they of any value to you? I'm not so sure. When my company bought NUMBER1EXPERT.com, we also bought NUMBER1EXPERT.net, mostly to keep annoying domain squatters from grabbing it. So do these new registrars expect us to go out and buy up every NUMBER1EXPERT.tv, NUMBER1EXPERT.ws, or NUMBER1EXPERT.info that they come up with?

.COM is the gold standard. Everyone is familiar with it, even net neophytes. While .NET is somewhat well known, it's still not .COM. And who has heard of .WS, or any of the others, other than techies? If you tell someone, "Go to BaltimoreHomes.ws", they'll probably say, "Dot what? What is that? I thought web sites were dot com. Is this a real web site?" You end up having to explain and defend your web site name all the time. It's like saying, "I wanted BaltimoreHomes.com but could only get BaltimoreHomes.ws." Aren't you just helping BaltimoreHomes.com?

Even the registrars themselves unwittingly acknowledge this. They go on and on about how great their obscure top level domain is -- and then they tell you the real reason to buy: If you can't get .COM! For example, here is an actual quote from a registrar: "If you have a .NET name and would like to get the .COM equivalent which is taken, sign up for our Expired Domain Name Watch service to get the domain name you want, just as soon as it expires." If .NET is a clear second choice to .COM, where does that leave the others?

Your domain name should be memorable and work with your marketing. If you have to resort to obscure top level domains to get the name you want, how unique and memorable can it be? Won't everyone simply figure that you couldn't get the address you really wanted? It's a bit like trying for an impressive address for your business, but not quite making it: 100 Market Street, Basement.