Battle of the TLDs – .NET vs .ORG

We all know that .COM is king, I don’t think there’s a person out there who would disagree, however when it comes to .NET and .ORG it really seems like there is a strong divide in opinions. When I recently attended Startup Lessons Learned in Santa Monica I asked a few people their opinions on .NET and .ORG as entrepreneurs starting businesses. The general feedback I got was:

  • “When I see a .NET I think that the person couldn’t afford the .COM, they had to go for their second choice and it definitely hurts their brand and makes them look less professional.”
  • “Isn’t .ORG for non-profit organizations?”

The people I spoke to definitely felt strongly that when you launched a startup having it on a .COM was important although not always possible. What was interesting to see is that there was some negative sentiments for .NET and for .ORG there was the honest feelings that this was really an extension specifically for non-profit organizations.

I personally think that it really depends on the keywords. For topics involving nature, exercise, health, etc. I think .ORG is often a better fit. For product, tech domains, and blogs I think .NET is a better fit. I think that .ORG generally has more trust with consumers, when they see a .ORG in a list of search results as I think they’d be more inclined to click on this than a .NET, however once again it depends on the niche as I think a tech blog on .NET makes way more sense than a tech blog on .ORG.

So what do you think? We all agree .COM is king but what is next in line, is it .NET or .ORG? Comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton