How to choose the best TLD

The Short Version

1. .com isn’t everything, Generic (gTLD) and country-code (ccTLDs) top-level domains can also contribute to a successful website.
2. Consider whether a TLD is relevant to your particular field. For example, go with a TLD that relates to your business, such as .film for a movie production company.
3. Consider new gTLDs to create a unique and memorable domain name.
4. Think about your target market, if you are selling a product that will only be sold in Mexico, for example, it’s a better choice to go with the local ccTLD. In this case, .mx. This may affect local search engine results.
5. Factor SEO into your decision-making. Be sure to avoid tell-tale spam TLDs which could result in your website ranking lower in search engines.

Before you learn how to choose, what is a TLD anyway?

A TLD, or Top Level Domain by its full name, is the bit that comes at the very end of a web address; for example, the TLD for Namecheap.com is the .com suffix. The most common TLDs are .com, .net, .org. but there are hundreds more available.

The average business owner might not give the components of an URL much thought, let alone the differences between top-level domain extensions. It’s so easy to overlook a domain suffix if you assume that .com is the one to go with. However, the tail end of your domain name can impact your website's search engine ranking, people's perceptions of your brand, and more.

Picking the second-level domain name of your website — the word or phrase that appears before the TLD — can be the easy part. You’ll soon find many different TLDs appended to your chosen domain name. How do you decide between hundreds of options? Should you go with the eternally popular .com suffix, your local country-code extension, or some descriptive word that aligns with your brand?

This article will guide you through the most common types and the factors that go into picking the right TLD for your website.

Pick a Top Level Domain

The primary objective of a domain name is representing your brand with a name. This name is important since it will determine how many people will be persuaded to come closer and take a look at your website. Admittedly, choosing the best TLD extension for your website can be an unwanted peculiarity during this process.

When the go-to .com version of your domain name is not available, you need to widen your net and consider another TLD, but which one? We suggest having an open mind as regards new TLDs. There are many available, each with its intended purpose, which might be a more fitting match for your business needs over a .com extension.

It's easy to skip over TLD selection and go with the first domain that comes to mind. This decision can't be reversed, so it's worth choosing the right TLD from the get-go.

.com and Brand Authority

We know that there are many options, but the perception of your potential customer base is a consideration you don't want to overlook when choosing your TLD. Think about it; most people are used to seeing .com and other country-code TLDs and are less familiar with new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .cat.

A domain with a standard .com tld, a familiar gTLD, or a localized domain is likely to be seen as more trustworthy by potential customers, which is especially important for business websites and new company websites in particular.

Don’t be afraid to consider domain extensions beyond .com

There was a time when TLDs were limited to classic extensions. It took a long time for the TLD market to open up. At one point, for example, it wasn’t the norm for big businesses and small businesses to even own a domain. However, once the world wide web became more established, the emphasis went on choosing a domain name. Now, the second-level domain name is the easy part. There’s a staggering number of TLD registrars to choose from aside from most people's go-to .com.

Contrary to popular sentiment, the internet doesn’t end at .com. Just as the web grew and became part of people’s lives, the new TLDs will become more common and accepted, especially by users who have grown up with the web.

How and when to use an alternative TLD

Despite the popularity of .com domains, it should be noted that it is entirely possible to run a successful online business using any TLD. There are hundreds of different domain extensions available, so we won’t cover each one here. Instead, let’s consider the most popular options and those that cater to a specific industry to help hone your options.

The most common TLDs are .com, .net, .org and a handful of others. These so-called 'classic gTLDs' represent just a snippet of what's available. New TLDs like .biz, .mobi and .club are used by specific industries or business interests. TLDs like this are fine options if your business model is focused, but what if your website focuses on an individual? New TLDs, such as the .me and .name extensions, have taken off for biographical websites and blogs.

The purpose of this post isn't to rave about the exciting world of new TLDs. The extension is just a piece of your web address, but it should work together with your domain name to create a cohesive brand for your website. In the spirit of this, let’s move on to our failsafe tips for choosing the best domain extension.

1. Factor in your site’s purpose

Before you begin the TLD selection process, consider the purpose of your site. There are extensions to fit a whole host of business types and models. If your site represents a non-profit or charitable organization, .org is a wise choice. if you are creating a straightforward commercial website, .com and .biz are commonly used TLDs for online businesses. On the other end of the spectrum, you may envisage a blog to keep a journal, for instance. In this case, an extension like .me would be a fitting solution.

Technically, you can go with almost any TLD that takes your fancy, even if the purpose doesn't fit your selection. However, this won't be helpful to your site visitors. We recommend choosing an extension informed by the use of your website. This way your domain will create a cohesive first impression.

• Look for a gTLD that helps explain and exemplify what you do.
• Think about the audience you are pursuing. You might be better going with .com if you host your advertising on offline platforms, TV, radio, print, etc. where your audience will naturally assume your extension is .com, and you could stand to lose some visitors who try .com.

Here’s a summary of just some of the TLDs perfect for particular industries:

• .io, .ly, .software, .technology, .digital, .codes, .consulting, .build - All relevant for startups and tech sites

• .biz, .xyz - For businesses of all types

• .club, .football, .soccer - There are plenty of community driven new gTLDs

• .bar, .pub, ,cafe - Perfect for a bar or restaurant, and TLDs for different establishments also exist.

• .film, .lol - These new TLDs are great if you are in a creative industry, there are some funny and unique ones out there.

• .wow, .rocks - These witty extensions are ideal for the shameless self-promoter.

• .travel - An overall good fit for the tourism industry, airlines, travel agents, and hoteliers.

• .info - Just as it implies, this is ideal for in-depth informational websites.

• .pro - For professionals across the board, from teaching services to laboring companies and how-to sites.

2. Consider new gTLDs

If you don’t want to limit yourself to a particular location, you've eliminated the use of typical country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs), but, you are still left with an overabundance of choices. Should you go with the probably pricier and, due to the lack of remaining options, less flexible .com, or one of the new TLDs.

Inevitably, most valuable .com domains are already taken, so you might want to go with the same domain name, but with a different TLD. For example, if mybikestore.com is taken, you may want to check to see if mystore.bike is available.

Choosing an established and recognizable generalized gTLD, like .io and .me might be the way to go. There are plenty of reasons to go with one, such as:

The expanse of new TLDs provides businesses the chance to create a unique, distinctive, and memorable domain name that quickly communicates the purpose of what they can offer. The domain name is one of the first things people see or hear about a business, so take this valuable opportunity to make a great first impression. The neat thing about new domain names is that you can create something catchy and easy to remember. This has the added benefit of adding to your brand’s value.

Experts predict new TLDs will become as common as traditional domain endings. Many prominent businesses have adopted or switched to new TLDs, giving them more legitimacy for others to do the same. Getting one now is a chance to buck the trend before they are taken up, much like with .com. The only flip side of this is that there will always be people who are unfamiliar with the new endings and will stick to typing in .com.

Protect your brand in the future. If you have thriving businesses with a traditional domain, you may wish to futureproof your brand name and purchase a version of their domain name with a new TLD and point your old domain to the new address. By doing this, similar domain names can't be bought by your competition, and you'll have options for a more creative, cutting-edge and relevant domain. For example, a business that owns swissdesignerwatches.com may buy swissdesigner.watches.

The online community is pretty clued up on what they expect when they see one of these TLDs. When counting the domain hacks permissible with new TLDs and the range that is covered, you have more options to choose from for the rest of your domain than you would with the classic .com.

3. Use a Country Code Domain Hack

If you want to be really creative with your domain name and TLD choice, look to Silicon Valley. As the .com landscape got more and more crowded, the rapidly growing startup scene had to go somewhere new for memorable URLs.

Creative founders started blending their company names and their domain names to create domains like ow.ly. On top of new URLs, brands began to use country codes to create domain names, coming up with concatenated versions of brand names. For example, Apple’s dedicated domain for iTunes is itun.es, which uses the country code is the country code for Spain.

You can use a TLD to simply give your brand a shorter or more memorable URL. for example .tv should be a country tld but is widely used in the television industry.

• .ly is actually the country code for Libya. Established back in the ‘90s, websites like the previously mentioned ow.ly and adf.ly came into being because of it.
• .co, the country code for Columbia, is frequently used as an alternative to .com extensions. The most popular one is Twitter’s in-service URL shortener, t.co.

Tread Carefully with New TLDs

We recommend you consider a range of perspectives before setting on a given suffix.

While getting a standout TLD extension might make it clear what your site content is about, it might also suggest to more tech-savvy visitors that you haven’t been around for that long. If you are working in fields such as finance or law, this can be a problem.

Similarly, while having a hip new extension might appeal to specific demographics, you will be alienating others who might see it as unprofessional or plain weird. TLD choice is about striking the right balance. A new domain extension can help you stand out by being unique while creating a more memorable impression, without putting people off.

Consider Your Target Audience

The location of your business, or more often, the location of your target audience can be a major factor in your choice of a TLD. Think about whether you want to attract local visitors and if you need to consider the geographical location of your business before choosing your domain extension. Are you targeting a single country or town, or are you planning to go international? Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs) are the best choice if you need to market your site's audience to a particular geographic region.

There are over 200 ccTLDs available, so you shouldn't have much trouble finding one in your desired area. If you want to sell products in only one country, like Canada, where you will have Canadians as your target audience, then you should think about choosing .ca. Google will then understand that your goal is to rank higher on Google.ca. If you have an international target audience then, a store that sells products worldwide, choosing a .com, .net, .org or .com (the most used TLD), would be the best solution.

A distinct advantage to using your local ccTLD is that they are more widely available than .com and what's more, you don't have to operate in the host country of a ccTLD to own a specific country domain. This means you can purchase them from anywhere in the world and your site will pop up more often in searches relevant to their location. This is ideal when you are offering a localized version of a product or service.

Go Hyper-Local

The internet has transformed into a global marketplace. Your business might be in the United States, but anyone across the globe can view what you've got to offer. That said, in most cases, people and companies don’t need this kind of global reach. If you operate a neighborhood restaurant or run a local gardening club, for example, you are trading locally and will benefit most from local TLDs.

Local SEO is on the rise as google favors local sites targeting a specific geographical area. Hyperlocal TLDs for particular cities have seen many websites swap from .com to a domain extension that reflects their exact location. Domains .berlin, .paris, .london, and .nyc are all now available. These suffixes are still relatively new, which gives you a better chance of finding the domain you’re looking for.

Target different languages

Another way to target a particular audience is using internationalized domain names. IDNs allow you to use country-specific characters in core languages and scripts; for example, Cyrillic script.

It's important to use IDNs with great care. Indeed, they will appeal to a specific group of people but will make it more difficult to reach a wider audience, so limit the use of IDNS unless you want to focus your attention on a specific group of people.

Factor in SEO

Worrying about SEO might be a bit premature at this point, but it's never too early to think about where you’ll appear in search results. When browsing for a domain, it’s important to understand the value of choosing top-level domains while keeping SEO in mind. Considering SEO from the early stages of creating your domain name is the best way to make sure you’ll rank well later on.

There is a common misconception that .com has the best chance of topping search engine rankings. The fact is, every TLD can rank in the top positions if SEO practices are adopted. .com is the most popular extension and that’s why it’s frequently ranked in top positions.

Using a new TLD will not affect your ranking in search engines. It’s worth noting that in the eyes of Google and other search engines, all TLDs are equal. New gTLDs and ccTLDs won’t carry any inherent SEO value, but neither will they be seen as inferior to .com.

It's generally accepted that if your website has quality content and web design with one of these TLDs, nothing is stopping it from doing well. Just like with any domain, it may take a while to get there.

Follow our tips for choosing a good TLD for SEO purposes:

• Since gTLDs don’t target specific countries and some are widely known, you benefit from a broader, more accepting audience.
• As mentioned, country-specific domain extensions are advantageous for websites that wish to attract visitors to a specific area. The downside to choosing a ccTLD is that you won’t be ranked as well globally. With rare exceptions, such as startups with good marketing practices, specific extensions are best off reserved only for websites offering country-specific services.

Watch Out for Spam

While some new gTLDs can help you stay competitive in search engines and increase your brand reputation, others will look spammy and have an adverse effect. Some of the options for domain extensions are seen by search engines as a spam factor, and they won't rank them well.

Before you settle on a domain to register, take a moment to check if the TLD you’re going for is appearing on email blocklists. If there’s anything to suggest the TLD is viewed with contempt online, that could be a bad sign. We recommend avoiding such a TLD because it will make your website look like it could be spam, which isn’t a good thing.

Does TLD Matter?

In the case of domain names, does the extension on the end really matter? The short answer is: yes and no. Take Amazon, for example. The company uses .smile and .like for some of their products. These have arguably no positive SEO value or communicate anything special to site visitors. That said, the right TLD can add a certain "something" to your brand, helping to drive visitors to your website.

Ultimately, If you’ve found a TLD you’re happy with, go with it. If you commit to it and observe SEO best practices, you’ll be fine.

Decision Time

If you’re about to order a domain name, consider the basic pointers above to guide your choice of the domain name. If you’re interested in the domain extensions available, explore the Namecheap domain directory of thousands of TLDs. Once you have a basic idea of what kind of domain name you want, have a play around with our domain name search and experiment with the full list of available TLDs with Namecheap.