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.COM, .ORG, or .NET?

If you've been contemplating getting an Internet address (technically called a domain name), you may be wondering if it should end in .COM, .NET, or .ORG (or one of the many other domain endings available). What's the story behind all of the choices? Should you just register the .COM? Or should you register .NET? What if the .COM name you want isn't available? Just how many names should you register? Here's the scoop...

TLDs

The term for that last part of a domain name (the .COM, .ORG, or .NET portion) is Top Level Domain – commonly known by the acronym TLD. There's a slew of different TLDs, but .COM, .ORG, and .NET are the most popular.

.COM (commercial)

The .COM TLD stands for "commercial" to indicate that the domain name is owned by a commercial entity (read company). It's by far the most widely used and recognized TLD, which is also why it is used so often when it really shouldn't be.

Who shouldn't use it? Non-profits, that's who. Why? Because .COM indicates that a for-profit company runs the website. If you're a non-profit, you don't want to send a conflicting message by having a .COM domain name, especially if one of the functions of your site is to solicit contributions. If your visitors aren't sure about your status as a non-profit because of your .COM name, they'll be less likely to donate money.

.ORG (organization)

As you've probably surmised, .ORG stands for a non-profit organization. Because anyone can register a .ORG name, a for-profit company could obtain one for its domain name. However, this isn't such a good idea, because portraying yourself as a non-profit when you're not (even if you don't realize that's what you're doing), comes across as sneaky and duplicitous, which will undermine your visitors' trust in you.

.NET (network)

The .NET TLD is for network-related companies. Well, that's what it was originally intended for anyway. These days it's often used by non-network companies who had an ideal domain name in mind, but the .COM version of it was already taken so they registered the .NET version instead.

The biggest problem with this is that if you remember the name of the company, and guess that it's a .COM, you'll use the wrong domain. I don't know how many times I've attempted to browse to a company's website using the .COM version, only to arrive at an unexpected website.

.BIZ (the new .COM)

Because so many .COM domains have already been taken, the Internet powers-that-be have introduced several new TLDs. One that is specifically for commercial entities is .BIZ (for business). The jury remains out, however, on how well .BIZ took care of the dwindling-.COM problem, because so many of the owners of .COM domains immediately snapped up the .BIZ versions of their domains also.

It also suffers a bit from the same "gotcha" as .NET domains, where too many users will assume that you have a .COM domain. On the other hand, because .BIZ is still a bit unusual, it also stands out, making it more memorable.

And if you're curious, some of the other newer TLDs are .INFO, .PRO, .COOP, .MUSEUM, and .AERO, but I won't go into those here.

The "Off Limits" TLDs

And then there are the TLDs, such as .EDU (educational), .GOV (government), and .MIL (military). Don't even think about trying to register a domain with one of these TLDs! They're classified as restricted domains, which means you'll have to prove that you represent an entity that qualifies as an educational institution, a branch of the government, or a branch of the military.

We are the world

So far our TLD discussion has been very U.S.-centric. But the Internet is a world-wide creature. That's why there is also a two-character TLD assigned to each country. These are called country-code TLDs (the previous TLDs are called generic TLDs). For example, Canada's TLD is .CA, and, even though it's rarely used, the United States' TLD is .US.

Because the .COM, .NET, and .ORG TLDs are not restricted, other countries can, and do also use them. For example, many Canadian companies use .COM instead of .CA.

Each country is in charge of who can use its TLD. Many countries only allow their citizens, or entities based in their country, to use their TLDs. However, some countries with desirable TLDs, especially those with small populations, have opened up their TLDs to the whole world. For example, the country of Tuvalu has the TLD of .TV, which is in much demand by the television industry.

Cover your bases

So, which TLD should you register? One common approach is to just register all of generic TLDs for your domain name. Even if you don't use them all, you'll avoid the confusion that would occur if others used them. Also, if you register them yourself, it's affordable (and easy, I promise)! For information on how to do this, visit www.ZolMedia.com/Techville.aspx.

And what if the perfect .COM name is already taken? .COM will still rule the roost for a while, but as the newer TLDs become more commonplace, people will start to realize that they have to pay attention to those letters that come after the "dot" or they'll end up at the wrong site.