So many businesses are hooked finding perfect dot-com domains that they would even go off track with some dumb name that they had to stick with. This is because of all the saturation of dot-com domains out there. This problem is only becoming more apparent as more businesses take their spot on the internet. nearly 50% of all websites have dot-com domains.

The beginning of any business starts with a brainstorm of potential domain names. Just about every business thinks that having a dot-com domain is the only option if they want to be taken seriously, but is that changing?

The only two reasons for someone to have a dot-com domain nowadays is for the status of legitimacy and to rank high on search browsers. The dot-com extension is the most SEO-friendly extension out there. If you already have a very well-known brand, you don’t have to stick with a dot-com domain as much.

This doesn’t mean that every starting business should buy a dot-com extension. Many businesses simply don’t need them. Local stores which already have suitable names don’t need a dot-com extension as it isn’t global. It would not only be easier to find a domain name but it would be better for them if they had a dot-co-dot-uk or a dot-us-dot-com domain for example.

Only if you are starting a worldwide business online, a dot-com domain would be the best for you. If you are a website aiming at getting visitors from all over the world, it would be harder for you to be looked at as a serious website without a dot-com domain as of today. Studies at YC however, have shown that more and more start-ups are moving away from this domain norm.

Young entrepreneurs are starting to settle for domains that they desire instead of spending hours at the drawing board, playing domain name roulette. According to YC class statistics, the amount of students who use other domain extensions apart from dot-com has increased by more than 30% from 2009 to 2017.

Is It Worth Spending So Much Time Looking For a Dot-Com Domain?

The name of your brand is so important as it’s the first thing a person sees. With the number of people that are snatching up dot-com domains, left, right and center, finding one that sounds simple and catchy is a jackpot. Even if it may take a while trying to find the right one, it will make your business look a lot more supreme.

There is still an ocean of unfound dot-com domains that are out there which can be found with a little creativity. In 2015, the famous computer scientist and entrepreneur, Paul Graham said that not having a dot-com domain signals weakness, “a marginal domain suggests you’re a marginal company.”

On the contrary, many people believe that you shouldn’t settle for a domain name that doesn’t fit your business perfectly and that the name itself counts more than having a trendy domain suffix. This side may be growing as the availability of dot-com domains are being decreased by about 80,000 domains every day. This means that in the future, you may have no other option but to take up another domain extension if you want your domain name to even resemble your business.

What Other Domain Extension Can Make Its Place As Most Dominant?

There are still other domain extensions that are climbing their way up to the top, if you make your footprint with a potential domain name before everyone else does with these extensions, you can make a lot of money off that unique domain. In 2014, a dot-tech domain sold for 6.8 million, just to show you how many opportunities are out there other than dot-coms.

The dot-io domain extension is a great example, even though it has existed since 1997, it has become ever so popular recently amongst young start-up websites, especially tech-related. Dot-io domains are more expensive than dot-com domains as I/O stands for input/output which is more relevant to most businesses.

Many big brands are also leaning towards other domain extensions such as dot-brand once they have already gained their legitimacy. Some examples of these are dot-google, dot-amazon and dot-youtube.

There is still one hair in the soup, no other domain extension has the same recognition as dot-com domains. Even though they are slowly losing their trendiness, it is still the best way to go if you want to be recognized worldwide. As of today, there are still a lot of dot-com domains out there. The drastic decrease in the availability of dot-com domains will only face start-ups in the later years. Later on, the one you would’ve registered now will be ten times more valuable than any other extension once dot-com domains are lacking.