How to Choose the Right Domain Name
What does your domain say about your business?
A .com domain just says, “Hi, I’m a website.” (Thanks. We knew that.) While it’s a good idea to keep control of your .com domain if you can, it can be super fun to build a brand with an unconventional domain, and it can make your URL a lot more memorable. Their magic comes from the fact that there are no wasted characters — you can communicate something on both sides of the dot. Here's our 10 favourite domain extensions that you can use to stand out.
Tech Startups — .io
We’ve already written about the reasons tech startups love trendy .io domains. Short version:
- Fun to say
- Not all gone
- Input/Output
- All the other cool startups have them, mom!
Local Businesses — .city
Photo by Álvaro Serrano / Unsplash
Is your business hyperlocal? If you’re only targeting people in one area, using your city as a TLD is a pretty cool option—and it gives you an SEO boost in your area, too. If your business name gets user pretty often for other things, ending your URL with your city is a good way to prevent misunderstandings. .london and .vegas are already up and running, and there are lots more options on the way.
Design Companies — .co
Photo by Balázs Kétyi / Unsplash
There’s something about .co that just looks classy in a sort of vintage-inspired way. Maybe it’s the implied “& Co.” It’s been picked up by lots of lovely companies:
Ecommerce — .delivery
We’d like to shake the hand of the genius who bought pizza.delivery. Amazon Prime has bought up a bunch of these, including takeout.delivery, chicago.delivery and newyork.delivery. Might be worth buying some just in case Amazon wants them later.
Edgy Innovators (& panicky brands) — .sucks
Photo by charlesdeluvio / Unsplash
When the .sucks domain was released, a lot of brands bought them up to avoid nasty parody sites.
But smart, edgy brands are using them to identify a problem and offer a solution.
Automotive — .cars
Photo by Alex Suprun / Unsplash
The auto industry is hailing the addition of three new domains: .cars, .car and .auto. While they’re a bit steep to buy up, they are great for shortening domains (often a problem for auto websites).
Want to be even more creative? Go for one of these unique domains:
- Some of these newfangled TLDs come and go. Popular this year, not so much the next. But trust us — .diamonds is forever.
- Ready to move your domain around while your neighbors are sleeping? Really noisily? Go for a .furniture domain.
- Show your limitless expertise with a .guru domain.
Building a brand is a ton of fun. You get to decide on your brand’s personality, look and tone. And you get to decide who to hang out with. So before you get shopping for a domain, make sure you’re getting a domain that’s a good fit.
Research done? Rebel.com offers domains with hundreds of different extensions, with many on sale right now.