One of the most important questions that anyone looking to start a website must answer is the “What should I call my website?” question. And sometimes, even when a prospective website owner has decided on a good website name that embodies their personal or business goals (the domain name), they may find that the domain name may have already been taken by someone else on a particular and perhaps preferred domain extension. This is when the .org vs .com or .net debate begins.

Also Read: .Com vs .Net – Which Domain Extension is Best?

.Org vs .Com Difference:

For most internet savvy prospective website owners, the .com domain extension is usually the preferred first choice when they check for the availability of their domain names – and this is regardless of what niche their website falls in. Traditionally, the .com extension was created for commercial organizations but due to the popularity of this extension, just about anyone looking to acquire real estate on the internet space is choosing the .com extension.

In fact, some school of thoughts assume that merely choosing the .com extension gives a website owner a page ranking and SEO edge over a website owner who chooses the .net or .org alternative.

The truth, however, is that while there are differences between these domain extensions, added SEO advantage is not one of them. In this article, we are going to be comparing two of the most popular domain name extensions – the .org vs .com domain extension. The purpose of this .org vs .com comparison is to help our esteemed readers make a well-thought-out decision on what domain name extension is the best fit for their brand, business or goals!

Let’s start with the .com domain extension

The .com domain extension was introduced on March 15, 1985, and has fast grown to become one of, if not the most popular TLDs (top-level domains) and with about 126 million registered users as of 2016, the .com domain is today, the most preferred domain extension for internet users.

The .com domain was created originally for commercial organizations. While the original goal for the .com extension was to cater to commercial entities, there was never a law, rule or limitation barring people whose businesses did not fall in the commercial sphere from registering the .com domain. Because of this, just about anyone who wants to register their brand or business with a .com extension can do so.

Now let’s talk about the .org domain extension

The .org domain extension is considered the third most preferred extension just below .com and .net. Introduced on January 1, 1985, the .org domain has currently generated over 10 million registrants as of 2016. This domain extension was created originally for use by non-profit organizations and while it is still relatively used primarily by organizations, the .org domain extensions are now open to the general public.

Now let’s compare the .org vs .com domain across several factors like popularity, pricing and SEO benefits. We have also included our subjective opinions of what platform is best for different purposes in our “Conclusion” section.

The .org vs .com comparison

While there is not exactly a significant difference between the .org and .com domain extensions (besides the fact that more users opt for the .com extension), there are a few aspects of both extensions that slightly differ. The comparison highlighted with the parameters below would help anyone looking to build a website decide what option is better suited for their business and brand goals.

.org vs .com: Popularity

Popularity plays a huge role when it comes to choosing between domains. Going by the stats, the .com domain has more people registered on it and this by extension means that the .com domain is more popular than the .org domain.

The average internet user today, associates the .com domain extension with just about any website. So if you were to tell a friend your website was called “SEO” without adding any domain extension, they would sooner think that it would be SEO.com before they consider the .org or .net option.

When building your website, .com is the better choice.

.org vs .com: Pricing

The .org domain costs a little more than the .com domain extension because the .org domain is still relatively reserved for organizations. But in some cases, these domain extensions are priced equally!

.org vs .com: SEO

Most people assume and even propound the theory that when it comes to .org vs .com for SEO purposes, that the .com domain would most likely outrank the .org, .info or .biz domain extension but this is not true. Search Engine Optimization is dependent on your websites ability to pop up in the natural search results on search engines.

Comparison Chart

Conclusion

Choosing the right domain name and domain name extension could be a big decision that determines how your viewers perceive your website.

From a subjective standpoint, we can say that the .com domain extension trumps the .org extension based on popularity and price as well. The .org domain would only be advisable over the .com domain if the website belongs to an organization.

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