Posted on 2011-01-19 14:29:09
Yesterday, we took you through a tool that helps you pick domain names for your dental website that won't flag Google's spam sensors. You may have noticed that a .com is treated significantly better than a .bz.
These "dot ___'s" are known as TLD's or domain extensions. Here are some best practices for choosing one.
Hands down, the best is a .com. This is what most people think about when typing a website address. If your domain phrasing is competitive, then having a .com will signify you either have been around a while or that you had enough cash to shell out for a good domain name. This makes you a lot more respectable than someone who had to settle for a .me or .bz.
It's also very respectable to have a .org. Since people associate .org's with non-profit organizations and community groups, this may be even better.
After that, the rest of the TLD's aren't even worth looking at. Out of the alternatives, .net is a little bit better, but still far below a .com or .org. If you take a .net, you can count on a lot of your patients typing the .com equivalent in and not being able to find you.
The one exception is if you're well connected enough to have a .gov or .mil (reserved for government or military sites). This will put you leagues ahead of the competition, but you're extremely unlikely to be able to use one of these. Instead, stick to .com for your dental website.