Should You Buy A .CO Domain?

There has been a lot of hype over the release of the .CO top level domain (TLD).  In fact, according to a press release from today, these .CO domains are selling like crazy.  But the real question remains, should you buy one?  They cost $30/year – that is approximately $20 more per year then a .COM or .NET.  I received an email today from someone wanting to know if he should buy a .CO instead of a .COM.  I’ll post a transcript of the email below along with my response.

Hi Jeff,

I was wondering which domain name is better .com or .co domains? what is the difference between these two domains? What do people in your community think? Will .co domains really change the .com domains?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and/or answer this question, maybe you can make a video about this subject.
-Mike B.

To which I replied:

Hey Mike,

I’d always recommend you grab as many of the TLD’s as you can. Personally, I think .com is and always will be the “standard” so to speak. There are, of course, sites out there such as mine which use alternate TLD’s. I use .net, but I did acquire the .com, because I think it’s important to have it. I also pre-ordered my .co.

The bottom line is that I’d go for the .com first (at least right now) as your primary, but if you want, also purchase the .co. The fact of the matter is, the .co hasn’t even launched yet (officially) and while its got some hype, we don’t know how much it’ll catch on.

People who aren’t familiar with technology typically will think of .com. That’s what they associate a website with.

I hope that helps.

Jeff

What do you think? They are marketing this .CO as the next .COM, but can anything truly replace the .COM? I’m not sure.  Not to mention the priority landrush requires you pay $300 for top spot on the list.  It seems a little crazy.  But I guess if you really want that domain for whatever reason, it may be worth it to you.