Question

I have found a good domain name I like for a project of mine. Should I buy just the .com or do you think it is a good idea to buy all the available TLD's? Like .net, .org, .info etc

Answer 1

It really depends on what you are using the domain for. If brand is really important to you, then you may want to get all of them so that you control that name across all the tlds. If you don't really care then just get what you need.

If it is something commercial, it is probably a good idea. If it is personal, it might not matter.

Also, keep in mind that someone will likely buy the ones you don't and then attempt to sell them to you.

Answer 2

Considering it only costs about $8.00 to squat on a domain, why not? If you think the site is going to be very successful, I would definitely do it, and I would also get yourdomainnamesucks.com before someone else who wants to mess with you does.

Answer 3

Points to help your TLD buying decision.

• Are the other TLDs relevant to your project?
• Do you fear a future competition taking up the other TLDs
  • and trying to sell them to you maybe
  • or, hosting their sites with hopes of stealing your brand-value
    which assumes you will create sufficient value on the primary TLD you are hosting from
• Is your project multi-national which might use country based TLD registrations?
  • there are other ways to get past that hurdle (w/o acquiring country based TLDs)

Answer 4

It would depend on how tightly you want to control your brand/identity.

They're so cheap, so I usually add the ".net". I wouldn't bother with anything other than the "big three" .com, .net and .org.

Answer 5

There might be some restrictions on some of the domains. .org should be restricted to non-commercial organisations (like charities, for example), so you might not be able to get them all.

What will your users expect to enter? Are they likely to type "domain.info" instead of "domain.com"?

However, you should get all you can afford. You don't want someone buying one you don't own with the aim of redirecting traffic away from your site.

Answer 6

In my experience domain names are often registered by domain squatters when you release them. I've seen the oddest names being registered by domain squatters after the original registration expired and were released because the administrative contact messed up (or the contact details were wrong). I don't know where the squatters get their information, but it seems they know.

So: when registering multiple domains, make sure you can afford to maintain them. If not, then let sleeping dogs lie.

(And as for the "all" in your question: that's not doable.)

Answer 7

If you have registered multiple domains (with only the TLD differing), it would be good to redirect those requests to your main domain. If you have multiple domains, duplicating content, then you may receive the Google penalty for duplicated content. If you have a redirect on it, you will direct all that nice page rank to your main domain.

Answer 8

I can't believe no one's said this:
TLDs have rules. You must follow these rules. For some countries you need to either be from that country, or have a registered entity in that country. For others (.edu, .va) it's just not possible.

Not all domains are cheap. Try looking at some places like .ch. Not all TLDs can be registered from the same registrar. Your maintenance is going to be a real pain.

In short, ALL TLDs?! It's not worth the expense.