.com

If your plan is to build a brand then, wherever / whenever possible, go for the .Com.

.ia or .io based websites invariably upgrade to a .Com. (I get that it may be a matter of only having the funds to invest in the .Com once "the brand" (actually, the product or service) has proven its mettle.)

If it's a matter of a few thousand dollars for the aftermarket .Com AND the value of your time building the brand with will be multiples of that amount . . . spend the money. IF it's a good domain you will likely be able to recoup your investment should the project go bust. #ChoseWisely ;)

Thanks

This is a tight budget thing (i.e. no money being thrown at it and will initially rely purely on the product, which is unique)

I'm leaning towards .com, just need to figure out something memorable enough that people can recall it.

1001<object>.com
worldof<object>.com
<object>universe.com
etc :)

I think you're onto something ... webmaster ... world dot....

Register to suit your target market. If local, register the in the ccTLD. If global, register in .COM. If niche, consider a .COM and NGT.

Regards...jmcc

A domain is what you make it. Look at all the goofy ones out there right now ... all billion (approaching trillion) dollar companies.

Find the name, then MARKET IT (don't wait for g or others to find it).

Not all successful domains are based on "keywords" or "interest".

Sometimes NONSENSE jumbles of letters/numbers is the next "big thing". After all, look at all the drug names out there (medicinal stuff) for goofiest names possible, but SHINE because they roll off the tongue. Same thing applies for websites.

I agree with tangor but will add.

It is quite possible that dot-com will mean nothing soon except as nostalgia. Remember the weight afforded to certain telephone area codes; that is obliterated now.

If you are beginning an enterprise with a long term goal, focus on the name, consider and bet on the next most respected name extensions, then just go for it.

I don't think the incoming generations will care whether it is widget.com or widget.int.

.com will be around for a while. Quite a while. .net next, .org third.

Will agree that the increasing plethora of tlds will have an impact in years to come, but most of the time these exist only to mine EXISTING .com's for trademarking, etc and won't actually be used (preventative protection of mark)

MARKETING your domain is where the difference exists. Fail to do that and you're at the mercy of search engines and such who GENERALLY rate authority and "elder" above the rest. YMMV

I'm facing a similar situation to the OP. I'm looking more for a brand than a domain, but the brand must be a domain. I'm leaning towards the Tangor approach

Sometimes NONSENSE jumbles of letters/numbers is the next "big thing".

Possibly .io .li as webwork suggests.

What are the thoughts on using ccTLDs to complete words (technically .li and .io are ccTLDs). What about the new gTLDs such .app, .cloud, .mobi etc.

I have no specific target market, but most of my effort will be focused on US/CDN. Also I'm not overly concerned about organic rankings (would be nice but not my primary focus). The goal of this project is to try and diversify my revenue dependence away from Google/AdSense. I'll be offering a subscription based app to consumers (not b2b). What are people's feelings on including a reference to the service/product in the name like widget.com or widget.int as opposed to the Tangor method mentioned above say something like wdjt.io?

The problem with trying to brand on anything other than .com is you may well lose traffic (and potential customers) to the .com equivalent. If someone remembers your business name they may well just type in the URL and assume you will be using the .com TLD.

Mack.

Then again, you can leverage some clever ...

One client would not get the com, so named it:

examplecom.net and ... ir worked!

examplecom.net and ... ir worked!

This probably goes to show that the domain has little influence on whether a site is successful or not.

So then in my case it really comes down to a branding issue. I need to find myself a clever brandable name ... and hope it works!

I have a couple of domains up my sleeve with a .today and .express but I no longer like them so I'll let them expire. And they are more expensive to register than .com

I still prefer .com and .net

I like .app

I need to find myself a clever brandable name ... and hope it works!

Make up a word beginning with 'w' ;)

I suggest you to prefer domain names with .COM TLD , if possible try to acquire others TLDs like .NET .ORG etc,..

Once you take a domain , try to Trademark it , so that no one else having other extensions of the same name can create troubles to you in future.

Build a brand from ground if you are tight on budget & create value to the domain.
If you have budget , go for a premium one that suits best for your business.