Is there room for a .ca website in a sea of .com?

I recently became weary of my current domain name and wanted to search for something that was more me. So I started to do some research on available domain names and on purchasing domain names.

Going to a company’s website today is simple. You simply type in the company’s name all in one word and add .com at the end and, presto, you arrive at the company’s virtual office.

But why do we have the instinct of inserting .com? Where did it come from? The history of .com derives from the word “commercial”, which indicates the original purpose of owning a website with a .com domain. However, with its growing popularity and a count of over 93 million .com websites, .com has become the “common” domain.

But, especially as Canadians, we need to remember .com is not the only domain name that exists. There are over 60 domain names available across the world. Today, an organization or individual can choose from .net, .org, .edu, .biz, .gov, .ca, and more. Domain names tend to describe the nature of the website. For example, .gov is found in websites from the Government of United States of America, .edu is found in educational institutions’ websites, and .ca names are generally found among Canadian websites.

I think it is important to get a .ca website, and not just to show off our country’s colours, but you get what you want. With over 93 million .com websites it is very likely the idea you had for a cool .com domain name has already been taken. With just 1.6 million .ca websites, you have more chances of getting what you want.

Here are some other reasons the Canadian Internet Registry Authority says a .ca website is better:

1. .CA domain makes you or your company easy to find and instantly recognizable as Canadian to Internet users around the world. There’s no better way to build your brand on the Internet than with a .ca domain.
2. Identify yourself as Canadian: .CA is Canada’s Internet identity, reserved for Canadians, recognized and trusted worldwide.
3. Get the name you want: You’ll have a short dot-ca name that says you’re Canadian, not a long dot-com name that says you’re one of almost 70 million organizations that most Canadians view as American!
4. Reach Canadians where they shop: Over 60% of Canadians prefer .ca for online shopping—it’s under Canadian law, with no customs or exchange rates.
5. Keep your identity secure: .CA domain names are kept safe and secure in an independent national registry.

So as I search the world wide web I think I may go for a .ca website, but who am I kinding, I will probably buy both if I can.

Disclamer: I work for Thornley Fallis Communications and The Canadian Internet Registry Authority , or the .ca company, is a client of ours.