There’s a host of new domain extensions being offered these days with more on the horizon. The new suffixes being introduced are apparently designed to make navigation on the web easier, but in reality are more likely to confuse matters. Do you need to be first in line to buy every new suffix that gets released for your business name?

Dot com will always be king Seven new top-level domains have been approved by ICANN (the organisation that governs domain names) and will all be available in the coming months. The new domains approved are .biz, .info, .aero, .coop, .museum, .pro and .name.

These new domain extensions will make it easier for people to get a name on the web that reflects their site, but the new extensions are very unlikely to ever challenge the recognition and popularity of .com. Here’s why:

• Recognition: Ask anyone the first three words that come to mind when you say 'Internet' and one will almost always be 'dot-com' (along with 'Web' or 'surfing').
• Familiarity: The new domains will generally confuse the average everyday Web surfer. Out of frustration they will most likely resort to the old standby- .com or the regional equivalent of .com.au
• Marketing: Big businesses like IBM and Microsoft have already spent billions promoting their dot-coms'. Is Microsoft going to switch to promoting Microsoft.biz instead of Microsoft.com? Not likely.
• Brand Protection: The same people who own the corresponding .com will most likely buy up most of the .biz and .info to protect their valuable brand (making the new domains merely backups). Sad to say, but the real winners here are probably those selling domain names and the lawyers who will be kept busy for years with trademark infringement suits.

Dot-com is established and respected. It has the distinction of being one of the first domain names of the new Internet frontier and the most sought after. The new domains will make it easier to get a home on the Web- but unless you’re a large company with a brand people would want to steal- you’re better off just worrying about the .com.au

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