So you’ve chosen a great domain name for your online business and now you’re ready to register. One remaining factor to consider is which TLD (top level domain) you should choose.

A TLD is the extension that follows your domain name (i.e. .com, .org, etc.). Obviously, .com is the most familiar TLD. This familiarity comes with a price, however. TLDs ending in .com are often the most popular and the hardest to secure. The odds are high that if your business has an even remotely common name, you will have a difficult time obtaining a straight .com TLD (i.e. yourbusiness.com). One resolution to this problem is to use hyphens (i.e. your-business.com), abbreviations (i.e. yourbiz.com), or acronyms (i.e., yb.com). Another option is to choose the domain name of your choice, but alter the TLD that follows it.

The TLD .net is a great option if your business is Internet related. The TLD .org is commonly used for non-profit organizations. The use of .org is not restricted to non-profit organizations, so it can be a good route to go if your business’s .com name is already taken. Country Code Top Level Domains (i.e., yourbusiness.uk) are an excellent choice if your business is directed to a particular geographic region or country. Certain CCTLDs may be restricted to residents of that country, so make sure you know the rules before signing up.

New, popular TLDs include .biz, .info, and .name. The .biz TLD was created specifically for online businesses. It is restricted to those who own or operate businesses and is not available for personal use. The .info TLD is completely unrestricted. Because of this, this TLD is quite popular and may be increasingly difficult to secure in the coming years. The .name TLD is a great alternative to a .com because it was created specifically for personal use. If your name is John Doe, you can register john.doe.name. You could have an email account such as john@smith.name.

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