Happy new week friends, I hope we all had a splendid weekend. As for me, it was great indeed. I really enjoyed myself. Although I had a very busy day on Saturday because of the seminar I conducted.
Oh I didn’t tell you! Actually, there was a church here in my state that hosted me on the weekend; they invited me to lecture their members on the Internet Marketing business and motivation. I was really great and I thank God for such opportunity.
However, Nigeria is 52 today. This means that we are celebrating our independent; I hope we will all cerebrate together. Anyway, let’s get to the main issue. I have been often asked this same question about choosing between the Dot Com and Dot Net Domain name. I know that most of you may have gotten that some question before, so that’s why I decided to treat it today based on my own understanding. |
You know, when choosing domain names most people get confused over whether to choose the dot com or a dot net extension. More so in recent times when dot net addresses have risen in popularity and usage on the com.However, there are some important facts that one needs to become conscious of before they opt for a dot net address. Very often when people need to commit the address of a website to memory, they will not recall the dot net extension and the first place they will check is the given address with a dot com ending. Many times when they do not find it there, they will hardly ever think of using dot net to repeat the search. That is a lost visitor and maybe even potential client.
The most disturbing part of it is that there is increasing evidence to suggest that an increasing number of people end up at a website after hearing about it either from a friend, colleague, or by seeing an advertisement on Television or hearing about it on radio or reading something about the site. When committing the website address to memory, very few will distinctly recall the dot net address if that is the domain name that you have chosen. Having said that, let us also appreciate the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for anybody to get a decent dot com address. After years of use, there is hardly any short catchy name that you can think of that will still be available. Do not even mention search-engine key word friendly domain names which will be virtually impossible to get. This is the reason why people often settle for a dot net address. Others do not even bother to start their search with dot com domains. This is a big mistake despite the unavailability of good dot com domains, which we have already acknowledged. Thorough efforts should be made to try and secure a dot com domain before you give up and move to dot net. For example you can try and search for abandoned domain names. In fact by making an effort to be really creative and not hurrying the process, it is quite possible to secure a reasonably good dot com domain name. You can be sure that it will be well worth the extra effort and time you put into it which will result in better success when you begin to seek traffic. But if you just cannot get a dot com domain, a dot net one is a good alternative. Thanks for taking time to read this post, please I will appreciate your comments on this matter, what do you think about this two Domain name extensions? Which will you go for if you are to register another domain? If you are in Nigeria, how do you plan to celebrate the Independent? Please also remember to Tweet and Share with friends if you enjoyed it. HAPPY INDEPENDENT NIGERIA. Photo Credit: adria.richards’ photostream |
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[…] my last blog post, we compared the Dot Com domain extension to the Dot Net extension trying to find out which is the best among […]
Tim Bonner says
Hi Theodore
I remember reading somewhere some time ago to steer clear of dot net domains as they tended to be used by spammers, although less so than dot biz domains.
Things have probably moved on since then but in general I would always go for a dot com domain, or a dot co dot uk domain if I’m targeting the UK market specifically.
Happy Independent Nigeria! I hope you are having a great day.
Tim
Nwangene Theodore says
Yea Tim,
I had a great day indeed. Nig is 52 today. I will also go for the dot com extensions but what if your desired domain is available in the Dot Com but is on the Dot Net, what will you do?
Thanks friend.
Ben Troy says
dot com is much better than dot net for SEO and brand, we oftens call the dot com lifestye, not dotnet
Nwangene Theodore says
Thanks Troy and welcome to my blog,
Yea i agree with you on that point. But what if the Dot Com is not available, which other one will you go for? Thanks for your comment and i hope you’ll visit again.
JanBierens says
I believe that the domain type of your website can make a difference in how people ‘see’ your website. Com for commercial, org for organization, tv for television and so on.
A dot net could stand for ‘network’ but right now a lot of people might think it’s related to the Microsoft dot Net programming language…
If you have the chance, and can afford it, try to buy / hire all the related domain names (com, edu,org, net and so on). One never knows…
Nwangene Theodore says
Wow JanBierens,
I haven’t heard of all that explanations before, but among all the extensions, which one will you search for first before checking if others are available? Thanks, your comment is really appreciated.
Vineet Saxena says
Hi Nwangene,
It is always good and preferable to go with TLDs like .com or .org. My first preference is .com and if it is not available, then I choose to go with .org.
Nwangene Theodore says
Thanks Vineet and welcome here,
From my understanding, it means you prefer the Dot Com and Dot Org to Dot Net, well its not bad because we all have our preferences, but can you tell us why you will choose them instead of the Dot Net?
Thanks for coming.
Adrienne says
Hi Theodore,
Well, I’m a dot net gal myself and the reason for that is the dot com domain was taken when I went to purchase it years ago for my name.
I’m aware that there is an actress out there and we share the same name. I’m also aware that the dot com domain was created back in 2003. I didn’t come online until 2007 and at that time there was no way I was paying over $300 for that domain name. I wanted my name and I got it but with a dot net extension.
If you Google Adrienne Smith though, you’ll find me ranking above the actress and the dot com extension is still not being used. I guess whoever has it is holding on to it thinking they’ll get a fortune for it. Man, I think they’re going to be very disappointed.
I know that the dot com extension is more popular especially with the search engines but like you said, it’s so hard to get good ones these days.
~Adrienne
Nwangene Theodore says
Glad to see you on my Blog Adrienne,
Well if you ask me, i think both Dot Net and Dot Com are all good, just that as you pointed out, the former is more popular than the latter. But for me, i can still settle for a dot net if the dot com has been taken just as you did, after all the say that when the desirable is not available, the available becomes desirable. But is the dot com extension of your domain registered? Why don’t you try to buy it if the person is not using it.
Thanks for coming Adrienne, hope to see you again.
Enstine Muki says
Hey bro,
Com or Net may not make any big difference from SEO point of view. Who knows … yesterday it was penguin and panda. Today, it’s exact match. Tomorrow might be domain extention (TLD or ccTLD) Google is so erratic and unpredictable
Nwangene Theodore says
Interesting point Enstine
I didn’t even thought of that before, who knows, it is really possible that they might consider that latter.
Lets just keep watching.
Thanks for stoping by.
Marcie says
I have one dot.net and the rest of my sites are dot.coms. I was always advised to use dot.com by internet gurus so I did. However, I kept the one dot.net because I like the flow of the domain name. And I don’t put a heavy premium on this one because I am going to be found by keywords in the name; not the domain name itself.
Nwangene Theodore says
Thanks Marcie,
I’ve also been adviced to go for the dot coms but did you boder to ask them their reason for the discrimination?
Thanks for coming
Cudjoe says
Happy belated Independence Day to Naija from a Ghanaian brother.
With me, I mostly prefer a.com domain.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Man,
How is Ghana? i will visit your guys soon
Felicia says
Hi Theodore,
First off, Happy Independence Day to Nigeria! I know I am late, but it’s better late than never, right?
I still prefer the dot com address because it’s simply what everyone usually knows when you mention a website name. If the website name I want is not available on dot com, then I guess that’s the time I’ll go for the dot net. Thanks for sharing!
Nwangene Theodore says
Thanks Felicia,
Of cause, its not late. Yea, we all have our preferences but it seems majority are going for the dot com. Thanks for coming, hope to see you around.
Jackie Sloanes says
Speaking of the top level domain name since this plays a large role in picking the right domain name for domain name registration; many experts have noted that before you go for a domain name registration, you should identify your top level domain. The .com is the most common top level domain that is used today, for it stands for commercial domains. Of course there are other types and each has its own uses and functions…
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Theodore Nwangene says
I quite agree with your points Jackie,
Thanks a lot for coming to my site and leaving such a wonderful comment. Please do come back again.