Which Domain TLD Should I buy? .com .net .co .biz .org

I received a question about which domain to buy and the differences in the TLD, top level domain. TLDs are your .com, .net, .co, .biz, .org, .xxx, .tv,… etc. Today there are just so many to choose from. So what is the difference? Which should you buy?

Clearly the .com is the most widely used and recognized. Originally standing for “commercial”. It was introduced back in 1985. It was introduced along with com, edu, gov, mil, org, & net. Of those domains, edu, gov, and mil have specific requirements/restrictions and are not open for general use. ORG was intended for non-profits, but it has no restrictions for registrations.

Does the TLD effect SEO?

The search engines have stated that they have no real preference to the TLDs. However users do have a preference, in the fact that the users trust some more than others. Therefore, your CTRs will be higher, which in turn would effect your rankings. If I were to list the general use domains by my preference it would be as follows:

.com
.org
.net
.biz

What about the more recent .XXX and .CO?

As I understand the .XXX is that they are pushing for exclusive adult use. Therefore if your site has no adult content then you may be in violation of the terms for that TLD.

The .co’s have a benefit of being shorter, but they have a huge downside for being too similiar to the .com and that they are not yet widely recognized. Put a .co on the side of service truck and the majority of people are bound to think that you simply forgot the ‘m’ for the .com.