If a local company wishes to sell its products nationally and/or globally, what is the general consensus about the domain. Would it be a disadvantage to use the country .fi (in this case) instead of .com.

Course both could be used considering there has to be two (or more) sites for languages. Has there been any discussion around this problem. Not really a problem but one point that we have to consider here.

Looking at it from a North American view, does it make a difference there as to which one is used.

Thanks for any opinions given...

Henryk

I think the "next generation" of Internet clients are less hung up on .com than on other top level domains. I don't think the end user cares at all. They rarely "hunt" for a website by typing in URLs - they select them from search engine results and links on other websites.

I've done more business in .cc domains that I thought I do, and the customers I've spoke with say they are buying them because they are "short" and "memorable."

I think that the mystique of .com is maintly a US thing, and probably based on historic precidence as much as anything.

Just my opinion of course :).

-t

Thats the point, US is still the worlds biggest market and we export there alot as a nation. In my opinion, the Finns like their companies to have a dot fi, it probably is a nationalistic feeling. (like the Canadiens)

I hope the feeling is going away but thus far I still recommend both to local businesses.

Ah, but don't miss my point.

I don't think this is an end-user thing at all, but a US business thing (love those technical words :) ).

I don't believe that the actual customers care one way or another.
They may actually perfer the .fi name, as it adds some international flair to their purchase.

It's high time for the US to realize that we are part of an international community anyway.

-t

Why not just get both, JIC?

Use .com for your English-language site and .fi for your Finnish site. That's what all the biggies do:
www.amazon.com
www.amazon.de
www.amazon.co.jp
www.amazon.fr
etc...

Yeah both have been used this far and both will be used in the future. It is definatly not a cost issue...

If your target market is Finland, use the .fi domain as your primary one and redirect the .com domain to the .fi site also.

That's what most major online stores in Canada now do... Also, this press release (http://www.cira.ca/news-releases/55.html) has some stats on TLD preference (the press release is from the governing body of .ca domains, so assume that it's biased).

Yes, buy both the .com amd the .fi and relieve the anxiety :cool:

exactly...The Finns, like the Canadiens prefere their own country domain eventhough I have not seen statistics here to prove the point but it is true.

thanks for for link...

no anxiety but an interesting little quirk about nationalistic feelings on a global network