Xrhrft

I have a website with a new TLD. I am not trying to advertise here, but listing the domain names is the only way I know how to articulate this question.

I have both, theboss.host and thebosshost.com registered. I chose to use the former, the shorter version for my website.

I am wondering if potential visitors have an aversion to the newer TLDs. Should I just go with the .com even though it is much longer? Are there any SEO implication to using the more obscure domain extenstions?

I think my question is more anthropological/physocological than technical. I would love to hear from anyone with experience or has a solid opinion on the matter.

If we're to go by this 2016 survey, general consumers do not trust the new gTLD domain extensions:

We found that roughly half of consumers are uncomfortable visiting
websites ending in new domains, and only 9% of consumers feel
comfortable doing so.

In terms of their overall security, almost half of respondents report feeling less secure online thanks to the
introduction of the new gTLDs. This figure is slightly higher than last year too, showing that the wider domain
industry hasn’t yet done a good enough job to educate the public and organisations about the benfits on offer.

Trust in the new Internet survey 2016 discussion paper - nccgroup

However if your website is targeting more savvy or technical users, it stands to reason that they will be more familiar with the new extensions, understand how they work, and know that they usually don't imply any reduction in trust.

The .io domain is a great example of a "gTLD" that is often used to target tech-savvy users. While technically not really a gTLD it does function like one in practice - standing for "input/output" - and it is popular among the tech startup community.

Of course it's 2019 now so people may be more familiar with the new gTLDs than they were three years ago. But they likely haven't yet attained the same level of perceived trust as .com, .net, etc.

As elbrant touched on, it kind of kills the mood when you gotta bust out your pocket notebook to give a mini-lecture on DNS resolution in the elevator. Often times it's easier to just say "our website is [blank].com".

Explaining to someone that your site is at anything(hyphen/dash/minus)youwant.com became a nightmare (for me, personally). Avoid using anything that will put you in a position where you have to explain your DNS to a potential site visitor. It negatively affects traffic flow. Telling people your website is at domain.com requires no further information. Everyone understands it, it's comfortable. .net, .org, and some others are commonplace as well. Use the most logical domain name (preferrably with a more familiar extension).


Using .host makes sense to you. But there's a good chance that seeing it on your marketing materials will make everyone do a double take. Tell some of your friends what your domain will be... do they need an explanation for a site called mydomain.host (with no .com)?


That should tell you all you need to know.