Can't decide between a dot org or dot ly domain

[3 MORE YEARS]

I want launch a new website, and I have managed to acquire a good .org domain and the similar or slightly better .ly domain

The dot .ly works with the name e.g late.ly , although that's not my domain it works like that. However, I am wondering if .ly is a high risk from an SEO point of view, and even from a stability point of view. For those that don't know .ly is from Libya, but loads of companies have used .ly domains start with as I think it helped them brand it better (or something along those lines)

insight.ly is a one of many companies that clearly remember launching with .ly but now I have noticed that they use .com insightly.com and bit.ly being some example that I can remember off the top of my head. They have both moved to .com. However, as far as I know, they are both successful companies. So the .com's probably didn't come cheap.

The .org is good I suppose. But I feel, if I can't have .com, which is just being used by another company to forward to another site, then I feel like .org is like having second best and less memorable. However, seomoz.org was for a long time very successfully ranked and used until they recently moved to moz.com , so I don't know, what's the best answer.

So I am hoping someone more educated in this area can add their wisdom or viewpoint. Is there something I don't know as I have noticed a number of companies switching to .com's or something else from .ly. When I search online, I have read or noticed various article about the uncertain future of .ly domains. I don't know how much truth there is to that, like this one: http://www.dailytech.com/Future+is+Uncertain+for+Popular+ly+Domain/article21350.htm

Anyway, advice and opinions welcome.

 

[Faevilangel]

Ask your parents if they have heard of the .ly (for libya btw) domain extension, answer will be probably not.

Unless you have thousands to brand and get the domain name known (bit.ly etc) then stick to the simple ones which most web users will know of (.com/.co.uk/.org and .net)

 

[3 MORE YEARS]

I think you are right. Just needed a sanity check.

 

[ReviewsThatStick]

I think you would go for the most common ones like .org, .com, etc. just what Faevilangel said. It is easier if you go with that.

 

[StevePoster]

The popularity of domain extension name .com is really tested and I prefer this one along with your websites name that contains your main keyword and this is for optimization purposes.

 

[fisicx]

You need to get with the program steve. .com does less well in the UK than .co.uk

Keyword rich domain names can really hamper business developement. You are far better off with something generic.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Most people will now search for their country domain name as a preference to clear out the rubbish, so in the UK it would be .co.uk, France .FR etc. some may include .com but the web results will show many unwanted sites

 

[a1exn1987]

It depends on the nature of the service(s) you're offering.

If it's a flexible, perhaps global, thing like web design or editing/proofreading or some other kind of techy thing then .com would be fine - but if you're business just doing plastering in Surrey then .co.uk makes the most sense as you wouldn't be interested in any business from overseas.

.ly is really a style choice, it's a part of the brand - and it might negatively affect the effectiveness of your site if the brand is strong enough.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

IMHO the TLD has no significant impact on ranking. If you flagged late.ly as a UK site in webmaster tools it will rank just as well in UK as any other TLD.

The issue would be that ordinary folk don't know about TLDs, so if you were to tell someone over the phone that your domain is late.ly, they might well type in "latedotly.com" or something similar. Ordinary folk know about dot com as it's in common usage e.g. dot com millionaire, dot com boom, dot com bust, kim dotcom , but most don't know about .co.uk or .ly.

This is not a problem if they're mostly going to find you on search, follow a link or type it in from an ad.

Though I'd go for a .com or .co.uk (or both). Or start out with the .ly and buy up the .com when you make your millions...

 

[CPSMedia Carl]

I would stick with the main TLD's
.com
.net
.org
.co.uk

 

[amitaharij]

Try selecting some .com, .org and .net domain.

 

[Ruler Analytics]

Definitely stick to the conventional .com and similar - bit.ly and similar sites all started out with that stylish and creative idea, but they realised that a .com was required to do better, and now they're at bitly.com just as a few others who started with .ly are.