The other day, we posted this article about domains.

But I realised that maybe, the cart had gone before the horse. Most people can be forgiven for not knowing their .biz from their .mobi extensions.

Plus the domain registrar companies aren’t going to bend over backwards to explain all the details to you. So we will…

All the top business strategists talk consistently about brand and personal branding. What is little talked about is the value of a domain in your brand.

The domain is the www people type in to get to your website and it really should be the corner stone of your business.

So which domain to buy and why?

(Of course you are free to register which ever domain you want and I won’t be there holding your hand on the mouse as you press the “buy” button – so use you own judgement).

.com

is obviously the heavyweight of the domain world. It’s been around the longest, people trust it. The thing to remember though is that in a few years time, the internet will still be here and .com’s (especially short ones) will be a scarce resource.

Short, pronouncable .com’s are almost all taken already.

.net

Is usually referred to as the second level behind .com. Like .com they are respected and still freely available. They were originally intended for network & IT professionals but that is no longer the case.

Get a .net domain but be careful if the .com has been taken and be even more careful if it has been developed into a site. Your customers and visitors maybe confused.

.org

.org (or .org.uk) domains are usually used by non profit making organisations and charities.

If you plan on developing some sort of advice site then .org would be a perfect choice.

.biz

.biz domains are aimed at business owners and business pure and simple. If you are a business, a .biz is a good choice.

.info

These are relatively new and can be cheaper to register than other top level domains. They don’t carry the same “weight” as the other extensions mentioned already.

.tv

.tv is actually the top level domain for the tiny pacific Island country of Tuvalu. The country sold the rights to the domain and invested the money in the infrastructure if the country.

.tv domains are generally more expensive than most top level domains but if you have a video, film or TV related business, they are an ideal choice.

.mobi

These are intended for use with mobile devices and not generally to be used on a top level development site.

There are other domain extensions which are marketed heavily by domain registrars – but – be true to yourself and remember – you are spending real money…