Should I get dot COM or dot CA?

Clients often ask about the best choice of domain name for their business. Because our HomeFreeHost office is located in Canada, our Canadian clients also must decide between a dot COM or dot CA, for Canadian domains.

Deciding on your TLD, or top level domain, can have a big influence on your success online. If you are in business, you should always try first to get the dot com for your chosen domain name.

For example, if your site is geared toward helping homeschoolers teach French to their children, teachfrenchathome.com would be a great choice for a domain name. Potential customers from around the world would be able to find your site, and your location wouldn’t matter.

Dot com, short for commerce, is always the default choice for business.

When should I get a dot CA?

Businesses located in Canada have the option of choosing dot ca as a top level domain. If you are a brick and mortar business, or location is key to your customers finding you, then your top level domain should be dot CA.

For example, you might be the owner of an auto body shop located in Canada, where your customers bring their cars to your place to be fixed. Dot ca would be great for your business.

A professional, such as a lawyer, who is only licenced to practice in Canada would also be wise to get the dot ca version of their domain name.

Should I get both dot COM and dot CA?

I always advise clients who are getting a dot ca to also try to get the dot com version whenever possible. People who are looking you up online default to typing the dot com into the address bar, and most browsers will automatically fill this in for you.

We can set up the dot com to send your visitors to the dot ca, or vice versa, if you choose.

Paying for an extra domain name will cost you less than $20 a year, so it is money well spent to ensure that your potential customers will be able to find you.

Help! Somebody has my dot com!

Perhaps you are looking to setup a particular domain name and discover that someone else has already registered the dot com version. If you are a Canadian, you might be able to register the dot ca version of your chosen name.

American customers can opt for the dot US version of their domain name. These location specific tld’s are not quite ideal, but the internet is becoming a crowded place these days and there are certainly ways to make your particular site stand out.

Identify Yourself to Your Customers

So, let’s say you are working with the dot ca or dot us and somebody else has your dot com of choice. How do you differentiate yourself so that your customers can find you?

One of the best ways to do this is by having a photo of yourself prominently featured on your website.

Perhaps this isn’t your favourite thing. Maybe you can’t see your face as a huge selling point. It doesn’t matter. People want to know who they are dealing with.

The best option is to have a professional photographer take your picture. They have ways of making you look your best, and the expense is worth it.

If that isn’t possible, perhaps a photography student or hobbyist can do the job. The important thing is that people know who you are.

You need to identify yourself to your customers.

When to Identify Your Location

For some businesses, it is all about location. If it is important for your customers to locate you, be sure to include a map of your location on your home page.

This is easy to do by just pulling a bit of code from Google maps. Clients will then have the option of clicking the map for a bigger picture and can even get directions right to your place of business.

If this is not important to you, for example if you run a mail order business from your basement, then skip the map, but by all means, identify yourself to your customers.

Letting your customers know who you are is important to building trust, which is key to building your business online.