A newbie question and input on domain name

faiths13 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 07:49 PM

Hi there! First, here is my question - what is the difference between .com, .org, .net, etc.? Also, there is a domain name taken for the idea I already have, but when I type the address in, I cannot get this web page at all. So I am thinking about using it in .org or .net instead. Is this a bad idea?

ssmorgan · #2 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 09:13 PM

.com stands for a commercial/e-commerce site, .org stands for organization, and .net stands for network. Really, there is no difference, i.e. anyone can register any of these domains. The .com is the preferred domain extension because everyone is familiar with it.

To answer your second question, this is a matter of preference, in my opinion. When registering a domain, personally, I try to find a domain that has all 4 available: .com, .org, .net, and also .info, and I buy all of them.

Typically, the .com is my primary domain. For some niches I am in, I choose to have the .org as the primary domain (but even if that's the case, I have the .com redirect to the .org - that way if someone accidentally typed domain.com, they still get to my website).

There is nothing wrong with registering the .org or .net domain (if the .com is taken by someone else), but like I said I prefer to have the .com available as well.

I hope all this made some sense... oh, and I am sorry that I did not really give you a clear-cut answer to your question. I hope it helped, though.

James · #3 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 09:38 PM

Personally I would rather use a different name than take a .net or .info or .org if someone has the .com since people are very likely to go there no matter how you try to educate otherwise. However, for our Master Gardener site we did go with the dot.info when the .com was already used.

It is a non profit group, however, and gets mostly private with some local use. Still, if the dot.com was available I would get it and redirect to our .info.

However, I had a name I wanted like you. One that wasn't really used. I thought about the possibility of trying to buy but decided that if I did take the initiative the price might escalate just for that reason. I used a similar name for a while but kept checking. In a few months the owner let it expire and I got it with a simple direct registration. So if it is unused, you might have that same success.

faiths13 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 10:56 PM

well the thing with this particular .com is that when i type in the address, i cant go there. i have tried through a few different web browsers and when i type in the address if asks if i meant something else or it just says page unavailable. which doesnt make sense because if someone bought the domain name, why cant i go there? so thats why i was thinking maybe i can just use .org or something since if someone types in the name with .com after it they wont go to someone else page. at least not the way it is now.

oh and thanks for explaing the .com thing!

ssmorgan · #5 (**permalink**) 08-25-2008, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faiths13

well the thing with this particular .com is that when i type in the address, i cant go there. i have tried through a few different web browsers and when i type in the address if asks if i meant something else or it just says page unavailable. which doesnt make sense because if someone bought the domain name, why cant i go there? so thats why i was thinking maybe i can just use .org or something since if someone types in the name with .com after it they wont go to someone else page. at least not the way it is now.

So this means that someone bought this domain but hasn't uploaded any pages to that domain yet. Maybe the person is just domain squatting or maybe he/she hasn't gotten around to build his/her website yet.

faiths13 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-25-2008, 08:05 AM

well thats weird. whois says theyve owned the page since 2003. anyway, i found another name up for auction that i wanted and no one has bid on so i am thinking of bidding on it.

James · #7 (**permalink**) 08-25-2008, 08:32 AM

Buying a domain and hosting are two separate things. Nothing happens unless there is hosting. Some operators buy up hundreds, even thousands of domains and just sit on them planning to sell them for a good price although I don't think that works as well as it used to.

Five years is a little long, but I personally have had some names parked for more than a year or two. I may have them several more years before I will ever use them. I may let some of them go, but some I know I will use even if it is three or four years from now.

TechieGuy · #8 (**permalink**) 08-25-2008, 09:15 AM

I had the same issue. I wanted a .com domain for my blog but it was already taken. When I looked up the name in whois I noticed that they purchased the domain several years ago. Their web site only states that they will be opening soon, but nothing more.

I liked the name so I took the .net version, and so far I haven't had any problems. I may snatch up the .com name if it becomes free.

Tweeky · #9 (**permalink**) 08-26-2008, 03:06 AM

.com is just better because it's known. If .com is taken then I would go for the .net, however if you're really are starting a business with it, then I would go and search for another domain name. Just like ssmorgan said .com is commercial

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