So, you’re ready to buy a domain name. But you have questions. That makes sense, choosing the digital real estate you’ll build your brand on is a big deal! As a naming and domains expert, a question I come across a lot is “do I need the .com?” or, in other words, “are .com domains worth it?”

The answer seems simple at first glance. 

.Com is the gold standard for domains. .Coms are, in almost all circumstances, the first and best choice for anyone looking for an online home. But of course, nothing is ever that clear cut! There are a few reasons you might choose an alternative extenion over a .com, including international or country-specific operations, industry norms, and in some cases legitimate financial constraints or in rare cases the need to test a concept before you invest in a .com domain.

Why .Com is King

For decades, the .com domain has been synonymous with credibility, trust, and authority on the internet. When users see a website with a .com extension, they often perceive it as a legitimate and established entity.

This perception is deeply rooted in the history of the internet, where .com was one of the first TLDs created: it wasn’t called the .com boom for nothing.

As a result, .com became the default choice for businesses, organizations, and individuals seeking to build an online presence. Along with a few excellent newer TLDs or domain extensions, .com domains are trustworthy, memorable, and brandable. These TLDs’ widespread recognition means that users are more likely to recall and visit a .com site over alternatives, enhancing the overall visibility and accessibility of a web presence. That being said, .coms are often a bigger investment than alternative extension, and it can be a struggle to find the perfect .com if you’re already set on a business name. So, let’s take a deeper look at the reasons for .com’s seemingly endless popularity, and the circumstances that could make an alternative a better choice. 

The .com Credibility Boost

.com is by far the most popular domain worldwide: 46% of all websites feature a .com domain. That makes it ten times more widespread than .org, the second most popular domain.

In the fast-paced digital world, first impressions count, and a .com domain provides instant credibility, not only every time someone hears about or visits your website but also every time they receive a marketing email from you@yourbusiness.com.

.com can even be a part of your brand name if you’re an online-only business with an ultra-premium domain, like Booking.com or Confused.com. 

.com has been synonymous with the internet since day one. We’re still talking about the .com boom today! 

Among other very popular TLDs, .com tops the table for trust. In fact, research into domain trust comparing .com and .co.uk with newer TLDs like .eu, .biz, and industry-specific TLDs .fashion and .digital found that 70% of people don’t trust newer website domains at all.

So, why are some extensions mistrusted? In part, it’s because of the continued dominance of .com. It’s what people expect from the businesses they frequent online, and if it was a competition between Booking.com and Booking.travel, .com would win every time.

People mistrust newer domains because they are unfamiliar with them, and while tech-savvy folks like you and I know that the main difference between owning and registering a .com and a .co domain is cost, the average online shopper doesn’t.

This emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience, and explains, for example, why the general population puts low trust in .io despite it being a pretty common choice for tech startups. To programmers and tech nerds, .io offers instant recognition: it’s I/O, or Input/Output.

If your business is aiming at a computer-literate audience, they’ll trust a .io domain but if you’re selling flannel shirts your average customer won’t know .io from their elbow.

Lastly, it hasn’t helped that the accessibility of alternative domains makes them more appealing to scammers or less legitimate businesses. Investing in a .com domain tells your customers you’re serious, and sets you apart from competitors with second-rate extensions. For credibility, .com is number one.

How .Coms Prevent Traffic Loss

No matter how effective your marketing efforts are, for some people it will be in one ear and out the other: studies show that 80% of branded material is forgotten within 72 hours. That means it’s inevitable that some customers will struggle to remember every element of your brand.

And if they misremember your domain name? They assume it’s .com: Online shoppers are almost 4x as likely to misremember a domain as .com than as any other extension. And after a bit of confusion, a potential customer is likely to give up or turn to a competitor unless what you’re selling is completely essential and unique. You can avoid this issue entirely with a .com domain.

Why .com Domains Get More Buzz

.com domains are like a rare piece of real estate: with over 160 million already registered, almost every single English-language word and many great brandable word combinations have been taken.

Acquiring a strong .com domain will build instant buzz around your brand, like Slack did when they purchased their .com domain for a rumored $60,000.

.com domains also top the table for memorability. With a .com domain, it’s easier for customers and industry peers to remember you, recommend you, and talk about you.

All this contributes to the impact of your brand. Launching with a .com domain makes a powerful statement about your intentions: again, look at Slack’s meteoric rise. The .com domain wasn’t the only thing they did right, but in combination with a paradigm-shifting innovation and a strategic marketing campain, Slack’s domain acquisition signaled to potential acquirers that it meant business. You can too, with a premium domain name from Atom.

Are .coms Better For SEO?

One of the biggest questions for businesses choosing a domain extension is about search engine optimization: do .com domains get an SEO boost?

While Google has stated that using a new or alternative TLD will not hurt your search presence, many people are still skeptical. For one, ccTLDs like .fr or .de might be prioritized when the search engine recognizes a French or German IP address from the searcher — while .io is specifically treated like a gTLD rather than a country code to get around this.

.coms are a gTLD with global significance, so they certainly won’t hurt your SEO. But do they help?

Google themselves are no strangers to an alternative TLD: they own abc.xyz, and docs.new conveniently redirects to a new Google document. Modern SEO is based on multiple website performance metrics, from content to traffic to backlinks. Against this backdrop of data points, yor TLD pales in significance and technically speaking, a .com extension alone won’t be better for SEO.

Emphasis on technically. While there’s no direct benefit for SEO from a .com domain, there is a knock-on effect from the credibility and recognition factor of .com domains. This can indirectly impact your SEO by improving several metrics that search engines are watching closely.

For example, consumers are more likely to click on .com domain results or ads with a .com domain and stay on these websites longer, leading to lower bounce rates. Cumulatively, these factors will improve your SEO.

The result is that a .com domain can be better for SEO, but mainly because of secondary benefits. A .com domain doesn’t free you from the heavy lifting, but it lightens the load.

The Growing Landscape of Alternative TLDs

.com domains are the gold standard for most businesses with big ambitions, but there are some constraints. There are fewer choices in the .com marketplace and they’ll eat a bigger part of your budget: these factors have to be balanced with the branding potential when you’re choosing your domain name.

Additionally, in some industries there are other domain extensions that square up well to .com. In fact, .com has never been the only choice: .org and .net were established in 1985 alongside .com and have been consistently popular ever since. Due to the growing scarcity of .com domains, further extensions have been popularized by businesses from various industries.

At Atom, we believe that a handful of alternative TLDs can provide businesses today with a powerful platform for their online presence. However, these extensions are only valuable with the right, brandable name.

On our premium marketplace, alongside .com domains, we list the following TLDS.

• .io 
• .org
• .co
• .ai
• .xyz
• .vc
• .net
• .gg
• .ly

Our premium marketplace is highly curated to ensure that only the strongest domain names are presented to customers, whatever the TLD. For domains other than .com, the standard is even higher.

When Does An Alternative to .com Make Sense

While you should choose your business name with a matching domain name in mind, you won’t always be able to get your first choice of domain. Fortunately, there are strong alternatives, but you need to know when it makes sense to invest in .com, and when there are other options on the table.

So when should you choose an alternative extension? Here are some of the reasons you might opt for a non-.com domain:

• If you find a Real English word alterative exentions (Bench.co, Hinge.co) that aligns with your business and is within your budget. For example, Boost.io is strong than YourBoost.com. 
• If you’re targeting a particular industry where alternative extensions are recognized you might opt for:
  • .ai for businesses that rely heavily on AI 
  • .io in the tech space 
  • .org for non profits 
  • .xyz in crypto and blockchain
• If you’re targeting a niche geographical market, with no plan for global or US expansion you could choose a local TLD (also known as a ccTLD) like .co.uk, .de, or .fr.
• If you’re “domain hacking” with a name like “present.ly” or “stud.io”.

Keep in mind .com is always best. But getting the perfect domain is a give and take. Only use really good non-.coms. .gov .edu and .org are the only exception (for the most part). In the industries they serve, these domains can be stronger than .com. 

Five alternative TLDs to consider:

.ai 

A relative newcomer making up just 0.1% of domains, .ai has obvious connotations and advantages. It’s the ccTLD for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean but as ChatGPT makes headlines and AI startups sprout across industries, this is an increasingly recognizable extension even outside of tech circles.

However, it has a strong connection to data and analytics startups and could be confusing if your business does not have an AI component.  It’s also one of the newer domains and is relatively unproven in terms of online credibility: we’ll see what the future holds as more businesses choose this domain. .ai domains are also more expensive to register, costing around $60 per year.

.io

While .io is technically a ccTLD for the British Indian Ocean Territory, there are no restrictions on who can register a .io domain. In computer programming, IO or I/O stands for input/output, and this has contributed to the growth of this TLD among tech startups. That means that in tech circles this domain is recognizable, memorable, and trustworthy, making it a good option in certain industries.

Outside of tech, however, .io is yet to make a splash so you should consider your target audience carefully before opting for a .io domain. Domain registration is also more expensive for .io than other choices and costs around $60 per year. It’s unlikely to break the bank, but you should go in with your eyes open all the same!

.co

.co, the ccTLD for Colombia, is another increasingly popular country code TLD, and thanks to the association with “company” and similarity to .com it’s appropriate for businesses in any industry. Some big names have picked up .co domains, including Amazon’s a.co, while g.co is Google’s URL shortener link.

The similarity to .com is both a strength and a weakness for .co: it’s trusted and recognized, but frequently misremembered. It’s almost guaranteed that a small subset of your customers will navigate to the .com version of your domain by mistake. Before purchasing a .co domain, research who owns the .com variant as you can expect some overlap in traffic.

Many strong .co domains are available, and registration renewal is around $10 each year.

.org

.org was one of the original TLDs released in 1985 and was initially designed for non-profit organizations that weren’t military or government (any organization that wasn’t .com, .mil or .gov). However, it’s unrestricted and anyone can register a .org domain, for any purpose.

Despite a lack of restrictions, .org is still associated with charities, community organizations, and open-source projects. If you’re launching a business, it could mislead customers and confuse your branding.

But it’s worth considering: as the second-most popular domain extension, included in 4.5% of domain names, and it’s highly recognizable and well-trusted. These domains are available for standard registration costs of $10 – $15 each year.

.net

.net was created shortly after the first TLDs .com, .org, and .gov and was initially intended for organizations managing network infrastructure. It’s in the top-five most popular TLDs and discounting ccTLDs it’s the third most popular after .com and .org.

Because it’s not industry-specific, customers won’t approach a .net domain with any preconceptions. The main downside of .net domains is that they are not strongly memorable for businesses building a brand from the ground up. .net domains cost $10 to $12 per year for registration renewal.

A Few More Credible TLCs for Specific Industries: 

• .ly: The -ly suffix has been a strong business naming trend, particularly among workflow tools like Officely. This has led to the ccTLD for Libya gaining popularity and it is now commonly used in “domain hacking” names such as persona.ly.

• .gg: In gaming slang, “gg” stands for “good game”. This TLD has gained popularity among gaming-adjacent businesses such as eSports platform start.gg and cloud gaming service cloudbase.gg.

• .vc: This ccTLD for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has established itself as a credible extension for venture capital firms.

• .xyz: This generic TLD has been used by brands in the crypto and blockchain industry such as Ethereum wallet gen.xyz. Google also boosted the popularity of this extension by using abc.xyz as the domain name for Alphabet Inc.

When in Doubt, Consider .com

There are over 1500 TLDs in total, including many “tempting choices” like .pizza and .beer. But when it’s time to choose a domain name for your business, don’t think with your stomach!

If you’re considering an alternative TLD you have to know your audience inside out, as well as understand your wider brand-building project. Will customers recognize .io as trustworthy and reputable? Does .ly fit with naming trends in your sector?

If you have any doubts when answering these questions, a .com domain gives you the certainty you need for starting a business. In the 2020s, no other extension provides the same online credibility nor offers instant recognition for customers: after more than thirty years, the first domain is still best for a new brand.

Our Premium Domain Marketplace contains thousands of the best, most brandable .com domains available on the internet today. Every domain name comes from our global team of creatives and the last call on our curated marketplace is made by naming and domain experts.

Alongside thousands of unbeatable .com domains are proven alternative TLDs paired with powerfully brandable names. From .ai to .xyz, the alternative extensions in the Atom market are carefully chosen because they contain creative, memorable, and evocative words and phrases that complement the extension to create a full-package domain name.

Ready to find your new home? Explore premium domains today.