.com, .net or .biz: which domain ending to choose

For a US small business, .com is the best domain ending when you can get a name you like with it, because it is the one customers assume and type without thinking. A .net or .us is a fair second choice if your .com is taken and the .com is not owned by a similar business. A .biz is the weakest of the three: it works technically, but many customers read it as cheap or spammy. Google does not prefer any of them; the difference is all in how people remember and trust them.

What the ending is

The ending is the last part of a domain, after the final dot: the .com in harborbakery.com. The trade calls it a top-level domain. Each ending is run by an organization under rules set by ICANN, and you register a name under it through a registrar.

There are three broad kinds:

The old general endings: .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info.
Country endings: .us for the United States, .ca for Canada, .co for Colombia (often used as a short "company"), and so on.
Newer endings added over the last decade or so: .shop, .plumbing, .law, .dental, .bakery, .nyc and hundreds more.

Why .com is still the default

For US customers, .com is the ending they assume. If they hear your business name, they try yourname.com first. If they half-remember your address, they type .com by reflex. Phone keyboards often have a ".com" key.

That habit is the whole case for .com. It is not about Google, and it is not about prestige. It is that a .com gets typed correctly more often.

The practical risk with any other ending is this: if a customer types the .com version of your name and it belongs to someone else, they land on a stranger's site, perhaps a competitor's. So before choosing a different ending, look at who owns the .com.

.net: a fair second choice

.net was meant for network companies in the early internet, but nobody holds to that now. It is familiar to most customers, does not look odd, and is often available when the .com is taken.

Use it if:

The .com of your name is unused, parked, or owned by a business in an unrelated trade far away.
You can always say the ending clearly: "harbor bakery dot NET".

Avoid it if the .com belongs to a similar business near you. Customers will reach them by mistake.

.biz: works, but carries baggage

.biz was created for businesses, so it seems the obvious choice. In practice it has a reputation problem. It was cheap for a long time and was heavily used for spam and quick-money sites, and many people still associate it with that. Some customers hesitate to click a .biz link or open an email from one.

Google treats .biz like any other ending for search. The issue is people's trust, which is harder to fix. If .biz is the only ending available for the name you want, it is usually better to change the name a little and get a .com.

.us: a solid US option

.us is the official ending for the United States, and only US people and businesses can register it. It is short, clearly American and usually available. Customers understand it once they hear it, though they will not guess it the way they guess .com, so you will need to say it every time.

A .us suits a business that is clearly local and American, like a contractor, a farm stand or a family restaurant, especially if the .com is taken.

.org: for nonprofits and community groups

.org is open to anyone, but customers read it as a nonprofit, a church, a club or a community group. A business using .org can confuse people about what it is. If you run a nonprofit, it is a natural fit; domains for nonprofits and churches covers that choice.

The newer endings

Endings like .plumbing, .law, .dental, .salon or .bakery describe your trade, and city endings like .nyc describe your place. They can make a short, memorable name possible, like harbor.bakery.

Things to weigh:

Customers do not guess them. You must say the full address every time, and some people will still type .com.
Some look odd in email. "orders at harbor dot bakery" needs explaining.
Prices vary widely. Some newer endings cost much more per year than a .com, and renewal prices can rise.
Some email systems are wary of unfamiliar endings. Mail from unusual endings can get extra scrutiny from spam filters, so make sure your email setup is done properly. Why your business emails go to spam shows what to check.

They work best as a second domain that forwards to your main .com, used on signs or ads where a short trade word helps.

What Google thinks

Google has said publicly that it treats general endings (.com, .net, .biz, .info and the newer ones like .plumbing) the same for search. A trade word in your ending does not earn extra standing for that trade.

Country endings are slightly different: Google uses them as a hint about which country a site serves. For a US business, .us and .com both signal the US well. A few country endings, such as .co and .io, are used so widely as general endings that Google treats them as general too. They still belong to another country's registry, and customers still do not guess them, so they share the weaknesses of the newer endings.

Should you buy several endings?

Some businesses register the .com, .net and .us of their name and forward the extras to the main site. It stops someone else using them and catches customers who type the wrong one. It is optional and costs a yearly fee for each. Should you buy several domains for your business? helps you decide when it is worth it.

If you do, pick one as the main address and use only that one in print and listings.

What to do this week

Check whether the .com of your business name is available, and who owns it if not.
If it is taken by a similar business nearby, change the name slightly rather than the ending.
If it is taken by an unrelated or unused site, consider .net or .us.
Avoid .biz unless no alternative works.
Say your chosen domain out loud with its ending, as you would on the phone, and see if it sounds clear.

Whichever ending you pick, the website at that address is what customers judge. If yours needs work, you can see your site rebuilt first and keep whatever domain you already have.