Are .coms that much more superior than .us domain?

[Matt Couch]

I just finished the book and have to say I'm thinking way differently now. I think I have found a great idea that could fulfill the need of millions. The problem is I'm having a hard time finding a good .com domain. Most the ones I like are already taken or too expensive. The one I really like is for sale at 28k however the .us version is only $3.99. My main question is are .coms really that much more superior and am I making a mistake purchasing a .us domain?

Also I see some other domains that are taken but I would like to buy. Godaddy wants like $70 just to contact them and negotiate a deal. Does anyone have experience with that and is it worth it or is there a better way to track down the owner?

 

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[csalvato]

I just finished the book and have to say I'm thinking way differently now. I think I have found a great idea that could fulfill the need of millions. The problem is I'm having a hard time finding a good .com domain. Most the ones I like are already taken or too expensive. The one I really like is for sale at 28k however the .us version is only $3.99. My main question is are .coms really that much more superior and am I making a mistake purchasing a .us domain?

Also I see some other domains that are taken but I would like to buy. Godaddy wants like $70 just to contact them and negotiate a deal. Does anyone have experience with that and is it worth it or is there a better way to track down the owner?

IMHO make a sale first, get the domain later.

 

[Matt Couch]

Well there will be a lot of developing and adding all the businesses nationwide for my niche before I monetize it. I'm more interested in building a brand and adding a valuable website than making a sale at this point.

 

[ZCP]

What value does __________ provide to our customer / client?

If more companies used the blank line above as a decision box .............

 

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[James Fake]

.com are way superior to .us - with that said; it's not 2012 anymore. It's all about branding on the web now.

 

[sector7]

In most cases, if the idea and execution are great while also solving a big need, then the domain extension is irrelevant. However, if someone already has the .com extension, your customers might go to the wrong site instead. I suggest you look for another name.

 

[nzerinto]

I just finished the book and have to say I'm thinking way differently now. I think I have found a great idea that could fulfill the need of millions. The problem is I'm having a hard time finding a good .com domain. Most the ones I like are already taken or too expensive. The one I really like is for sale at 28k however the .us version is only $3.99. My main question is are .coms really that much more superior and am I making a mistake purchasing a .us domain?

Also I see some other domains that are taken but I would like to buy. Godaddy wants like $70 just to contact them and negotiate a deal. Does anyone have experience with that and is it worth it or is there a better way to track down the owner?

You'll probably get this a bunch of times (as @csalvato has already mentioned), but focus on sales first. Ideas are cheap, paying customers aren't.

 

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[JordanK]

Use this website https://who.is/ and type in the domain that you want but is taken. It should show up all the information phone, email and address of the domain owner if they haven't added extra privacy protection when they registered it. If they have then you should contact the admin email but make sure first to look up some information about buying domains or you may get a bad deal.

Search engines favour .com domains but if you have all organic traffic it doesn't really matter what ending you use.

Best of luck

Edit: If the .com is taken and you use the .us and advertise a lot you will be giving free traffic to the .com address because people presume its .com

 

[Silverhawk851]

Yes.
Next question.

 

[Silverhawk851]

P.s Godaddy auctions are full of shit.
Msg owner directly and see if you can cut a deal.

 

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[rich_l]

Yes.
Next question.

I have had no success trying to branch off the .com. I liked JordanK's post so obvious yet I ignored it. Had a site with another similar url had the .com, pretty sure they got some of my traffic. I agree .com is it, I think it will change as people become more receptive of other extension types, but for now .com.

I have started and shut down almost a dozen online stores. Also try to find ways to get custom website builds, makes a huge difference.

 

[Ryuzaki]

The only difference is that .US is automatically geo-centered on the united states for most search engines. You can also take a .com, .me, .biz, whatever, and set it to focus only on the US. It's done for you in this case. So the questions become, where's your demographic located and will your main method of gaining traffic be through organic search rankings?

 

[Silvio]

For today there is better to get .com domain as for customers as for SEO purposes I think

 

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[Andy Black]

I think I have found a great idea that could fulfill the need of millions.

The problem is I'm having a hard time finding a good .com domain.

... there will be a lot of developing and adding all the businesses nationwide for my niche before I monetize it.

I'm more interested in building a brand and adding a valuable website than making a sale at this point.

Oh boy...


You think you've found ...
-> A great idea that could affect millions
-> You can't find the right .com domain name
-> You need to do lots of website development
-> Add all businesses nationwide
-> Build a brand
-> Add a valuable website
-> THEN make a sale


That's backwards brother.

@csalvato, @ZCP, and @nzerinto have already said what you need to do - deliver value and make the sale first!

You're focused on building a website (directory?), not on what value are you delivering and to whom.

Here's a post that might help.

 

[Andy Black]

Here's something I posted on the inside. Might help...

...

Thoughts on brand/domain name are that it could be something completely unrelated, that has no current search volume.

Picking keyword rich domain names makes it very hard to defend the brand on Google/Bing. Competitors can easily put that phrase into the ad and we can't prevent them. They will all also be bidding on that phrase. This results in us having a lower CTR than we would want for a branded search that we should OWN.

Also, something short and memorable means we can use more copy in the ad display URL, and can put the domain into the ad headline to increase brand awareness.

Our goal over time is to increase direct, type-in, traffic. Many of these will end up as searches on the search engines since the browsers and the search engines are in cahoots. Meaning type-in traffic often ends up a branded search on Google or Bing. (I just typed basecamp.comwhere we enter the URL on my phone. I ended up seeing Google search results, and an ad from a Basecamp competitor aggressively hijacking this branded traffic.)

Personally, I use combinations of both location specific domains (for transactional, direct-response, campaigns), and branded domains (for the long term play). Done right, we can also double-serve legitimately and have two ads showing on the SERP at the same time.

The other benefit of a non domain-specific domain name is that we're assuming we're going to pivot.

Good short, memorable, and flexible examples we all know are google, yahoo, amazon, and apple.

Another common tactic is to just mash together two words that aren't normally associated such as crazyegg.

And then there are domains that give a nod to the niche such as screwfix, homebase, and screentoaster.

My thoughts on branding are that it comes over time, from getting customers, and from them referring us. Some products just don't get repeat business, but that doesn't mean we can't keep offering valuable additional products/services.

The ultimate brand and domain name should allow us to pivot into other offerings and not just be restricted to the main product.

 

[Kevin Peter]

If you are concentrating on selling your product or service in the local market, if you are not concerned with the international traffic, branding or name recognition, then yes, going for a .com domain makes sense as Google gives more importance to it. You are benefitted.

If you feel that over a period of time, you will expand the business worldwide. Then please register for a .com domain right away.


You can zero down to domain based on the business vertical you concentrate on.
For example -
.info for information site,
.biz for business site
.me for blogs, personal sites,resumes

I suggest you go on for .xyz now

 

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[ProcessPro]

Here's something I posted on the inside. Might help...

...

Thoughts on brand/domain name are that it could be something completely unrelated, that has no current search volume.

Picking keyword rich domain names makes it very hard to defend the brand on Google/Bing. Competitors can easily put that phrase into the ad and we can't prevent them. They will all also be bidding on that phrase. This results in us having a lower CTR than we would want for a branded search that we should OWN.

Also, something short and memorable means we can use more copy in the ad display URL, and can put the domain into the ad headline to increase brand awareness.

Our goal over time is to increase direct, type-in, traffic. Many of these will end up as searches on the search engines since the browsers and the search engines are in cahoots. Meaning type-in traffic often ends up a branded search on Google or Bing. (I just typed basecamp.comwhere we enter the URL on my phone. I ended up seeing Google search results, and an ad from a Basecamp competitor aggressively hijacking this branded traffic.)

Personally, I use combinations of both location specific domains (for transactional, direct-response, campaigns), and branded domains (for the long term play). Done right, we can also double-serve legitimately and have two ads showing on the SERP at the same time.

The other benefit of a non domain-specific domain name is that we're assuming we're going to pivot.

Good short, memorable, and flexible examples we all know are google, yahoo, amazon, and apple.

Another common tactic is to just mash together two words that aren't normally associated such as crazyegg.

And then there are domains that give a nod to the niche such as screwfix, homebase, and screentoaster.

My thoughts on branding are that it comes over time, from getting customers, and from them referring us. Some products just don't get repeat business, but that doesn't mean we can't keep offering valuable additional products/services.

The ultimate brand and domain name should allow us to pivot into other offerings and not just be restricted to the main product.

Sniffing out all your gold all over the forum Andy. Thanks for the awesome content!

 

[Tourmaline]

People trust .com much more than .us.

If I see a .us url it immediately raises yellow flags.