Advice on domain endings, .com vs .llc?

July 28, 2021

by a searcher from University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Hi,
I'm looking to see any perspectives on if I should exclusively stick to a .com when picking a domain or if alternatives, such as .llc, can work equally well. My thoughts are that although .com is the standard, a .llc will allow for much simpler web address and business name. The trade off concern I have, however, is that there might be some loss in credibility when reaching out to business owners with the more novel domain (.llc). Thanks!
-Jason

Reply by a professional
from University of Rhode Island in Portland, OR, USA

Hi ^redacted‌, et al - I've been in the Internet industry for over 20 years, fyi. Using .com will be easiest and most memorable - you won't have to keep repeating yourself to tell people the URL. From an SEO standpoint, the domain ending supposedly doesn't make much or any difference. (Though, unless you work at Google and have that proprietary access, you won't know every algorithm over there.) The .llc ending is decent, but you can also consider one more descriptive to your industry, such as the aforementioned .tech, etc. Name.com has a good list of all the options.

Reply by a searcher
from The University of Chicago in Chicago, IL, USA

Another vote for the consensus that ".com" is preferred. If that's not available (and you absolutely must have that name), I'd still prefer ".net" or ".co" to a more esoteric domain like ".llc"

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