.org or .com?

Started by GeorgeS21 • 16 replies • 546 views

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GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Hi All,

Getting ready to set up a new website for an HOA.

Both xxxxxxxxhoa.com and xxxxxxxxhoa.org are available.

Preference for either, and why?

Thanks!

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By GeorgeS21 on 08/09/2020 11:11 AM
Hi All,

Getting ready to set up a new website for an HOA.

Both xxxxxxxxhoa.com and xxxxxxxxhoa.org are available.

Preference for either, and why?

Thanks!

Could you not get both thus no confusion in the future? Have one link to the other.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

I think the ends of those mean different things. Better to go with the .com. We had issues at work with a company that changed their URL to a .edu from a .org. Our security system blocked them from being accessed. You may want to google this for more information on what the .com, .org, .edu means...

Former HOA President

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Been doing the reading on why they all exist - .org used to be a catch-all for non .com addresses with the intent for it to be for "organizations," not businesses.

This said, there don't appear to be any restrictions to using either for this case.

Pro .com
- easy to remember

Pro .org
- it's an organization, not a business

Thoughts?

JohnT38 (South Carolina)
Posts: 1,631

Posted:

.com if for no other reason this is the one that people would use by default if you tell them your site name. Also, for a few dollars you can snap up the .org and have the traffic automatically routed to your .com site. There is no need to have two websites.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

.org should be cheaper than .com

Although not critical for anything, really, if you represent that you're a not-for-profit corporation then a .org domain seems more "legit" than a .com. It's just perceptions, really, either one has no bearing on any not-for-profit status.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Huh, coulda sworn I closed out the italics. Apparently not. My bad.

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

Quote:

George,

Buy them both if they're available. When you set up a website, you can have one address directly "forward" to the actual website.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Thanks for comments.

xxxxxxxxxxhoa.com wins!

JohnC77 (California)
Posts: 562

Posted:

.com is for commercial, .org is for organizations.

You can purchase both, but the HOA should be .org with .com pointed to .org

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Been continuing to read on the topic - while the concept of org vs com was clear, even the restrictions wrt non-profit status on .org were changed in August 2019 ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.org

Looks now like simply a matter of preference - also kinda scary about the PIR being sold by Internet Society to Ethos Capital - imagine the pricing changes?

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

The sale was rejeted. There's discussion relating to .org "protections" and reading further about that may shine a light on some of the differences between a .com and a .org domain name.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

Sorry - yes, the sale was rejected - I was trying to make point that it was attempted ...

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

Buy both and have one redirect to the other.

The HOA I manage only has a .org because a realtor bought the .com before the HOA even created a website. It has created lots of problems with owners insisting they cannot find the info they need "on the website" because they are going to the wrong site.

In my portolio days I managed an HOA that only bought one domain and a disgruntled owner bought the other version to publish his complaints about the neighborhood.

JohnM95 (Texas)
Posts: 24

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 08/09/2020 11:23 AM
Posted By GeorgeS21 on 08/09/2020 11:11 AM
Hi All,

Getting ready to set up a new website for an HOA.

Both xxxxxxxxhoa.com and xxxxxxxxhoa.org are available.

Preference for either, and why?

Thanks!

Could you not get both thus no confusion in the future? Have one link to the other.

This is the best answer. Publicly, when you do something like "visit our website at www...." you can reference the .org - for consistency with the concept you're not a commercial business. Then, the .com can point to the .org, so if someone just remembers the name and not the extension, they still get to the right spot.

The incremental cost of registering both is minimal, and whoever sets up your hosting and website should be able to do the redirect simply. There's no need to, for example, maintain two actual websites or incur additional cost to 'manage' this.

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