How many of you have the .com for your site?

[Vivid Color Zack]

I've encountered maybe 10-15 customers this year so far that have had Ralph and Clarice - November 27th, 1954 (http://www.mywebsite.net) or some other post-site name other than .com

Just trying to get a feel for how many people think that's acceptable.

I can't imagine starting a business without first having the .com

I feel like that's very critical in your long term success. At some point not having it is going to cause you to miss customers. Maybe it's just me and it isn't as big of a deal as I think it is, but to me it's very very important.

Thoughts? Am I crazy for caring so much?

[Dan Furman]

I do not know how necessary it is for certain businesses. For a huge business where the name is well known to everyone? Yea. Pepsi (http://www.pepsi.com) should go where I expect it to go.

But I think an easy to remember/say url might be even better for many businesses.

For example, say a pizza place in town is called "Rays Pizza"? No chance "rays pizza" is available... but how about "www.southfallsbestpizza.com" (assuming they are in the town of southfall) ..... or "southfallsbestplumber.com" for a plumber who can't get their desired domain?

[vangogh]

You see non .com domains in part because there's only so many domain names available. Like Dan mentioned with Ray's Pizza. If that's your brand and you think people will search for your brand then you want your brand in your domain. If you can't be rayspizza.com you might go rayspizza.net.

Assuming you have your choice I'd go

.com
.net
.org

and then after that I don't think it matters much. A country specific code like .uk might also be preferable even before .com depending on where your market lives.

You can really use any extension you want. The key is that people will likely look for .com first so if you don't have it you'll have extra work to do with your brand.

Still I'd rather have design.net than steveswonderfulworldofsmallbusinessdesign.com No one is going to find the later .com or not.

[Dan Furman]

steveswonderfulworldofsmallbusinessdesign.com

Bought and held hostage. You know you want it. :D

[cbscreative]

Although there are a lot of variables, as a general rule I agree the .com is best simply because if you tell someone your domain name, there is a natural instinct to use the .com. I go so far as to advise securing the .net so no one can later steal your fire if you build a decent brand with your domain name.

[Harold Mansfield]

Since most of my domains (50) are for affiliate programs, for me it's the [.com] or nothing, unless I see a domain available that has potential branding.

I have a [.us] hack to complete the word "circus", 2 [.org]'s, and 2 [co.uk]'s. Other than that, I really can't see myself registering anything else but a [.com]

It also depends on if the other extensions are being used, or just being parked hoping for resale. If I find a keyword, or key phrase in another extension, and the owner of the [.com] is just holding it, I will get it and capitalize on it...odds are they are not going to develop it in the niche, especially if they have been holding it for years without a buyer,

I think if all your marketing efforts are online, [.com] is the only way to go unless you can get your exact desired name or keyword(s).

[orion_joel]

For me, personally i have a preference for .com.au (being that i am in Australia) however i do have a mix for other projects, a few dot coms, and a .net and some .info. None are really having a lot done with them at the moment except for the .com's but that is possibly due in most part to the fact that they are the ones i have made the most time for.

[Dan Furman]

Just thought of something else... if your website's primary means of traffic is people clicking on links, does .com really matter that much? Especially when the anchor text need not say what the extension is.

I mean, we're a .net here in the forums. Does anyone even notice, or care?

[vangogh]

Bought and held hostage. You know you want it.

Ok, how much do you want for it? I knew I should have registered it when I had the chance.

Good point about what kind of traffic you expect. Like you said we're .net and people still find their way here. To me the key is that most people will assume .com first so if you're using anything else you're going to put in a little more work branding. For example notice here how .net is red in the logo Steve created for the site to emphasize it. Had we been the .com we could have left the extension off altogether.

There's one other consideration. Some think that extensions like .biz and .info will be less trusted by search engines since they are often used by spammers. The domains are usually cheaper and if you plan on burning through domains you're going to go cheap. Google for one looks at factors of trust as part of determining which page to rank first. Better to be on the more trusted domain in that case.

[Business Attorney]

I think whether you need to use the .com of your name really depends on the purpose of the website. I use IllinoisBusinessAttorney.com as an adjunct to my firm's regular site so that I can post what ever I feel the urge to write. The URL is easy to remember and describes what I do, but I would never use "Illinois Business Attorney" as a business name.

Of course, our law firm does have its own website with our name in the URL. However, I don't think we would have selected a different name just because someone already had the .com URL registered. Our firm name consists of the last names of our three partners and it is unlikely we would have switched the order around just to get the .com URL.

Similarly, I doubt that a person opening Ray's Pizza is going to drop the name just because he can't get the .com.

Speaking of the .com version of a name, I recently bought DavidStaub.com when it became free, but I have no idea what I will do with it. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time.

[vangogh]

That's true. It really does come down to what you plan to do with the site and who you are as a business as to what domain makes the most sense. And of course the availability of the domain does go into it.

I think for most small businesses, especially those that haven't chosen a company name yet, you're better off trying to keep the name and domain the same for the branding issue. But you're right that there are cases where that's not going to happen and is perfectly fine to have different name and domain.

[cbscreative]

Speaking of the .com version of a name, I recently bought DavidStaub.com when it became free, but I have no idea what I will do with it. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time.

I know what you mean, I have stevechittenden.com in case I ever decide to use it. So far, I have no specific plans on what to do with it though.

[Harold Mansfield]

I think whether you need to use the .com of your name really depends on the purpose of the website. I use IllinoisBusinessAttorney.com as an adjunct to my firm's regular site so that I can post what ever I feel the urge to write. The URL is easy to remember and describes what I do, but I would never use "Illinois Business Attorney" as a business name.

Of course, our law firm does have its own website with our name in the URL. However, I don't think we would have selected a different name just because someone already had the .com URL registered. Our firm name consists of the last names of our three partners and it is unlikely we would have switched the order around just to get the .com URL.

Similarly, I doubt that a person opening Ray's Pizza is going to drop the name just because he can't get the .com.

Speaking of the .com version of a name, I recently bought DavidStaub.com when it became free, but I have no idea what I will do with it. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time.


I know what you mean, I have stevechittenden.com in case I ever decide to use it. So far, I have no specific plans on what to do with it though.

Yeah, I also have haroldmansfield.com, and all the associated email accounts haroldmansfield @msn.com, @yahoo.com, @aol.com, @jaegermail.com (not sure if that is still going), (official..) @gmail.com..well you get the picture.

I don't really use any of them. I guess I'm saving them for when I am rich and imfamous:)

[Blacktalon]

It seems as though this question is based on the assumption that businesses using the .com are in the United States.

Some businesses outside of the United States have the option of using their own country's .xx instead of .com. If Ray's Pizza was in, say, Southern Ontario, they could adopt the name http://www.rayspizza.ca instead of .com. Or in the United Kingdom, they have the .co.uk ending available.

So having .com doesn't really matter if you're in a country that allows to have its own jurisdictional ending.

But if it does come down to a name being taken already under several endings, then it's an issue of web domain diversification. If rayspizza.com was taken, he could go further and introduce a hyphen, making it rays-pizza.com.

When my wife registered a name for an antiques site, all her names were taken. So she was forced to use a hyphen, plus a .net ending just to ensure she got a portion of the name she wanted. However, looking back, it just complicates things further by having to extend oneself just to get the .com, .org, or .net they want.

What I find, though, is that some businesses refrain from using their business names directly as their prime domain. With Rays Pizza, if his tagline was "hold the anchovies!", he could use it instead under http://www.holdtheanchovies.com as a way to use his tagline rather than his business's name. Taglines are sometimes much easier to remember than the business name itself. And it's a great way for name/brand referencing and association.

[vangogh]

Sean with businesses outside the US I think it depends a little on whether the business serves a local market or a more international one. Your Rays Pizza example is a good one. Obviously Rays in Toronto doesn't need to have the .com. The .ca makes more sense.

If the business was something that sold online to an international audience though, then you may still want the .com over the local country extension. Just depends on the business and who the market is. In all likelihood if someone knows your domain, but forgets the extension they're probably typing .com first. If they know you are specifically located in one country they may type the country extension first, though I would be willing to bet that most people don't know what the country extension is for countries other than their own and maybe a few others.

Quick. What's the country extension for Denmark? Sweeden? South Africa? (.dk, .se, and .za for those who want to know)

I agree with everyone that you don't need a domain that exactly matches your company name, but if you can get it you should. I'd also still say .com is going to be your best option followed by .net, .org, and country specific extensions. All others are a waste of money.

And one particular domain extension to stay away from is .ws. It doesn't not stand for website. It's a country specific extension for Samoa. The sites trying to sell you domains with .ws extensions are 100% scam and should be avoided. Unless your business is in Samoa you should not use a .ws extension.

[rezzy]

Question, so in the case where you get a .net for example is it better to get the business name if its longer? Or use a keyword and get a .com

For instance: mrsrezzysweddingplannercompany.net versus wedding.com? I use an extreme case, but I hope you get the point.

I always thought it was better to get a shorter name, to make it more typeable.

[Vivid Color Zack]

Definitely agree with rezzy about the shortest solution being the best in most cases.

We bought vividcolormedia.com and then shortly after bought out vividcolor.com when we could afford it.

What's with cybersquatting laws anyway? Has anyone EVER been charged for that? Or is it just legislation to reference when someone sues someone else?

[vangogh]

Bryan getting the shorter name is most likely preferable. I say most likely because it depends on how short. I'd say it's more about being more memorable.

f5h6s.com is shorter than mycoolwebsite.com, but which is easier to remember?

What I've been suggesting in this thread with getting the domain that matches your company name is more to do with the idea that you've likely branded your company name to some respect. Some people will then type yourcompanyname.com to find you. Because of that it makes sense to own that domain. You could redirect it to another domain or have other domains redirect to it. But it makes sense to get that exact match if it's available.

Generally I'd prefer .com over .net and .org. Country specific extensions are another choice that in some cases may be preferable over .com and in other cases might be fall into the same category as .net and .org. Extensions like .biz and .info might as well not exist right now as I doubt anyone would know to type them.

So what do you do if your choices are

memorable.net
slightlylessmemorable.com

There's no right answer. You just have to weigh the pros and cons and decide and if both are available get both.