WEB/DIGITAL Critique my domain name

[biophase]

I am starting an ebusiness site which will sell "protein skimmers" and nothing else. It is a very targeted small market. I purchased the domain name "proteinskimmers.net" and am wondering if I should change my URL to something else. Obviously, a 2 word URL describing your exact product is great. However:

proteinskimmers.com - goes to domain parking page
proteinskimmer.com - goes to a manufacturer who's product I will be carrying
proteinskimmer.net - gets redirect to another ebiz site

What do you guys think. Do I have a good URL or is it too easily confused with the others? The only one I'm really worried about is proteinskimmer.net because it does go to a site that would be competition.

My pros are that once I build out the site and market it, I don't think it would get confused with any of the above sites. A person searching for this product and remembering the site would not be confused by the .net store.

I can try to purchase the proteinskimmers.com site from whoever has it if the price is right.

I can get a different URL like: ABCproteinskimmers.com

Opinions?:bgh:

 

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[Yankees338]

Perhaps try incorporating an adjective into the title? Personally, I don't love .net pages. For some reason, they seem kinda cheesy and cheap to me...

 

[Jorge]

What about .org? Google likes them plus you could make a community around this. Anyway, I think that if the site is useful/friendly and SE Optimized, it shouldn't make big difference.

 

[Russ H]

bio-

I PM'd you.

-Russ H.

 

[Jonleehacker]

PM Sent with some suggestions. I have a strong preference for .coms over .nets, much higher resell value. Probably a 3 word .com would be better unless you can get proteinskimmers.com for a good price.

If you are going to make an offer on the domain, look up the owner and call by phone, it is easier to get a deal by using the phone rather than email (more immediate).

 

[biophase]

Hey Russ and Jon,

Thanks for the PMs. I looked up Proteinskimmers.com and its own by someone in Finland or a registar there. I'm not going to pursue buying the .com. I'll come up with another URL.

I know that dot net isn't as desirable, but it is a two word name with the exact text I need. For SEO purposes, if I wanted to rank high for "protein skimmers" would this URL be best?

 

[Z5 FILMS]

If you can't get proteinskimmers.com try a different angle.

Try something like cheapproteinskimmers.com AVAILIBLE

or discountproteinskimmers.com AVAILIBLE

wholesaleproteinskimmers.com AVAILIBLE

proteinskimmerstore.com AVAILIBLE


I myself don't like .net domains at all for anything business related. Especially e-commerce related. For SEO I would worry more abou the content than the domain name. As long as the domain name is related, I don't think it really matters. I'm sure the .net would be fine, I persoanlly just don't like them. I stick with .com only.

 

[LightHouse]

yup like z5 said i was going to suggest buyproteinskimmers.com or something similar. you can always keep these other sites for redirects as well

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Always go with a DOT COM over any other TLD ... DOT COM is beach front property - all others are a few blocks inland.

Some other alternatives:

1) Add an "online" to the end of the name.
2) Create an icon/brand (MrProteinSkimmer.com, JoesProteinSkimmers.com) <-- haven't checked if any are available)
3) 247ProteinSkimmers.com / AtoZProteinSkimmers (haven't checked, but just an idea using prefixes)
Bottomline, you want a name that unequivocally cannot be confused vocally, written, or otherwise.

 

[biophase]

Thanks guys, I decided to go with www.proteinskimmersonline.com.

 

[michael515]

Always go with a DOT COM over any other TLD ... DOT COM is beach front property - all others are a few blocks inland.

Some other alternatives:

1) Add an "online" to the end of the name.
2) Create an icon/brand (MrProteinSkimmer.com, JoesProteinSkimmers.com) <-- haven't checked if any are available)
3) 247ProteinSkimmers.com / AtoZProteinSkimmers (haven't checked, but just an idea using prefixes)
Bottomline, you want a name that unequivocally cannot be confused vocally, written, or otherwise.

:coffee: What about .org MJ?

 

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[Luke12321]

You want a dot com. They are king on the net still. If you could of got proteinskimmers.net, that would of been good. If you can't get your ideal domain name....then trying iname.com or thename.com. Things of that nature. What I always try to do is make sure the domain name is easy to remember....has my keyword in it and makes sense to what your website is offering. I think your domain name will work great. As far as .org's. I have never tried them myself but I always connect them with organizations.

 

[biophase]

You want a dot com. They are king on the net still. If you could of got proteinskimmers.net, that would of been good.

Hi Luke,

I do have proteinskimmers.net. I decided to go with a dot com instead though.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

:coffee: What about .org MJ?

.COM is Beachfront property.

.NET / .ORG is on the other side of the street.

.EVERYTHING ELSE is inland.

I would rank .ORG / .NET second in terms of usability. I can only think of a handful of web properties that have successfully branded them self outside of the .COM realm. This is why I would avoid them if possible. That said, you still can run a very profitable business from any domain -- just anything outside of .COM makes it more difficult unless your dot-com is something ridiculous (like "my-great-shopping-resourceonline.com") which is worthless and a .NET/.ORG would be better in that case.

All things held equal, Dot-Com wins unless your only option is going to an alternative TLD and I don't think we are at that point. Case in point - BioPhase just added an "online" and found a name. Plus, with the 2ndary market - it just isn't something I'd do.

 

[australianinvestor]

It's a pity I didn't see this sooner.

I would personally create my own brand. I don't know what a protein skimmer is (although something tells me it skims protein...), but if you invented a word (maybe something like "Protexa") you might have a better chance. You might also be able to make the brand into something very valuable, and even get an OEM manufacturer to make skimmers for you with your brand name on them. You'd make "proteinskimmer.com" look generic. You could be the "Coke" of Protein Skimmers

Anyway, my thoughts are running away with me... again. Sugar-free Red Bull ;-)

Daniel

 

[Z5 FILMS]

I also like MJs suggestion of a "MrProteinSkimmer.com". I think you could brand that pretty good.

protienskimmersonline.com is good. I just think "Mr" would be a little easier to brand.

 

[Diane Kennedy]

It's a pity I didn't see this sooner.

I would personally create my own brand. I don't know what a protein skimmer is (although something tells me it skims protein...), but if you invented a word (maybe something like "Protexa") you might have a better chance. You might also be able to make the brand into something very valuable, and even get an OEM manufacturer to make skimmers for you with your brand name on them. You'd make "proteinskimmer.com" look generic. You could be the "Coke" of Protein Skimmers

Anyway, my thoughts are running away with me... again. Sugar-free Red Bull ;-)

Daniel

All I can say is "ditto." I was reading this through thinking, "What the heck is a protein skimmer?" and for all the people like me - come up with a new name. I'm guessing it's something dietary..but I keep thinking of those little organisms that eat up oil when there are oil spills. So, maybe it eats up protein from protein spills???

At any rate, if it's dietary and helps you lose weight, brand it as such - I still haven't looked up what it is, on purpose because I'm having too much fun guessing.

 

[ryanpal]

interesting thread.

when i first read this i thought you were another fellow "reefer" biophase. a protein skimmer is a device used for salt water aquariums which remove waste. this is one of my latest full time jobs (i mean hobbies). so to me this made alot of sense, however from the site itself it seems it has little to do with these devices.

moving forward. i usually prefer shorter domain names. to me i'd rather have something easier to remember and less likely to have typos when the user types it it. this is open for debate considering how many domains have been created over the past years etc.

ryan

 

[biophase]

interesting thread.

when i first read this i thought you were another fellow "reefer" biophase. a protein skimmer is a device used for salt water aquariums which remove waste. this is one of my latest full time jobs (i mean hobbies). so to me this made alot of sense, however from the site itself it seems it has little to do with these devices.

ryan

Hi Ryan,

I will be selling protein skimmers for reef tanks. The site isn't ready yet. All those items you see on there are generic ones that were populated into the database when I installed the software. I spent last night just uploading the software and haven't had a chance to delete the stock data. It's gonna look all messed up for a while.

As for branding, I don't plan on designing or branding my own. Reefkeepers are very particular about the brand and type of skimmer they buy. There are enough very good brands of skimmers out there. I just wanted to make a site that sells them all (or as many as possible).

 

[biophase]

Btw, here's a picture of a protein skimmer and an image of my site logo. This little baby pictured sells for about $400.

 

[australianinvestor]

Hi Ryan,

As for branding, I don't plan on designing or branding my own. Reefkeepers are very particular about the brand and type of skimmer they buy. There are enough very good brands of skimmers out there. I just wanted to make a site that sells them all (or as many as possible).

It's good you know that about your market. There's still the chance to brand your online shop while stocking other brands. Just like bricks-n-mortar stores do. Reefkeepers will know you are the "Coke" of protein skimmer online stores ;-)

I saw your logo too, and I think the start of the word "Protein" is a little too hard to read from the background. If you are so inclined, go to a few IT services websites like rentacoder, you can get one designed for you for a few bucks and they look a million bucks

Daniel.

 

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[Diane Kennedy]

I will be selling protein skimmers for reef tanks.

I just wanted to say this may be my all-time favorite thread, simply because i had absolutely no idea what you were talking about.

But, that didn't stop me from giving advice anyway. I'm laughing at myself right now. :smx4:

 

[LightHouse]

Btw, here's a picture of a protein skimmer and an image of my site logo. This little baby pictured sells for about $400.

Welcome to the world of ecommerce, What shopping cart and merchant provider are you going with?

 

[ryanpal]

biophase,

not to jump off topic but nice to have another fellow member in that hobby as well (you have a tank yes?). i'm new to the hobby but have spent countless hours...and probably too much money ;] it's a new addiction...at any rate good luck with the site once its up.

just to add food for thought what about:
skimmers4less.com

i'll add some others as they come to mind...it's a bit late and i need sleep

ryan

 

[biophase]

Welcome to the world of ecommerce, What shopping cart and merchant provider are you going with?

I have another ecommerce shop so I'm using the same setup. Oscommerce and Authorize.net through Chase Payment tech.

 

[biophase]

biophase,

not to jump off topic but nice to have another fellow member in that hobby as well (you have a tank yes?). i'm new to the hobby but have spent countless hours...and probably too much money ;] it's a new addiction...at any rate good luck with the site once its up.

just to add food for thought what about:
skimmers4less.com

i'll add some others as they come to mind...it's a bit late and i need sleep

ryan

I don't have a reef tank anymore. I move too much so I can't really set one up. They take about 1 year just to get stabilized. I used to have many many tanks and I imported corals and fish and sold them out of my basement. By far, the easiest reef tank I've had was a 6' plastic kiddie pool with one 400w MH bulb above it, a bed of live sand and one powerhead, nothing else. I would love to replicate that in my current house.

 

[china]

I'd make up a name too. I think made up names are easier to remember. The other alternative is to come up with something slightly wacky.

How about "reefjoy.com" or "eatmyreef.com"? Both are available.

 

[ryanpal]

How about "reefjoy.com" or "eatmyreef.com"? Both are available.

eatmyreef.com haha that's funny stuff

 

[china]

eatmyreef.com haha that's funny stuff

I thought it was funny too, but since these protein skimmers basically eat waste, it kind of makes sense. Plus, it's memorable. It can't be confused with proteinskimmer.com or .net or plurals of the words or anything else -- unless someone has the name "eatmyreefs.com"! (Ha! I think I like that name too.)