What's in a name

12sndsgood · Mar 13, 2012

so does anyone see an importance or advantage of having a .com name versus a .net or some other form? looking up available domains and trying to find something that works for me and is available. just to me .com is what's most remembered and stuck in people's heads.

Alex_B · Mar 13, 2012

.com to many potential customers appears most serious. .net is not that bad either ... but most others appear quite shady.

This is only psychology of course.

I exclusively use .com and .eu (Europe) .

Joey_Ricard · Mar 13, 2012

There was a study on this (can't remember where), but people always "remember" or think they remember .com over .net
Hence the reason I chose my first initial and last name on dot com instead of an available full name on a dot net for my fine art photography site

12sndsgood · Mar 13, 2012

just seems .com comes to mind first when you think of a website.

Big Mike · Mar 13, 2012

.com is probably the best, simply because it's the most popular, the most universal...and as mentioned, people will remember that easier, or just default to it. If you can't have the .com that you want, and have to use a different extension, I'd suggest not using one where the .com version will lead to a competitor.

For example, if you can't have Indyphotographer.com because another photographer is using it. Don't just use Indyphotographer.net, because a portion of your advertising targets and clients will go to the other site, instead of yours. But if the .com version or your .net, is something irrelevant to you, that's not as bad.

Either way, something short and easy to remember is the trump card.

On a side note, it has come to light that any website operating under .com, .net, .org (and several others) are subject to intervention by the US government. Even if the company operates outside the US, the companies operating those domains is still inside, so they can shut you down. The gambling site Bodog had it's .com address seized, but it's Canadian (.ca) and other 'foreign' addresses were untouchable.
Not something we are likely to worry about...just a tidbit of info.

12sndsgood · Mar 13, 2012

I am in Indianapolis. the person who has the name i wanted to go with is in atlanta area i think. and you can't find his location very easily on his site it takes some digging to find his location at all. so that really makes me think i should look for another name. there is enough issues with pulling in a customer to be sending people to the wrong site. that just increases my chances of being passed up.

Big Mike · Mar 13, 2012

Yes. A big part of effective marketing on the web, especially for this type of stuff...is getting clients to your site quickly and easily (don't make them hunt around) and then keeping them there. If someone goes to the wrong site first, they may be more likely to pass you up, than if they had just found you the first time and with ease.