A .com domain better than a net or .info, right?

[jackson]

I suspect you really need a .com domain right? The words I am using are pretty booked up, there are .net and .info's available.

[kamakiri]

.us isn't too popular, but it is what I mainly use. The days of .com or bust are pretty much gone. When people heard something like, "chrispizza.us" and replied, "Oh yes, chrispizza.us.com?"

There just aren't enough available domains out there with the .com ending any more. Even if you do get one, you will need to buy up the .nets, and .infos to stop the competition from scooping them up and undercutting you.

It is more about how you promote your site than the url. If you are advertising during the Super Bowl, then you need a .com. Other than that, you don't need it to drive adwords ads or banner traffic, and those are the things you should be focusing on.

[jackson]

Thanks! That really makes sense. So you would recommend buying the .net, the .us and .info as well?

Godaddy has a coupon code for $1 domains if anyone wants it, Coupon code: 99DOMAIN

[jackson]

Do you think adding 'online' is an ok idea?
The domain I want is taken, ie superbirds.com, what do you think of superbirdsonline.com? Is it ok or do you think it's redundant?

Your advice is great thanks :cool:

[Sven]

I feel that *online* is very old.
But as always, it is not about the domain, not about the website, not about the product,

Well, if your product needs more than adwords to draw a crowd (fi. old fasioned stuff like word of mouth), have one that people can remember easily. In that way superbirdsonline.com would be better than wonderfullflyinganimalswithfeatheredarmsonbothside des.com

[kamakiri]

superbirdsonline is pretty weak dude. The only thing it tells anyone about your website is that you weren't creative enough to find a proper name. You are better off with superbirdpoo.com than superbirdsonline.com. Anyone who has purchased a domain sees those lame attempts at being near something else.

The reason you want all of the domains like yours is for insurance. Say you choose a .us name. (the .com is some spam site owned by some tirant who though he would get rich, and serves no content at all, only ads). Now you have a successful company there, and I came along and saw that .net address available. I am a pretty smart guy, and it would only take a few key strokes to determine how many hits you got a day (and conversely how many sales), then determine what your ad words expendatures and what ad words you were buying. I could reasonable have a copy up and running in 4 days. No one would know who was first, who had a quality product, or who did the majority of the work.

Buying up all the domain names you can is cheap insurance.

[jackson]

superbirds was just an example, not my real domain name.

[jackson]

Yeah, thanks, it isn't ideal but the domain I am looking for is taken so I think I'll have to add online at the end.

I feel that *online* is very old.
But as always, it is not about the domain, not about the website, not about the product,

Well, if your product needs more than adwords to draw a crowd (fi. old fasioned stuff like word of mouth), have one that people can remember easily. In that way superbirdsonline.com would be better than wonderfullflyinganimalswithfeatheredarmsonbothside des.com

[JKohlbach]

Can you give us more information about what you are setting up? Perhaps we can help you brainstorm?

[kamakiri]

superbirds was just an example, not my real domain name.

Grab your ears and yank your head out of the ground buddy. The name doesn't matter. The suffix doesn't matter. Superbirds or birdcrap. Adding 'online' kills your credibility. It proves to your customers that you are not creative enough to come up with something original.

People aren't going to find you in an internet phone book by looking for super or birds (just your example). They are going to find you through your meta tags and content on google.

Adding 'online' just makes you look clueless.

[jackson]

Can you give us more information about what you are setting up? Perhaps we can help you brainstorm?

Thanks for the help :)

[..] in brackets is the type of camera, which I prefer to not disclose until the site is live. :cool:

From what people are saying on this thread and on another marketing board that I asked on, online sounds like it's not a good idea to include.

I just found these to be available, thought one was taken but I guess not,

[..]CAMERACOMPARISON.COM
[..]CAMERACOMPARISONGUIDE.COM --What do you think of this domain name? It has 4 descriptive words specifically describing what is being sold, does this work?

Also I have found
[..]CameraInterviewSeries.com

Are these ok or are they boring and practical? I don't have a catchy domain that works really well, like http://www.audiomixologist.net/
Do you think it should have 4 descriptive keywords or have a catchy name?

[clanshrapnel]

Kamakiri was actually pretty straight-forward with you and gave you descriptive advice the first time around. You pretty much disregarded his (and others') reasoning completely. Next time you give thoughtful advice to someone and they quickly dismiss it (because it takes more effort??), note how you react.

IMO, you really do need to show some effort with coming up with a name/logo/branding. In a world like the Internet where the first impression may just be your website name and description, only the myopic would give little effort towards coming up with a creative name.

As far as anything I know about this, I've talked to several others in the web design/marketing industry. The rules are pretty much 1) the less syllables, the better, 2) if it rolls off your tongue, the better, 3) if there is little to no confusion on spelling, the better, 4) the more the name applies to your business philosophy/products, the better.

[jackson]

I am not dismissing anyone's advice.

[JKohlbach]

Ok, because this is getting a little hot in here i'm going to go back to the point of your post.

Domain name is quite important and basically needs to be related to your offering, and also memorable. I agree that just adding online or some other word to the end of an already existing domain probably isn't the way to go.

So I am making some assumptions here about your offering:
1. You're making a guide of some sort for a specific type of camera. Lets just call it the "S1000"
2. There are already other competing guides.

So what about something like www.BestS1000Practices.com or www.OptimalS1000.com or www.S1000PowerUsers.com...

Think about the longevity of your domain name too. You may start with one specific reason for starting the domain on your topic. But that topic may lend itself to many money making avenues, think re-use. You might be delivering a guide first up, but when you gain notoriety you might offer a DVD of images, a cleaning kit, hand selected lenses etc.

[kamakiri]

[..]CAMERACOMPARISON.COM
CAMERACOMPARISONGUIDE.COM

Sweet! I just picked up two more domains for my portfolio. They are for sale for $500 each if anyone is interested.

[jackson]

Ok, because this is getting a little hot in here i'm going to go back to the point of your post.

Domain name is quite important and basically needs to be related to your offering, and also memorable. I agree that just adding online or some other word to the end of an already existing domain probably isn't the way to go.

So I am making some assumptions here about your offering:
1. You're making a guide of some sort for a specific type of camera. Lets just call it the "S1000"
2. There are already other competing guides.

So what about something like www.BestS1000Practices.com or www.OptimalS1000.com or www.S1000PowerUsers.com...

Think about the longevity of your domain name too. You may start with one specific reason for starting the domain on your topic. But that topic may lend itself to many money making avenues, think re-use. You might be delivering a guide first up, but when you gain notoriety you might offer a DVD of images, a cleaning kit, hand selected lenses etc.

Super! Thanks for the feedback.

[sub8hr]

It's definitely confusing and annoying when there are two different sites with the same name but different extensions. I have to think that the .net's and .info's will lose a lot of traffic to people who wind up at the .com and think the site has disappeared or never existed to begin with--especially when there is no actual page there and just a place holder. People are generally lazy when it comes to finding things and many if not most will give up after the first try.

I would generally concur that something easy to remember and that isn't an obvious permutation of something that was already taken is probably best. Your domain name is really your brand name, so you want it to be good and differentiated. You can always help your natural search results later by putting additional descriptive info in the page title and not just relying on the domain name.