First and foremost, I’d like to apologise for my absence. I was away from the scene for a few years because I found another job unrelated to web design, but I am trying to slowly get back to things.
I am hoping to register a domain name. I was wondering if a .CO domain name holds any validity. I found the name I wish to have in a .CO extension as it’s short. I also found a .COM domain but it’s a longer name and a little more complex.
Not entirely sure what to do. The .CO domain is a little more expensive.
Does anybody here have experience in .CO domains, and if they are worth registering. I want to build a review website and looking for a short, snappy name to grab.
If it fits with your domain, then it’s fine. If it’s just because you can’t get the com, you’d probably be better off choosing another TLD or domain name that better fits what you need. .io is always a good choice and are often available.
One thing to bear in mind with .co (and also .io) is that it is actually a country-specific extension. While it’s currently available for anybody to use, and is regarded by search engines (I believe), as a “global” extension, there is nothing to stop the country deciding at a future date that they want to limit registrations to their own residents. That’s probably unlikely, but it’s something to be aware of.
I am fully agree with @TechnoBear. If your business territory is Colombia then you easily choose .co domain or .io domain for the British Indian Ocean Territory. or You can choose any global extension for global footprint.
It is also worth mentioning that .io is a popular extension for startups and the country it comes from has only a population of 2,500, who are entirely British military.
There is no evidence that .io domains rank lower than anything else.
Generally speaking Google (and as far as I know, other search engines) regard country-specific domains as targeting those countries, but because .co and .io are widely used elsewhere, they are (currently) regarded as global.
My point was merely that while both domain extensions are viable options now, there is no guarantee that will remain the case. Changes to the terms of use may be unlikely, but it’s as well to make any decision based on full knowledge.
(There are also ethical considerations which would prevent me using .io domains, but that choice is up to the individual.)
I actually agree with @mawburn about this. .io domains usually are popular among development type subjects. Usually when I see a domain use .io, they usually are related to github or a forum of some sort.
.co domains are pretty unique in a way already. Especially if you can get one that is a one word domain. I believe the only service that uses it daily that is already popular is Twitter. Their shorten URLs use t.co which is already a pretty unique domain name.
Though I must also add. .io domains currently are expensive. namecheap is selling theirs at $32 USD a year. Others sell it for $50 USD a year. .co domains are around $11 - $20 USD a year if you pick the right register.
yeah, bro you can run .co domain website…in the whole internet thats not meaning of .com, .in, .co extensions but, if you are from a specific country i think you should choose country domain, but in your matter you have best choice for your domains like .com and other .co and .info these domain extensions are similar…you can see : www.google.co.in this domain for india and www.google.com is that comercial…i think you understand by this answer
Where did you manage to find a .CO for such a price. GoDaddy force a 2 year registration so it comes to over 20 dollars. Apparently the 2nd year is only a dollar or so. Personally I don’t like these tactics.
I’ve registered a generic .com, found another name. The .CO sounded so much better, much shorter and easier to remember, I decided to register m0viem4rble .com (with an o and and a instead). Not sure if I did the right move.
The problem was the pricing of .io and .co. .io was out of this question, far too expensive. A .co was cheaper, but again, not many people unless technically savvy know of .CO domains. If the market isn’t a technical one, then I think we’re better off going for a plan .com, or .co.uk (if in the UK).
The .co in google.co.in is not the same as the .co in a domain that ends in .co .co.in means “commercial or general” in India, or whatever country specific code it ends in.
So one that ends with .co is specific to Columbia.
Of course many use country specific TLDs like .io and .tv for internationally (or other country specific) targetted sites, with that TLD implying another meaning, like io = Input/Output, or tv = TeleVision. So I guess you need to set your geographic targets in webmaster tools using these.
These days there are lots of business or niche specific TLDs available which cover many subjects, but the above mentioned are still popular in spite of this change.
whois.com is usually my alternative to go when other hosters sell theirs for an expensive price. Sometimes, whois will put their generic .com or .net domains up for sale. Those can range from $2 - $4 USD when they’re on sale. Usually that sale on the price only goes for a good year. After that, you pay the normal price which should usually be around $9 - $10 USD.
Then why the crap are you using GoDaddy? Don’t use GoDaddy for anything, they are awful in every way they can be measured except name recognition. For domains, look at NameCheap, as @spaceshiptrooper mentioned earlier. If you need hosting, there are a ton of good hosts to choose from.
Adding onto this. I would never use a domain hoster as a web hoster. Most domain hosters have crap features that cost extra and you don’t get a lot too. If you were to buy say email addresses. It would normally cost you $4 USD or maybe more for a whole year. And you generally don’t want to use web hosters as a domain hoster. Some web hosters like the current one I have have great deals on domains, but you generally don’t want to use a hoster that doesn’t supply much. I get 1 free domain which could be .com, .net, .org, or any popular generic TLDs, but I usually pay $47.88 USD a year for the full package. It means I get to upload files, have databases, add more domains to my hosting account, and much more.
I would never use a domain hoster as a web hoster. Most domain hosters have crap features that cost extra and you don’t get a lot too.
Seconded. But for different reasons. I usually don’t like throwing all my eggs into one basket. You can get domains from most hosts and hosting from most registrars, but having the services split reduces the risk of failure and helps you better do damage control if something goes wrong. Things like getting hacked, servers going down, account gets locked, or any number of other things that could possibly go wrong. Having them separated completely lets you at least do damage control with the one you have access to.