.com vs .net vs .org vs .capetown vs .co.za etc

Thor

Thor

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Hey


Can someone please assist me, what are the difference between all this and what would be the benefit register a unknown domain like .capetown compared to a well known one like .co.za ?
 
Thor187 said:
Hey


Can someone please assist me, what are the difference between all this and what would be the benefit register a unknown domain like .capetown compared to a well known one like .co.za ?
Click to expand...
For me the only real benefit was the name. www.ilove.capetown
Other than that I am sure there are plenty but none spring to mind...
 
the benefit is the regulator gets to sell a new namespace to all the existing domains who are scared someone will cybersquat on their spot.
There is no benefit to the consumer. I am a consumer so can judge that myself. (sample size=1, lol)
The .com is essentially infinite...co.za. is infinite.
 
.com was traditionally reserved for companies. Was mainly for American use as there was not a .usa. Not really the case anymore.

.org is for non profit organizations.

.co.za is to associate the web site with South Africa. The .capetown etc are new top level domains.

If you are looking to create a dns name for a company in SA I would still go for .co.za I think these are the cheapest names to register out of the above list anyway.
 
There is no real difference, .com is more generally defined global domain extension, if you have intensions are to be global and you can find a .com, then register it, if your intention is only to be SA based companies if your target market is SA then a .co.za should be perfect for you. .joburg, .durban & .capetown is if you really want to be more regional.

.co.za is the cheaper of these extensions

PM me if you need some help or further information.
 
.COM is probably better regardless. Even SA culture is full of internet references in the American context. Having a .COM is gonna probably give you a subjective advantage and heck one day you may even go international too, so you already have your name secured. .NET is pretty much like .COM nowadays.

.capetown is probably stupid unless you're a tourist establishment. 8 characters instead of 3 to type. .com is simplest as in .co.za you have an extra character and a dot to type/remember.
 
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.capetown is useful for businesses or people hosting these business directory websites..
 
WAslayer said:
.capetown is useful for businesses or people hosting these business directory websites..
Click to expand...

But some ISPs or the host people al ready took all of them.

Love.capetown
Travel.capetown
See.capetown

Etc etc

All owned by Godaddy etc
 
They will be making money selling those to people who really want them.. Can be a lucrative business at times..
 
It just comes down to your own preference. There is also a slight advantage for SEO. If a user searches for "your product cape town", it serves to reason that all other things equal, the domain yourproduct.capetown should appear first.

The main reason there are so many types of domain extensions is that people squat and hope to sell them. That's the reason more and more get introduced so you can still get a domain that serves your needs. We recommend to our clients that they go with .co.za (for a company name) if they are based in South Africa and only if they are trying to target a specific good should they look to the .cities.
 
Padraic Hosting said:
It just comes down to your own preference. There is also a slight advantage for SEO. If a user searches for "your product cape town", it serves to reason that all other things equal, the domain yourproduct.capetown should appear first.

The main reason there are so many types of domain extensions is that people squat and hope to sell them. That's the reason more and more get introduced so you can still get a domain that serves your needs. We recommend to our clients that they go with .co.za (for a company name) if they are based in South Africa and only if they are trying to target a specific good should they look to the .cities.
Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense, sort of what I thought was the case.
 
gregmcc said:
.com was traditionally reserved for companies. Was mainly for American use as there was not a .usa. Not really the case anymore.

.org is for non profit organizations.

.co.za is to associate the web site with South Africa. The .capetown etc are new top level domains.

If you are looking to create a dns name for a company in SA I would still go for .co.za I think these are the cheapest names to register out of the above list anyway.
Click to expand...

Would you mind offering more insight into why you say .co.za is best for a SA company? Its not always about price of a domain when it comes to web hosting. Besides, I can currently register a .com for less money than it will cost other people to register a .co.za

The purpose of a website is exposure. You want traffic to the site. in fact the *key* objective is traffic.

With that said, I'm going to brain vomit in this post now. Please excuse me. :)

Take an uncommon keyword like "aaaabbbbbcccccc website hosting". Optimize two sites for that keyword, one hosted in SA as a co.za and one hosted offshore as a .com.

I would contend that if the basic elements for SEO optimization are in place on both the .co.za site and on a .com site, Googles algorithm would rank the .com higher for international traffic. But for for local traffic, it would rank the .co.za higher. If this notion is wrong then please tell me its wrong and why.

With that said, and assuming I'm right, if your target market is only SA based, then go for a .co.za. However, if the purpose of your site is gain as much traffic as possible (for the purpose of affiliate marketing, online sales etc) then does it make sense to have .co.za and for that matter, a co.za hosted locally? The benefits of a .com hosted internationally (assuming I am correct in my assumption above) would provide the benefit of international traffic where you can leverage off a stronger currency for your marketing and online sales.

Also, is it true that regardless of where you are physically located, physical location is only important for physical businesses based in a specific location and only traffic from that location (or proximity to that location) will find you? So setting up Google webmaster tools where you verify your location for local business is only important for finding local business? There is no benefit for a someone looking for international traffic?

For example. You have a client, you provide SEO services for an art gallery in Franschoek. The client has a zero client base to locals but a 50-50 split between US and UK tourists. Do you host a .co.za site with a local hosting company, or do you setup a .com and host with Godaddy? You know that tourists planning to visit SA will find your site (for certain keywords) but when searching from their hotel in SA, they might not. Which hosting / domain option is better?


Brain vomit finished! Thanks for reading. Your insights about this are massively appreciated!
 
Hopefully not too off topic, but does anyone know why the South African Football Association's website is safa.net?
 
Can't see it make a difference. No one these days type in a url..
Our browsers predict a site
 
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