Hi Art

There are a few things you should consider in picking a domain name. If you’re within the US and NOT a nonprofit you should try to find a good option that ends in .com

.org indicates the site is a nonprofit organization. 

.net is just not that popular and unless you have a particular reason for wanting n-e-t then you should pass this one over.

.au is for Australia so unless that’s your location, or location of your business you shouldn’t opt for this option.

I’ve recently posted an article on this very topic if you’d like to take a peak:http://juleswebb.com/blog/selecting-a-domain-name/

What is your site going to be about? “artbitch” would be an interesting url!

@arty

Well…. you do seem to be a bit stuck. I have to say I like Art-Bitch.com better than theartbitch.com –But I’m not real clear on what the purpose of your site will be.

I’m assuming that art is the main deal, but what medium? Does it vary? Will your site be a multimedia website? If you end up doing a fair share of videos or podcasts you could consider artbitch.tv  

Can you give me a little insight?

@arty I purchase my domains with .com and .net, while a friend of mine went further and purchased .org’s.

On an interesting note, I saw a Tweet that Virginia Tech purchased a couple .xxx domains. A lot of money is going to be spent to protect brands now that the domains have opened up….

I’d say go with the .com.au for the above stated reasons but just curious  why you couldn’t get the .com? was it not available? If so, try theartbitch.com 

Good discussion…what about some of the newer options like .co and .me? I’m assuming other options beside .com will naturally grow in use over time.

@arty hi, as you are based in australia, i would strongly recommend you to go with .com.au for your business website domain, we are too an australian IT company having .com.au domain, and believe me 99% of our australian clients have same domain extension. Choosing this will help people in recognizing your australian base (this will greatly influence your local customers area) and will also greatly help you in search engine optimisation in major search engines like Google (google’s australian search engine, even google uses google.com.au for au area)

Will look into this.

I think that .com is better but can’t use this option as someone else has it.

My audience is NOT just Australia and so I think .com.au would be limiting as people overseas will see it as being exclusively Australian.

Might have to use the .com.au anyways so see what happens from here.

Thank you!

*)

AB

@libbythompson you’ve made no mistake by choosing .com what i said above was in perspective with australian horizon for business limited to australian locality. And yeah, while you start off with your business, at initial level we generally focus on our local market right? Then gradually we move to wider area and then finally we reach entire global. So whole thing is that at starting point i like to go with my local domain (.com.au in case of australia) then i will move to choose another domain with same name with extension of .com to reflect my global presence. Example:

At start i will choose xyz.com.au (because it is starting of my business and right now i am present in australia only so au people are more important for me, then i grow and my business reaches global so i choose xyz.com ( i can redirect my .com.au website to .com as well) to reflect my global presence.)That’s what i said.

Finally, once again, whether we choose .com.au or .com, it doesn’t need to be considered as right or wrong ultimately what matters is website content and message you give to people! @arty

Interesting read – I’m in Australia, but I prefer .com as it isn’t limiting to international clientele. I don’t like country suffixes and I have quite a few colleagues who do the same.

HI AB, I am in Australia too. I recommend Netregistry for a hosting company. I agree, with @thedannorris –  it depends on where your customers are located – Australia versus Global. You may want to revisit your short term/ long-term goals for your business. Also remember, business goals inevitably, change. Based on what you have said, I would suggest getting both a .com and a .com.au (you will need an ABN for a .com.au), if at all possible. There is also a school of thought that supports the idea of owning all the other extensions to avoid someone using them (e.g. net, .org etc). You can always point the .com to the .com.au (or vice versa) to begin with or hold on to the .com. Yes, don’t use hypens and underscores – they are generally not recommended. However, a hosting company will provide you with recommendations for “best practices”. Essentially, you don’t want to set up a .com.au only to find out someone is doing the same/similar thing with a .com (food for thought). Also from a search point of view, “theartbitch” and “artbitch” may well compete in the same space. Essentially you want your brand name to be unique as possible, to avoid as much competition, online. An SEO specialist would be a suitable professional to consult with to perform keyword research for your new website/business. I would also suggest conducting further research to make sure you are not stepping on anyone else’s trademark (seek legal advice here – I am NOT a lawyer). Please note, what I have said are only suggestions – there are in fact many ways to approach domain (and internet marketing) strategy to achieve a viable outcome.