One of the things I’ve noticed lately is the number of .co domain names sprouting up on the Internet. The .co extension stands for Columbia, but it has recently been recognized as a global TLD, which is why the .co creates so much chatter. I just bought my .co domain name, and I feel it’s important for other businesses and bloggers to do the same.
It Is Officially An International TLD
Google and other search engines have recently started considering .co as an international top-level domain instead of a country-code domain. Large registrars like GoDaddy (such as .ws) are pushing many country-code domains, but these domains cannot be marketed globally.
For example, if you have a website called VectorImages.ws, it will automatically be targeted in Google towards residents of Western Samoa. You can change this in Google’s Webmaster tools to target users in the United States, but it will scarcely appear in results for Indian residents.
If you have VectorImages.co, it will automatically appear in searches worldwide without limiting yourself to Webmaster Tools. There are many other international TLDs, but some popular ones include .com, .net, and .org.
Save Money By Registering New Instead of Buying Used
In a world where .com domain names have been available since 1985 (see a list of the oldest .coms), it’s pretty hard to find one that you like that hasn’t already been taken. This isn’t necessarily a problem because you can convince anyone to sell the domain with enough money. I paid $200 for OmegaWeb.com, but if you were interested in a domain like ProBlogger.net or DailyBlogTips.com, you would be paying a premium price – if the owner ever wants to sell, that is.
Some quality .com domain names sell upwards of $10,000, with the good ones even costing hundreds or millions of dollars. Since the average individual doesn’t have $100,000 or even $10,000 just sitting in their bank account to invest in a domain name, it would be helpful to register one brand new for about $13. The .co domains have only been popular for about a year now, so it’s very possible that you can find a perfect domain that hasn’t been registered yet. GoDaddy only charges about $13 to register a new .co.
To put this in perspective, I recently registered the domain MyDr.co, and I plan to start a medical blog. The .com version of this name could’ve sold for $500 or even $1,000 to the right buyer, but I got the .co for less than $15.
Backed By Major Registrars and Companies
In addition to Google, Yahoo, and other major search engines, many registrars are also starting to support .co. It costs registrars thousands of dollars to support each domain extension, so it’s astounding that many companies are beginning to offer .co registrations. Some major ones include GoDaddy, Register, Go.co, and Domain Monster.
Many retailers and companies are also starting to use .co domain names. Online retailer Overstock.com started campaigning about a year ago for its O.co URL. The California-based clothing company Hollister has been rocking its domain Hollister.co since 2010. Many more companies use and trust .co domains as the core of their online business.
It’s Short
If you have the URL www.ushistory.org/american_revolution/women/index.html, having the .co extension instead of .org would be one less button to push. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it allows visitors to visit your site one second earlier. In the case of my domain name, MyDr.co, having the .co instead of .com makes the whole domain six letters instead of seven. Plus, MyDr.com looks longer.
It Sounds Cool, Flows, and Sticks
In addition to being short, the .co domain names sound cool. Hollister’s company name is Hollister Co., so they can tell their customers to visit www.hollister.co instead of www.hollister.com or www.hollisterco.com. This sounds cool, goes along with their branding, and makes it easier to remember (since “Hollister Co.” is printed on all their clothes). It also seems more custom.
It’s Over To You
Now it’s your turn… Do you have a .co domain that is failing with organic traffic? Do you have a .co domain that’s making you hundreds of dollars? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
I spend lots of time trying to snag the right domain. Any creative idea that came to mind was already taken using .com
I even went tried names like websight.com vs website.com or codesource.com to codesores.com (the last one sounded a bit painful so I opted out) to name a few examples.
It’s been two years since the last post on here. Do you have an update on this? What’s the future like for .co extensions?
Thanks
E
I personally only buy com or .net, I’ve purchased others in the past, such as .co, but I didn’t get the results needed, nothing close to the .com or .net results.
We will be, like .net .biz, .mobi. Same old game 🙁
I’m sorry, but I don’t think I follow what you are saying. Are you saying .net is in the same quality of domain names as .biz and .mobi? Because there are million-dollar websites built on .net domains – Problogger.net being one of them.
We think .CO is a brilliant domain name extension.
Great post too Ian. Thank you for mentioning us in the post.
We were the first UK registrar to get a .CO accreditation, but we firmly believe it’s becoming the best alternative to a .COM domain.
Twitter and Google were both quick to grab a .CO domain for their URL shorteners. It’s only going to grow, so I’d suggest registering yours before it’s too late!
Thanks for stopping by, Domain Monster! That’s really cool that you were the first UK registrar to get .CO accreditation. I’ve been experimenting with .com vs .co vs .net and .org lately and I’m still not sure which is the best alternative to .com. My only fear with .co is when you tell somebody the address over email or text message and they simply think you left off the “m” in .com. In this case, you would be sending them to the wrong site.
Thanks a lot for your advice.
You’re welcome!
It seems my site has been sent into sandbox because of my new domain. It will take a few months to get it out. Any advice will be helpful.
Just keep posting good content and you will get out of the sandbox within a few months. The key is to keep the good content and keep your blog updated with new content every two to three days.
None of my posts are showing in google search results. Though they are still indexed in google, they are not appearing in search results when I use my site’s keywords. Any ideas on how to fix this ?
I’m not sure. I would verify your site with Google Webmaster tools if you haven’t already done that. What platform do you use for blogging?
yes we can easily remember the domain name..its a main thing to consider..thanks for sharing this post..
Thanks for stopping by, Katherin!
Finding a good .com domain name isn’t hard If you think out of the box, but I have to agree that It’s short and easy remember one.
Not everyone can think out of the box… When I was brainstorming for Omega Web, I was trying to get a domain that was brandable. I really wanted the domain SharkBytes.com, but the owner was asking at least $1,000 for it. With .co, there is more available and more to choose from.
I’ve never been a fan of the .co extension, not sure why.
I hate how GoDaddy pushes tons of extensions on customers. Like when you register a .com, they try to give you a .info for free. I decided to register a .co, so we will see what happens.
I’m still learning my way around all the technology terms so I thought you messed up and forgot to put an “m” on .co. I read the article, though, and figured out my mistake. Good to know. Thanks for the info.
No, that’s actually my only fear with using .co. Like if your address was Facebook.co and printed on a billboard on the highway, people would take a quick glance and see “.com”
Ian, Interesting blog post. I had heard about the .co domain name but didn’t realize the potential it has.
Certainly will be looking into this. Thanks for the heads up!
posted by Galen Morgigno
I feel that there’s a lot of potential with the .co domain names, but I fear that people may confuse them with .com too easily. Other than that, they are just as good as .net, .org, and .com.