: Personal site/blog, my desired .com/.net are taken I want to start to have a place on the internet I can call my own. Stack Exchange, Google+, and Twitter are nice, but they're all services

@Sherry384

There are some relevant questions on our sister site User Experience SE:


User perception on non “.com” top level domains


Should I stick with the "standard" or are there statistics that say otherwise ?

Does a country specific top level domain (TLD) affect perception of a (non-US) community site?


[…] if presented with two equally relevant search results, will users tend to prefer the site that has a country-specific top level domain (.com.au say) over the one sporting a generic domain (.com)?

Is domain name important for user experience?


Is it important for the domain of a website to be chosen so that it is simple to type?

Are Domain Hacks usable?


The resulting names are cute, but are they usable?



My personal perspective: I (not from USA) associate .com with commercial companies resp. ad-based services (domains using .org or .net get more initial credit of trust from me.). Whenever I see a personal site using .com, it feels slightly inappropriate to me. Also, I don’t assume .com to be the "default" TLD when I only remember the second level domain name.

When I chose my personal domain, I had the following criteria:


don’t use my name (as it might change; and there are possibly others with the same name)
don’t use the ccTLD of my country (as I might move)
don’t use any other ccTLD (as it would give the wrong first impression that I’m a citizen of that country)
don’t use any second level domain that is already registered with other TLDs (as visitors might end up at the wrong site; and I don’t want to be associated with other sites when people search for my term)
pronounceable as one word in my language and in English
it shouldn’t be embarrassing to write this domain on business cards etc., even in 30 years from now
no .com (see above), no .info (bad record), no .name (see above re. name) … so in the end, .org vs. .net

Vote Up Vote Down

@Dunderdale272

You can still get a .com/.net/.org you just need to be creative. Put a hyphen in the phrase or add descriptiors like:

bestsite.com
best-site.com
thebestsite.com

Vote Up Vote Down

@Mendez628

I would recommend against using a different suffix (such as .org) for a domain that is already taken, because even if you get it for the URL you want users will constantly be trying .com or .net and missing you anyway. Thus I recommend trying to find a slight variation with which to brand yourself online, such as cronincontent.com or something like that.

Vote Up Vote Down

@RJPawlick198

Top level domains are becoming less relevant everyday. Especially starting out with a new site, people will find your page via links, social media, search engines or bookmarks. Even a established, high traffic site with a short URL will only generate 10-15% of their traffic via direct input. And by that time, your brand will be strong enough for users to remember it!

Vote Up Vote Down

@Murphy175

.name TLD fits nicely. And if you'll have good site, you can don't worry about top-domain

Vote Up Vote Down

@Rivera981

The .me tld was created specifically for individual branding. I don't think it's necessarily important to have the "common" tlds as it is a function of branding. If you are good at letting people know that your online presence is kylecronin.me, then it won't matter what the extension is.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Candy875

.orgs are very common, especially for non-commercial sites, so I would have thought there is no drawback in using the .org version.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Kimberly868

My experience is the perception of owning a .com or .co.uk (I am UK based) seem to be taken a bit more "seriously" by the average Joe Bloggs. I think it's familiarity, .com and .co.uk are used in company TV and radio adverts every day, so could be considered "trusted".

Maybe you could consider using the extension as part of your name for example, kylecron.in?

Vote Up Vote Down