Brandable Domain Names Without a .com

[D.J.]

Just looking for some fellow web entrepreneur's input. What is your guys outlook on any domain name that is not a dot com. We all know having a .com after your domain name makes it more valuable and easier to grab more targeted users. But how about brand-able names?

Like Refer.me, Match.me, or Who.is?

A name that flows with it's "TLD" (Top Level Domain) extension, to make a phrase.

What do you guys think?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Graves]

I'm not domain-name savvy, but there are quite a few big sites using domains the way you described (ie delicio.us)

 

[D.J.]

Exactly like that! Is there a difference? Is it harder to market?

Lets get some Domain "gurus" in here and get to the bottom of this.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Is it harder to market?

.COM is king (of course you probably know that haha)

In my experience (as an average internet user/consumer) I generally don't visit sites that are not .com's

If I had to put them in order of my use of each I'd have to say

.com
.ca
.net
.eu
.au
.me

I've never used .info or .is

This is a very popular site https://about.me/

Seeing as I'm an average internet user I don't see the point of it, but it is very popular (I think I remember reading it was sold for $20M USD (don't quote me on that figure)

http://www.businessinsider.com/abou...y-i-sold-my-company-to-aol-so-quickly-2010-12

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[D.J.]

Quoted. ;-)

Even, if it had sold for a fourth of that it shows that a brand-able domain name that is not a .com can be marketed and sold for a sizable amount. Although I do have the tendency to never visit anything other than the four kings of TLD's.

.com
.org
.net
.gov

ocassionally .ca


Why is this? +what does it take to break the cycle? Creating a brand is the goal. But if everyone ends in .com what distinguishes you from the rest?

Intriguing.

Great article Ryan, and a perfect example of someone who made it in the .com era without a .com. I've seen posts stressing upon getting a .com and nothing else. But is the extension worth dropping for a brand? Or does it hinder your overall project?

 

[FDJustin]

Speaking for myself, typing in a non .com or .net (.net feels almost as natural... But that doesn't mean it isn't inferior in the higherachy.) is the most memorable way to go. I don't mind clicking links to the other domain types, but I do hold lower expectations. It may not be fair, but it's certainly harder to imagine making a purchase from a .me site than .com, .net, and maybe even a .info, assuming you're purchasing info. If you're selling candy, I won't trust you to know what you're doing.

What distinguishes you as a brand is having a name that people will remember, be able to recognize, and be able to share. You want to gain the brand effect; where your name instigates familiarity, AND quality.

If you see a new kind of peanut and butter chocolate disk, you will automatically think "Hey, they're ripping off peanut butter cups!"...

Basically, the ultimate goal is to have people look at the competition and automatically assume that they must be the Chinese knockoffs while you're high quality domestic.


Now, that said, I can see those kinds of sites making fine brands, but to use the gimmick should be second to coming up with a solid name in the first place. If you can come up with a concept without shoehorning it, and you decide you want to bee seen that way, it will be worth it to snatch the domain and check how people react to it.

*Incidentally I'm no domain guru. Far from it. I'm not a brand guru either. I'm just talking to you from the perspective of what I catch myself doing, and what I catch other people doing.

 

[D.J.]

Just read an article on The Power of Generic Domains,

Generic "brand-able" domains (.com's) > Unique brand-able domains with other not so "Top Level Domain" suffixes. With a .com comes a sense of trust, not found with other suffixes, why? Who knows.

That's from the "gurus" point of view any how.

Thanks for your input guys. I wonder if the .com's hierarchy will ever come to an end?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[FDJustin]

It isn't hard to figure out why. People are used to .com's. It's used in all the big websites, you always hear .com on tv, see it on shirts, or whatever other form of offline media is used, and... For those who have been around long enough to know a little about the other domain extensions, they understand that those ones tend to be cheap.

It may be unfair, but it's a very common mindset that if you can't afford a "real" domain name, then you're probably either a scammer, or simply too low quality to trust and be able to fill my needs.

Every aspect of your website will affect my assumptions, and those assumptions are what make me decide if I'm going to consider giving you a chance. If I come to your site and see advertisement, it's frequency, placement, and whether or not I would 'expect' advetisement on that kind of site will determine my impression.

In general, I wouldn't expect a store to have ads, unless they are self-promotional, or in the case of something like ebay, centered on the various internal people making sales. If I were to go to a website specialized in selling bedsheets, and saw adsense, I'd either go into commodity mode and instantly only concentrate on price, or get the impression you only want my money and leave.

 

[Blu]

I always imagined that if I spent time and money developing a .net, all Im doing is raising the resell value of the guy with the .com

 

[Neon]

.coms are the best for obvious reasons.

Strange ones like .me are fine if you're willing to do the branding AND the .com is not an issue. For example, I think that match.me would immediately have confusion and/or legal issues with match.com

LET THIS STORY BE A LESSON:

Many years ago during the .com boom I got my first taste of making money online. I had a site that was popular and getting a lot of traffic. A large industry magazine was doing a feature on the site, I was pumped!

My site was a .NET and throughout the interview they kept saying .COM. I corrected them numerous times and at the wrapup I was like,"make sure you use mydomain.NET .NET .NET! and NOT .com!" and they were, "oh ya, our bad it will be correct."

So...that article comes out, I get the issue and open it up...every single mention of my site was .COM. I felt like puking, such an opportunity wasted.

My lesson, NEVER use a .net unless there is a massively compelling reason to do so.

That said, ANYTHING can be branded.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Bowden]

I think it will be interesting to see how non top domain extensions do in the next 5-10 years. Like the person said above me, anything is brandable. I too feel much more comfortable with a .com or .net, but the other extensions have their specific purpose.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Name me 5 NON-DOT-COM web properties that have million-dollar valuations. I can only think of 3 of them off the top of my head. Dot Com properties worth millions? I'd be here all day reciting them.

What does that tell you?

If it isn't obvious, let me tell you -- don't bother.

 

[biophase]

I'm not domain-name savvy, but there are quite a few big sites using domains the way you described (ie delicio.us)

They started out with delicio.us, but isn't it interesting that they are now delicious.com?? What does that tell you about a .com.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Russ H]

They started out with delicio.us, but isn't it interesting that they are now delicious.com?? What does that tell you about a .com?

Case closed.

-Russ H.

 

[D.J.]

Alrighty then, great info guys, as well as great points.

--Just changed the name of my upcoming venture from a .me to a .com, 4.99 down the toilet! It's proven that it will pay off in the long run.

I want to go through and give out some "thanks" but i cant see it on my phone for some reason. Either way, THANKS GUYS!

 

[peter]

Godaddy is pushing the .co now. I think that it may be viable for three reasons: 1) it's only one letter off from .com and so is cognitively easy, 2) two-letter domains are becoming more popular, and 3) the simple fact that Godaddy is promoting them should make them seem somewhat acceptable by the general population.

It may also be true that the .com trend is just that - a trend - and will eventually dissipate once people realize that the domain is barely more than trivial.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JEdwards]

Godaddy is pushing the .co now. I think that it may be viable for three reasons: 1) it's only one letter off from .com and so is cognitively easy, 2) two-letter domains are becoming more popular, and 3) the simple fact that Godaddy is promoting them should make them seem somewhat acceptable by the general population.

It may also be true that the .com trend is just that - a trend - and will eventually dissipate once people realize that the domain is barely more than trivial.

My 2 cents...

1. Never open a business without the .com name.. Everyone goes to .com first, no matter what. They will go there not find you and go somewhere else, and all you spent on getting them there is wasted.

2. Your three assumptions above.. No, No and no... It is like someone in the oil bidness saying there is no more oil... Godaddy has a pretty good reason to push the .co.. $$$$$

3. Your 4th point.. Do you really want to spend your cash marketing now, thinking that .com is just a trend?

 

[peter]

Everyone goes to .com first, no matter what. They will go there not find you and go somewhere else, and all you spent on getting them there is wasted.

Actually, what is more accurate is that more people go to Google first. Yes, I've heard that .com has some advantage in Google, but with the right SEO any website can achieve a good rank.

Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone to grab a non-.com if the address you want is available as a .com. I also don't think it's anything to struggle too much over.

 

[biophase]

Godaddy is pushing the .co now. I think that it may be viable for three reasons: 1) it's only one letter off from .com and so is cognitively easy, 2) two-letter domains are becoming more popular, and 3) the simple fact that Godaddy is promoting them should make them seem somewhat acceptable by the general population.

It may also be true that the .com trend is just that - a trend - and will eventually dissipate once people realize that the domain is barely more than trivial.

Even with their Superbowl ad for .co it was real hard to tell that they were saying dot CO instead of dot COM. If you didn't have the banner in the back reading .CO you probably would have thought they were saying dot COM. Also, for the non-internet people watching, I will bet that they thought it was a dot COM commercial.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Icy]

Even with their Superbowl ad for .co it was real hard to tell that they were saying dot CO instead of dot COM. If you didn't have the banner in the back reading .CO you probably would have thought they were saying dot COM. Also, for the non-internet people watching, I will bet that they thought it was a dot COM commercial.

Idk if I'm the exception, but even for "internet people" domains that aren't .com generally don't click for a while for me. About.me is just about the only one that clicked the first time I heard it. Delicio.us I didn't get until like a year ago, and even just typing that I had to really take my time... That said, I think .com just flows off the hand, unlike .*anything*.

 

[JEdwards]

Actually, what is more accurate is that more people go to Google first. Yes, I've heard that .com has some advantage in Google, but with the right SEO any website can achieve a good rank.

Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone to grab a non-.com if the address you want is available as a .com. I also don't think it's anything to struggle too much over.

Not necessarily, the op's questions was about branding.

If you want people to stumble on your link off of google, I would guess you are right, cause as long as what they googled matched your page, they will find you.

But if you are talking about building a brand. Spending the money to do that. .com is where it is at.

If you tell 50 people to go to your site.. and it is a .co, .net, .info.. 40 will go to the .com first.

No doubt in my mind.