.biz or not .biz

does .biz have a bad reputation?

[philicious]

I am running a site out of New Zealand with a .nz address. We have a good solid client base here, and increasing offshore clients. The next step is to start marketing internationally, in a proactive fashion.

In NZ we have brand.co.nz as our domain. But, we think that we are highly unlikely to make great inroads into the US with .nz. Most people think of New Zealand in terms of sheep and beautiful scenery, if they think anything of New Zealand at all, rather than leading-edge software.

In terms of a non country specific domain name, brand.com is not available (and most likely unobtainable without obscene amounts of cash), but brand.biz is available (for $700 through a domain name broker).

We are reasonably happy to part with the cash for the domain, but we all think that there is something slightly dodgy about .biz domains and a brandnameplusaword.com would be better than the simple .biz version. And it is less than $10.

Are we being too picky? Do you think any less of a business if they are a .biz?

BTW, the product is hosted software...

[tedster]

There may be a slight sleaze factor currently attached to the .biz TLD, but I think we'll see that fade in the coming years. And I agree with you that it should help get onto the SERPs for US searchers.

If you are serious about building a business for the long term (and it sounds like you are) then I would say go for the .biz if the big three (com, net, org) are all taken.

<fixed spelling>

[edited by: tedster at 1:54 pm (utc) on July 13, 2005]

[Ove]

I agree with Tedster.

I have some .biz sites and they are doing very well, it depends on what you are doing with it, maybe both domain name are avalible, if they are go for it, its easier to find a good .biz than it is to find good .com
But for the search engines it does not matter.

/Ove

[richlowe]

Search engines don't care.

But I personally tend to view .BIZ as slightly shady. Perhaps it's because of some phishing attempts with .biz names similar to the .coms? Or the amount of spammy sites on .biz?

[philicious]

thanks for your comments.

I know it's fine from a search engine point of view (and a .nz is no barrier to getting top Google.com results), but it's more the shadiness of the .biz I am concerned about. I.e., my target market is people like yourselves - professional webmasters and search engine gurus. If you instantly look down your nose at a .biz, or couldn't care either way, I would love to hear it.

From my own point of view, I feel that the .biz (.net and .org as well) are second-rate and an indication of being fairly new on the ground. However, that isn't very encouraging for new businesses, and isn't the internet all about innovation?

[Webwork]

I suspect that in time .biz will hold it's own as a credible extension.

Timeline? 5 years? After more businesses choose to use .biz, because of all the registrations - right and wrong - of .com domains.

I've actually heard reference to a few legit .biz domains on the radio recently. Even a .ws for a not so small local company.

[moltar]

They might adapt, but at the moment I don't think they perform that great. I am biased though. I personaly don't like .biz domains. I think they are cheesy. Especially that Z at the end... Unless you want to get 1337-haxor.biz