'Allo, everyone! You guys have always been there to help me, so I decided to ask you one more question before I head to bed. A friend of mine is developing an Android app. She wants to create a website for said app. She has already chosen a name for it. We did a search on GoDaddy and it turns out there are a number of domain options. A .com is not available, but pretty much everything else is (.co, .info, .net, .org, .ca, .me, .ws, .us, .mobi, .biz). Now, since this would be for a cellphone app, I was thinking .mobi would be the best choice. What is your opinion on this? Thank you in advance!
@TheDoc@joshuanhibbert Why? Any reason why a .com is better than .mobi? I really don't see why getappname.com has an advantage over getappname.mobi Just curious.
With .com, all someone has to remember is what came before it. For instance, you don't remember google.com, you just remember google. Anyone who is unsure what the domain is will try .com first. Any other domain requires that to be committed to memory as well.
Mostly just for America, right? Google in my country results in google.nl (i'm Dutch). In Germany google.de etc. etc. The top level domain name isn't that important I think. The name before the dot is much more crucial. Google will figure out the rest....
If I were you and had to pick between joshuanhibbert.nl and guywithawesomesunglasses.com the first one always wins. Except maybe for some explicit top levels like .xxx or .sex
[...]and had to pick between joshuanhibbert.nl and guywithawesomesunglasses.com[...]
I quite literally laughed out loud at that comment. But the others make a good point. And the dot com is available if I use the format get[appname].com or get[appname]app.com, so I guess my friend has a decision to make. Thank you, everyone!
But who is entering a complete URL these days? I if was looking for a specific app called appname for my phone I would type the name in google. I believe appname.mobi in this case has an advantage over getappname.com
Playing devil's advocate again: But technically, if someone were to Google how do I get [appname] then having your website URL set to get[appname].com would be beneficial in that circumstance.
Come on @TheDoc. This is a valid discussion. I value your opinion, i really do, but i'm not convinced. A .com is not better than let say a .org or a .abc At least i can't think of any reason.
The only thing what matters is SEO. You want to be found. Google, as far as i know, doesn't have a preference in this regard.
@joshuanhibbert suggested that is was easier to remember a URL, but i never type in a complete URL. Just put in a search argument in chrome, hit enter en click the desired URL. (.com or not) As most of us do, i think.
In my opinion the TLD doesn't matter. What's before the TLD is very much more important.
Please give a solid reason to think otherwise. Not just: I say so, therefor... That's to easy.
to my knowledge google doesn't penalize search rankings based on uncommon TLD's but i've read that many users don't trust them. many more will not remember your url and end up going to the wrong site.
do what you like but i'd personally never go with anything but a .com
Sure, there are caveats. If you're a Canadian company and you want that to be present in your URL, picking a .ca over a .com would be better (but you also want to get the .com to redirect to the .ca).
Here are some points
.com is easier to remember (eg, how do you spell 'mobee'?)
users will try .com first, if they aren't searching (eg, user automatically puts nike.com, not nike.org)
.com is internet standard
The only thing what matters is SEO. You want to be found. Google, as far as i know, doesn't have a preference in this regard.
This is true, to an extent. There is reason to believe that localized domain extensions will rank better (example being if you want to rank better in the UK you should make sure that you have a .co.uk). Having said that, you'll still want to have a .com to get all of those users that make assumptions about it.
But it's not just about SEO, it's about marketing as well. What's the easiest domain extension to market?
OK. I am convinced. If I would live in the USA I also would get a .com (and a .us for that matter). I live in the Netherlands (no plans on moving :) ) and I prefer a .nl If my desired URL isn't available, I think i will try to get a .com or think of a better name. Thanks all for this discussion, especially @mintertweed who started this.
Okay, this is for the start-up that is creating the mobile application: so, a .com is out of the question. The web hosting that is currently sitting on the site wants $4,500 for it. I do not think so! Is a .co a good alternative? I would like to use the full company name if possible. Thank you for any advice on .co domains.
Thank you, @Paulie_D, for bringing .app to my attention. I went to a website that said it should be available in Spring of 2013. That is not that far off.
From the customers point of view, the only extension that matters is .com you can get clever all you want, and this is something we designers/developers can bicker about... but your customers don't care about any of that. So would you rather have them not worry about the .com or do you want them to wonder "what the hell is .mobi"?
'Allo, everyone! You guys have always been there to help me, so I decided to ask you one more question before I head to bed. A friend of mine is developing an Android app. She wants to create a website for said app. She has already chosen a name for it. We did a search on GoDaddy and it turns out there are a number of domain options. A .com is not available, but pretty much everything else is (.co, .info, .net, .org, .ca, .me, .ws, .us, .mobi, .biz). Now, since this would be for a cellphone app, I was thinking .mobi would be the best choice. What is your opinion on this? Thank you in advance!
I'd still try to get a .com. You can do something like getappname.com.
Yeah, I'm with @TheDoc on this.
@TheDoc @joshuanhibbert Why? Any reason why a .com is better than .mobi? I really don't see why getappname.com has an advantage over getappname.mobi Just curious.
With
.com, all someone has to remember is what came before it. For instance, you don't remembergoogle.com, you just remembergoogle. Anyone who is unsure what the domain is will try.comfirst. Any other domain requires that to be committed to memory as well.Playing devil's advocate: But if it is for mobile devices, wouldn't it make sense to have a
.mobi?Mostly just for America, right? Google in my country results in google.nl (i'm Dutch). In Germany google.de etc. etc. The top level domain name isn't that important I think. The name before the dot is much more crucial. Google will figure out the rest.... If I were you and had to pick between joshuanhibbert.nl and guywithawesomesunglasses.com the first one always wins. Except maybe for some explicit top levels like .xxx or .sex
@Bert Not at all.
Google interrogates where you are (probably from an IP ) and then serves up the site and results based on that.
Certainly, a .com TLD is preferable to anyother even if you can't get precisely the domain name you want.
For an app, I would go with getappname.com if it was available over appname.mobi
To me, a .mobi site is a mobile optimsed mobile site, not my first port of call for the MAIN site.
@Bert
I quite literally laughed out loud at that comment. But the others make a good point. And the dot com is available if I use the format get[appname].com or get[appname]app.com, so I guess my friend has a decision to make. Thank you, everyone!
@Paulie_D Ok. I see your point.
But who is entering a complete URL these days? I if was looking for a specific app called appname for my phone I would type the name in google. I believe appname.mobi in this case has an advantage over getappname.com
The site name is just a minor part of the Google search algorithm.
Proper SEO would resolve any worries on that score.
Playing devil's advocate again: But technically, if someone were to Google
how do I get [appname]then having your website URL set toget[appname].comwould be beneficial in that circumstance.There is absolutely no way .mobi is preferable to .com.
I have never, to my recollection, been to a .mobi site. If you can get it, you always want a .com. I don't know why we're debating this.
Come on @TheDoc. This is a valid discussion. I value your opinion, i really do, but i'm not convinced. A .com is not better than let say a .org or a .abc At least i can't think of any reason.
The only thing what matters is SEO. You want to be found. Google, as far as i know, doesn't have a preference in this regard.
@joshuanhibbert suggested that is was easier to remember a URL, but i never type in a complete URL. Just put in a search argument in chrome, hit enter en click the desired URL. (.com or not) As most of us do, i think.
In my opinion the TLD doesn't matter. What's before the TLD is very much more important.
Please give a solid reason to think otherwise. Not just: I say so, therefor... That's to easy.
BTW @begetolo is the same person as @Bert. Sorry for the confusion....
to my knowledge google doesn't penalize search rankings based on uncommon TLD's but i've read that many users don't trust them. many more will not remember your url and end up going to the wrong site.
do what you like but i'd personally never go with anything but a .com
Sure, there are caveats. If you're a Canadian company and you want that to be present in your URL, picking a .ca over a .com would be better (but you also want to get the .com to redirect to the .ca).
Here are some points
This is true, to an extent. There is reason to believe that localized domain extensions will rank better (example being if you want to rank better in the UK you should make sure that you have a .co.uk). Having said that, you'll still want to have a .com to get all of those users that make assumptions about it.
But it's not just about SEO, it's about marketing as well. What's the easiest domain extension to market?
Get both!
OK. I am convinced. If I would live in the USA I also would get a .com (and a .us for that matter). I live in the Netherlands (no plans on moving :) ) and I prefer a .nl If my desired URL isn't available, I think i will try to get a .com or think of a better name. Thanks all for this discussion, especially @mintertweed who started this.
Just for info purposes, I hear .uk will be available at some point instead of .co.uk
Okay, this is for the start-up that is creating the mobile application: so, a
.comis out of the question. The web hosting that is currently sitting on the site wants $4,500 for it. I do not think so! Is a.coa good alternative? I would like to use the full company name if possible. Thank you for any advice on.codomains.Hmmm.
Not sure i would pick a .co TLD as a first alternative to a .com
Or is this a .co.abc type level domain?
If this is a US commercial operation I think I like companyname.us better.
EDIT: It might do as a placeholder until the .app domains come on board
Thank you, @Paulie_D, for bringing
.appto my attention. I went to a website that said it should be available in Spring of 2013. That is not that far off.I'd try to stick with .com or .net. Anything else can seem unprofessional.
Hi I totally agree with TheDoc so try and get a .com if you can.
From the customers point of view, the only extension that matters is
.comyou can get clever all you want, and this is something we designers/developers can bicker about... but your customers don't care about any of that. So would you rather have them not worry about the .com or do you want them to wonder "what the hell is .mobi"?