Why .com remains the preferred choice for business today

By Jasminder Singh Gulati Businesses have always grown by attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. In a competitive environment, cost effective solutions are key to remaining visible and present in the consumer’s mental map. A website has become a critical element of a company’s online presence and allows businesses to stay connected with its customers, playing a significant role in cementing its existence. Today, organizations have the option of choosing from about 500 different generic top-level domains (gTLDs) like .guru, .tech, .press, .website, .actor, .photography, .tips, .company, .online, .bank, .link, for registering the domain name for their website. Already, we have seen that 413 new gTLDs were delegated by the end of last year and a significant portion of those were released in the last quarter of 2014. Companies need to be wise enough to choose the right domain extension for their business. There are many examples which indicate that companies previously attracted to new spaces on the internet in the hopes of getting an early advantage later realized that the new unique domain name has not helped boost their online presence and business. According to an article on techcircle.in, when the real estate portal in India Housing.co.in was looking at global expansion they registered Housing.com because they realized its advantages and how it could help in elevating the brand value of their company. Millions of businesses around the world register their website on .com due to the credibility and recognition that comes with a .com domain extension. Companies who think they can’t register a suitable .com name would be surprised to know that seven out of ten times, they are able to find the .com name they seek. In addition to popular, compelling and descriptive names the facts also show that numerous short, previously registered, .com domain names are now available and being registered by businesses and individuals every day. As today’s business owners become more creative and strategic in their domain name registrations, they will continue to rely on .com as the global standard for doing business online. Finding a great .com domain name – whether short or descriptive – for your business can be a critical step in establishing a compelling online presence. The author is co-founder & CEO at NowFloats.