Importance of .COM domain names

A .com domain name is the most common extension and still generally carries more significant value for companies.

That’s because most of your customers are going to assume your website is “[your business name].com.” That is unless the extension is part of your trademarked business name (more on this later).

The big question is: does a .com extension have any direct impact on your search rankings?

While it seems that .coms are Google’s preferred extension, it’s probably not the case.

Google’s only reason to prioritize one extension over the other is that Internet users default to .com domains. People expect sites to use the extension – many associate real businesses with .coms, and Google tends to play on user assumptions.

In fact, more than 50 percent of all websites on the web use the .com extension.

So one could say that a .com extension helps your rankings because users are more likely to click on abcd.com than abcd.anythingelse. Additionally, .coms are easier to remember, and a person is more likely to type in the wrong URL with other extensions. 

1. 46% of websites use a .COM domain name

.COM for their Internet presence. The extension dates back to 1985, when it was originally foreseen as the domain extension of choice for brick and mortar companies seeking a website (.net was anticipated to be used by Internet-only companies, but this never really panned out as expected). With the advent of the Dotcom boom, .COM as an extension quickly skyrocketed ahead of all other alternatives.

Today, over three decades later, it has become the go-to for nearly all major brands. In fact, investors and companies alike continue to pay tens of thousands and even well into the millions for premium .COM domain names.

2. Most people will assume your website ends in .COM

Because of the overwhelming market share of .COM, particularly with major corporations, most of the Internet-using public (including your would-be customer-base) has grown accustomed to assuming a company’s website is their brand name followed by .COM. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google—the list goes on.

3. Owning a .COM domain lends credibility to your brand

The Internet has embraced over a thousand alternative domain extensions by now, but many people still aren’t familiar with the new ones. Of course, this is in some ways due to such a disproportional amount of the big business being done online through a select few top level domains such as the Dotcom.

When you see .COM next to somebody’s brand, it relays a sense of credibility. Arguably, this supposed credibility is entirely misguided and largely superficial, as there are plenty of .COM websites that are used for less than credible purposes, however, the stigma remains: “Dotcom is more legitimate and others are the cheaper knockoffs.”

4. Owning a .COM implies that you are more established

Segueing off of the credibility point in #3, it’s no secret that .COMs can be worth substantial money. If a business is willing to fork out the money required to purchase a .COM (perhaps from an existing smaller company or from a domain investor who bought it years ago), it can be assumed on some level that they’ve had some success financially. On the other hand, if a company has been around long enough to have hand registered their .COM back before they were harder to come by, longevity is also noteworthy.

Of course, these are perceived implications of owning a .COM. From a technical standpoint, using a .net or even .xyz is just as secure and just as reliable. But as marketers and branding experts know, perceived value is often times even more important for making money than actual value.

Is it possible to go register a .COM today for $15 and have no reputable history at all as a company? Of course. Owning a .COM doesn’t mean a company actually is more established, but again, due to it’s overwhelming use, the familiarity of a .COM can mean the difference between a customer visiting your website or not.

5. The .COM has no TLD specific rules tied to it

While this fact is also true for many TLDs including gTLDs (again, generic top-level domains) and ccTLD (country code top-level domains), some TLD’s come with strings attached. For example, if you wanted to register a .us or .ca, you’d have to actually live in the United States or Canada, respectively. If you wanted to register a .nyc, you’d have to prove your residency in New York City. Other domain extensions have Acceptable Use Policy agreements that you must abide by. These can include content restrictions or limitations. Always research your desired TLD rules (if any) before making a major brand decision around it.

6. The fact you’re even reading this article proves .COM is King

Why are you reading this article? Is it because the .COM for the domain you wanted was available, but you’d rather register it only as a .BIZ? Of course not. You’re reading this article because you searched for your brand name as a .COM and came up with nothing available. Now you’re trying to talk yourself into buying a non-dotcom domain and you’re looking for reasons to either talk yourself into it or out of it.

Typically, .COM is the first search people do when shopping for a new business domain name.

The truth is, there’s a reason for that. Whatever that reason is for you, that reason is why .COM is still king—and that’s not expected to change anytime soon.