In one word: extremely. We’ve spoken in the past about what to name your startup and touched on new top level domains (nTLDs), sometimes known as gTLDs or new domain extensions, yet the chatter of what’s better for your business out of .com or .io or even .pizza, is an ongoing debate in the world of startups.

Consider choosing your website name as important as naming your child (just don’t call your kid Google), as this is something you’re going to live with for a long time. Speaking to Forbes, entrepreneur Zalmi Duchman discusses the launch of his first startup over 10 years ago, how getting the ‘perfect’ domain name ended up costing him tens of thousands of dollars, and why it’s best to get things right the first time, instead of settling for second best. He says:

“Back in 2007 when I originally wanted to purchase the domain name, I should have spent more time strategizing how I might secure the domain without writing a large check. I knew that as I grew my brand the domain would become more expensive, but I was too inexperienced to realize the importance of getting it done immediately. Putting the problem aside in the present only assured that I would have to deal with a more expensive version of it in the future.”

Buchman was simply one of many startup businessmen who were essentially forced to buy their desired domain from an owner – at an exorbitant price.

The Dawn of New Top Level Domains

It’s been foretold many times that nTLDs will be a huge game-changer in terms of web-design and marketing, but if you’re a burgeoning startup about to pick a domain name, should you go with this new trend?

It sure seems like the current is heading that way, as proclaimed on the nTLDs page by experienced domain providers 1&1: “New domains, new possibilities.” It appears that the opportunity to demonstrate what exactly your startup specializes in, is a huge draw for working with nTLDs. Just going by the 1&1 page for example, new and available domain extensions range from .soccer, .expert, .music and even .lol (so you know that site is going to be funny).

However, Google themselves want you to be aware that using nTLDs won’t give your website any advantage in terms of rankings. Google’s own Trends Analyst Webmaster wrote on his G+ account, about what exactly they can and can’t do:

“They can perform well in search, just like any other TLD can perform well in search. They give you an opportunity to pick a name that better matches your web-presence. If you see posts claiming that early data suggests they’re doing well, keep in mind that’s this is not due to any artificial advantage in search: you can make a fantastic website that performs well in search on any TLD.”

What’s So Great About a nTLD Then?

No one wants to be the startup with a cooler-than-cool name, only to find that someone has snapped up your desired .com domain. Other than misspelling your own domain name on purpose (for example, fcebook.com or twttr.com) or adding extra (and unwanted) words, you run the risk of what Zalmi Duchman went through – potentially having to spend thousands to get the name that you
wanted from the start.

Luckily, the folks over at The Next Web prepared a useful list as to why a startup should make use of the new domain extensions. Here’s a quick summary:

• Represent your roots – It’s easy to know where a business is from when it’s literally part of the domain. Some companies are using .paris, .nyc, or .london, for example.
• Get in the game early – As evident by .com domains being taken left and right, the nTLD-era is still essentially in its infancy, so the quicker you start, the easier will be to get the domain name you want.
• Branding – With more options, the chance to keep your domain shorter and relevant to your startup results in less ambiguity, such as name.photography or name.tech.

Of course a name is just a name, and won’t necessarily guarantee success just because it’s catchy or memorable. But hey, it’s sure to be a small and positive step in the right direction for an emerging startup.