TLD guides

Choosing an extension: .com, .io, .ai, .org, European country codes and the newer gTLDs — what each one signals, costs and restricts.

• co.uk or .uk? Which one a UK business should actually register

  Why .co.uk is still the default for UK businesses, what happened to the 2019 .uk rights period, who can register each, and when to hold both.

• Is a .org domain worth it? (And do you have to be a nonprofit to get one?)

  Whether a .org domain is worth it: the nonprofit myth, who really runs it, what the price-cap removal actually changed, and when .ngo beats .org.

• Accents, umlauts & IDNs: can you use them in a domain?

  Most European TLDs happily register müller.de — the traps are elsewhere: .nl allows no accents, .com bans ß, and email support is still patchy in 2026.

• The renewal trap: first-year vs renewal domain pricing

  A verified look at first-year vs renewal domain pricing: one-cent .coms that renew at $19.99, why renewals rise, and which registrars price flat.

• Which TLD should you actually use? A decision guide

  The extension decision, resolved: when .com is worth it, when .io, .ai, .dev, a ccTLD, or .eu fits better — and where to read the deep dive on each.

• The cheapest TLDs that don't look cheap

  Cheap domains are fine; cheap and disreputable isn't. Avoid the renewal-price trap and spam-heavy TLDs, and pick affordable extensions that look legit.

• .com vs .io vs .ai vs .co: which should you pick in 2026?

  All four rank identically in Google, so pick by audience: .com for mainstream trust, .io for developers, .ai for AI products, .co as the startup fallback.

• Country-code domain hacks: .sh, .to, .gg, .so, and their quirks

  A catalog of the ccTLDs founders use for domain hacks — .sh, .to, .gg, .so, .io, .me, .co, .tv, .ly — with each one's rules, quirks, and risks.

• .dev and .app domains for developers

  Why Google's .dev and .app TLDs force HTTPS on every domain via HSTS preloading, who they suit, and the one TLS gotcha to know before you register.

• Do exotic TLDs hurt SEO? What Google actually says

  Google says TLDs give no ranking advantage or penalty. What that means, the one real geotargeting nuance, and the indirect effects that do matter.

• European country-code domains for founders: .de, .fr, .nl, and EU domain hacks

  Which European ccTLDs founders can really register — .de, .fr, .nl, .es and .it residency rules, plus which domain hacks are truly EU.

• Is a .ai domain worth $80+/year?

  What a .ai domain really costs in 2026 — the 2-year minimum, the realistic $80–160/year range, who profits, and when the premium actually pays off.

• Is a .eu domain worth it in 2026?

  Whether a .eu domain is worth it in 2026: who can register, what it costs, what it signals to EU customers, and when .com or .io is the smarter pick.

• The complete guide to new gTLDs

  What new gTLDs are, how ICANN's 2012 expansion created ~1,200 new extensions, what the 2026 application round means, and how founders should use them.

• When you genuinely need the .com

  Google ranks all TLDs equally, so the .com question is about humans. The honest cases where .com earns its price — and where a $12 alternative wins.