.com, .online or .co.nz: does the ending matter?

For most of the web's history, the choice was simple: get the .com, or get the local ending (.co.nz, .co.uk, .com.au) if you served one country. Today there are hundreds of endings, from .online and .site to .studio, .games, .coffee and .shop.

So does the ending still matter? Yes. But less than it used to, and in a different way.

.com is still the default

When people hear a name without an ending, most will guess .com. That's worth a lot: you don't have to spell anything out, and you won't lose visitors to whoever owns the .com of your name. .com has more than 166 million registrations for a reason.

Country endings carry local trust

For a New Zealand audience, .co.nz and .nz say "local" before anyone reads a word, and they can be easier to get than the .com. The same goes for .co.uk, .com.au and .ca at home. If your customers are in one country, a country ending is often the better choice.

Newer endings: it depends on the first word

This is where the old advice ("never use anything but .com") falls down. A newer ending can be weak or strong depending on what sits in front of it.

Strong: the name and ending work together.

It reads as a phrase: learn.online ("learn online"), hire.me, play.games, my.space
It's on topic: photo.studio, kauri.coffee, sparechange.store
It spells a word across the dot: pla.net

In each of these, the ending is doing work. It's part of the name, not an apology for not getting the .com.

Weak: the ending is just there. A random invented name on .xyz or .site gives people nothing to hold on to, and they'll often remember it as .com by mistake.

How URL Cards scores endings

On URL Cards, an ending is never judged alone. Newer endings start in the middle of the scale, and rise when the name suits them, up to just under .com. So learn.online can grade S, while a made-up name on the same ending sits much lower. Endings that are already at the top (.com, .co.nz, .io) don't need the help.

A quick way to choose

If the .com of your name is available at a fair price, it's still the safe choice.
If you serve one country, consider its ending first.
If you want a newer ending, pick one that finishes your name or says what you do, not just one that happens to be free.
Say it out loud. If someone hearing it once could type it correctly, you're in good shape.

Want to see how a name scores? Every card shows its Domain appraisal, with the reasons. Browse the best domains on URL Cards.