Keep your main address on the ending customers already expect, usually .ca or .com. Buy a new ending only for a clear reason, such as a campaign name, and point it at your main site rather than replacing it.

The offer at checkout

Renew a domain or search for a new one, and the registrar offers dozens of alternatives: .shop, .online, .store, .site, .services, .design, .restaurant.

Hundreds of new endings have gone on sale since 2014, more keep arriving, and registrars promote them hard, often with a cheap first year.

The question for a small business is not whether these endings are legitimate. They are. It is whether one would help customers find you, or quietly send them somewhere else.

What changed

For a long time the choice was short: .com, .ca, .net, .org and a handful of others.

The organisation that coordinates domain names opened applications for new endings in 2012, and the first went on general sale early in 2014. Now there are endings for trades, places and plain words: .plumbing, .london, .photography, .online.

Google has said the new endings are treated like .com in search. A keyword in the ending gives no ranking advantage, so .plumbing does not make a plumber easier to find.

When a new ending makes sense

The second is where most small businesses find real value. A short, memorable address on a van or a radio spot can forward to the right page without asking anyone to learn a new address for the business itself.

When it sends customers elsewhere

People type what they expect. Tell someone your address ends in .shop and plenty will type .com anyway, or .ca.

Heard aloud, across a counter or on the radio, many new endings do not sound like web addresses at all. Dot online sounds like a description.

Whoever owns the .com of your name collects the visitors who guess. If that is a competitor, or a business in another country, those visitors are gone.

Email is worse. Customers mistype unfamiliar addresses, and some older web forms still reject email addresses with long endings as invalid.

The price after the first year

The first year is often cheap. The renewal price is the one that matters, and for some endings it is far higher than the introductory offer.

Some names within an ending are classed as premium by the registry and carry a much higher yearly price, which does not always stand out at checkout.

Check the renewal price for the next three years before buying, and add it to the website's running costs.

Some cheap endings have also been popular with spammers, so filters can treat their email with suspicion. That makes them a poor choice for the business's main email.

A worked example

A vintage clothing store on an older commercial street has used a .ca address for years, on its bags, its window and its social media profiles.

Last fall, while renewing, the owner was offered the store's name in .shop for a few dollars, and bought it for the online shop that was about to launch.

The online shop went up on the .shop address. The old site stayed on the .ca with the hours and the address, and the two did not link to each other.

Within weeks, staff kept hearing the same thing at the till: customers had looked for the online shop and found nothing, or found a costume rental business in another province on the .com.

People remembered the name and typed the ending they knew. The .shop was the one address nobody tried.

The online shop moved onto the .ca, so there is one site at one address. The .shop forwards there with a permanent redirect while the bags are still in circulation, and the next print run carries only the .ca.

Point it, do not replace

If you buy a new ending, the safest use is as a signpost: point it at your main site, or at one page on it, with a permanent redirect.

A permanent redirect, known as a 301, tells browsers and search engines the address has moved, so visitors and links end up on the main site.

Avoid running the same website on two addresses. Search engines see two copies, and customers see two places that may not agree.

Protecting the address you already use

The new endings get the attention, but the bigger risk to most businesses is losing the address they already have.

Check that it renews automatically on a card that has not expired, that renewal notices reach an inbox someone reads, and that it is registered to the business rather than a former employee.

Register the obvious neighbours: the .com if you are on .ca, the .ca if you are on .com, and a common misspelling or two. Buying every ending is neither possible nor useful.

Trademarks and lookalikes

Trademark holders can record their marks with a central clearinghouse, which gives them first access when a new ending launches and alerts them to matching registrations in its early months.

If someone registers your name in a new ending to sell it back to you or to imitate you, dispute processes exist, and a registered trademark makes them far easier.

The counter-case

Some businesses genuinely suit a new ending. A shop whose .ca and .com were taken years ago may get a cleaner name in .shop than a long hyphenated .ca.

A new business choosing its first address has no old habit of its own to fight, though its customers still bring theirs.

And a trade or city ending can make a strong campaign address on signs and radio, as long as it forwards to the main site.

For an established business, keep the main address where customers already look, and make anything new point to it.

Before you buy

  1. Check your main domain renews automatically.
  2. Confirm it is registered to the business.
  3. Register the obvious neighbour, .com or .ca.
  4. Write down the reason for any new ending.
  5. Check the renewal price for three years.
  6. Point it at your main site with a 301.
  7. Keep the main address on everything printed.

Step four saves the most money over time. A new ending bought without a reason gets renewed for years because nobody remembers why it exists, or lapses and is picked up by someone else.

Who is allowed to hold the Canadian ending in the first place is covered in who can own a .ca address.

Frequently asked questions

Are the new domain endings legitimate?

Yes. Hundreds have gone on sale since 2014 and they work like any other address. The real question is whether your customers will type one correctly.

Does a keyword ending help search rankings?

No. Google has said the new endings are treated like .com, so a keyword in the ending gives no ranking advantage on its own.

When does a new ending make sense?

For a campaign or product name whose .ca and .com are taken, a short address for print or radio, or protecting your name in your trade.

Why do new endings confuse customers?

People type .com or .ca out of habit, many endings do not sound like addresses when spoken, and whoever owns the .com collects every visitor who guesses.

What should I check before buying one?

The renewal price for the next three years, whether the name is classed as premium, and a written reason for buying it. Then point it at your main site.

How do I protect my existing domain?

Make sure it renews automatically, is registered to the business and sends notices to an inbox someone reads. Register the obvious neighbour, .com or .ca, as well.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Registrar offering you a new ending?

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