Question

Topic: E-Marketing

If You Saw It What Would You Think?

Posted by Anonymous on 12/19/2006 at 9:04 AM ET 500 Points
Yes, another if you saw it what would you think from me.

We've been going over multiple names for a service and just haven't made a decision. Even when we've made up our minds, another potentially better idea pops up. Can you empathize? (that's not the question.,:))

We recently came up with a name for our service that seems to be the best name we've had so far. We were lucky to get the .NET domain name just as it was about to expire but the .COM domain name is under development from another company, for an entirely different type of service/product and they are unwilling to sell, "at any price".

I am working on a branding plan but an still unsure about whether popular sentiment leans towards....... you don't have the .com, you don't have a name.

If you saw Connect Us dot net (I can't include the actual domain here) , what would you think? Would you immediately think that the company just couldn't get the .com domain? Do you think a lot of people, when hearing the name, would automatically assume it is at the .com address?

Popular sites like YouTube, Google and MSN are all .coms. I can't even think of another successful company who owns the .net ONLY. So, I guess my question is (and I'm close to answering it myself), IS THERE VALUE IN HAVE JUST THE .NET NAME AND WOULD YOU BASE YOUR COMPANY BRANDING ON IT?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by BJC on 12/19/2006 at 9:36 AM Member
    2 years ago you may have had more of a problem but people are becoming more aware of the .net addresses. If they can't find you under .com, the next most commonly one used is .net. If the company that will own the .com is a strong brand, even if it isn't in your industry, then I would look for another name. If it's not a strong brand or is local in a different area than you are, it should not be a problem.
    You may want to work something out with them since you are not competitive to have a link to your site in the corner of theirs and vice-versa.
  • Posted on 12/19/2006 at 9:45 AM Member
    I once tried a .net for the primary address. My marketing did a fantastic job at sending everyone to the .com. Everyone gets the first part of the domain, then fills in the .com no matter what it is. Even .orgs have a huge problem with this. So much of a problem that if they can't get the .com as well, they won't get the .org any more because scammers feed on the people that can't remember the extension by grabbing the .com.

    I'd have to say, if your success depends on people remembering the name, think twice about it. If it will depend primarily on links and print media, you are better off.
  • Posted by adammjw on 12/19/2006 at 10:35 AM Member
    I wonder how strong will be your presence offline.
    Do you embark on a branding initiative with already a well-rooted service or it's totally new?
    If the latter and you see its success as mostly dependent on your online strength and customers' ability to remember it I would seriusly reconsider the name.
    Otherwise you may be forced to expend much more to rouse and then maintain your brand presence.

    Adam
  • Posted on 12/19/2006 at 10:43 AM Member
    I think using the com and net together is even more confusing than just using the net address.

    There is a lot of debate over the .com versus the .net and .org domain names. Some say your company will appear to be second tier when using the .net address. Good arguments for .org are it signifies a non-profit and I agree.

    I personally feel .net is popular enough not to cause you a problem and I don't really agree with analysis of .com being superior to .net or .org.

    It's a gamble I would take but you may not wish to.
  • Posted on 12/19/2006 at 10:44 AM Member
    i say go with the .net domain. youre not the only one dealing with that kind of problem. as .net addresses start to proliferate, soon everyone will start registering/searching with that address side by side .com.
    however, it is still to your advantage if you have .com. but on the other hand, to answer your question, if you use the "connect us dot net", it would sound like someone else got the domain that you wanted first. so maybe what you can do is to "re-spell" the domain that you want. for instance, instead of textme.com, do txtme.com
    hope this helps
  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 12/19/2006 at 11:43 AM Member
    I personally don't care much for .net addresses...as has been stated you will be spending a lot of money driving traffic to the .com site.

    However, it really all comes down to why and how people get to your site.

    If you are doing email marketing or paid search or anything with a link, it doesn't matter what the URL is because you are taking them right there.

    If you are doing snail mail, again you have the opportunity to show the complete URL in print, so there should be no confusion as to where to go.

    For me, only if you are doing billboards or radio or even TV where you are hoping that people will remember your domain name long enough to type it in is the whole .com or .net thing an issue. I suppose word of mouth marketing would benefit from a .com, too, but maybe you're not relying on that.

    Whether people will go to .net if the .com is not what they are looking for also depends on the audience. A tech-oriented crowd might do that, but Joe Public will not. He will see that he didn't get what he wanted and move on to the Joke of the Day.

  • Posted on 12/19/2006 at 5:05 PM Member
    connectus.net is fine. net and web give a feeling of connection.
  • Posted by Carl Crawford on 12/20/2006 at 12:57 AM Member
    Well here are a few examples of dot net sites that DONT have the .com address and are still successful.

    www.boingboing.net (The worlds most popular blog)
    SourceForge.net (The number one place of the web to get open source software)
    del.icio.us
    imageshack.us
    etc
    plus a whole host of others.

    If your product or service is useful people will remember the name.

    Believe it or not most people are smart, if they are looking for clothing form your company called punkroker.net but accidentally go to punkrocker.com and find a wood working site they will try other actually use google to find you or try different extensions.
  • Posted on 12/20/2006 at 10:25 AM Member
    Can't you promote net as a positive difference like we're not just any dot com - we're a dot net? What's wrong with doing that? Bring attention to your difference - don't be embarassed by it. I think it's only negative if you make it negative.
  • Posted by easyE on 12/21/2006 at 11:16 PM Member
    The domain name suffix is known as a generic top-level domain (gTLD) and it describes the type of organization. However in the last few years, the lines have blurred somewhat between these categories. Currently in use of these gTLDs. Here are some of the more common ones:
    .com--For businesses, commercial enterprises, or online services like America Online. Most companies use this extension.
    .net--For networks; usually reserved for organizations such as Internet service providers
    .org--For non-commercial organizations
    .edu--For educational institutions and universities
    .gov--Reserved for United States government agencies
    .biz--Reserved for businesses
    If you go with .net, then make sure you do your homework and get the best out of SEO. Good SEO is the key!
    Good luck!
  • Posted on 12/22/2006 at 2:28 PM Member
    I own perhaps 50 or so domains. Some are 4 letters some 5 and some 6. I like short and the .com is the default choice. Why? Because domain names were not expected to become as pervasive as they have. If done correctly in the beginning they would have done .god for religious sites, .sex for porn, .spts for athletic teams, .manu for manufacturers, .law for attorneys .acct for CPA's and bookkeepers and so on. But we are stuck in a world of myopia.

    here is Spam Sorenson's simple chart...


    Priority name - points

    your best name.com 100
    your best name.net (biz, us etc) 50
    any strangename.com 70~80 (must be under 6 characters)
    any strange name.net (biz, us etc) 40~60

    Look around, simple domains even stupid ones are OK! google, yahoo, amazon, ebay. They are not descriptive. they became names because they had good marketing.

    The .com is the default choice until the world matures.
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