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  4. .net or .co ?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

.net or .co ?

Branding
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  • trl711
    trl711 last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 4:31 PM

    The .com owner of the desired domain refuses to sell the domain (even though it is essentially a parked site and has been for the past 5+ years). Currently, our site resides on .net. I hear that many associate .net domains with dated and too techy. What is better? A .net or a .co?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • FrankDawg
      FrankDawg @trl711 last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 7:06 PM Feb 6, 2015, 7:06 PM

      I totally get where you're coming from.  The squatter situation is extremely frustrating to be sure and isn't getting better any time soon.  If you can't make a trademark claim, it will be extremely difficult to get someone to sell who has no interest in selling.

      With regards to settling, I hear what you're saying.  I just personally feel that the .net is too big of an issue to overcome.  Whether we like it or not, people have been trained to throw a .com after everything.  If they see a mention of your brand, they'll likely assume the website will be located at [yourbrandname].com.  If you are using a domain with a .net and someone else has the .com, expect to see quite a bit of your traffic go to the .com.

      Think about all the names of companies and brands that are complete nonsense words (or extremely obscure words).  Grabbing a URL that is keyword focused will potentially help you with SEO, but it is often extremely difficult to build a long term brand around.  Also, keep in mind that keyword rich URLs may help in the short term for SEO purposes, but they can be extremely limiting if the company wants to expand beyond the keywords.  Even Moz had to go through this, changing from SEOMoz.org to Moz.com (as the old name limited the brand to being solely focused on SEO).

      Hope this helps!

      Mike

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • trl711
        trl711 @FrankDawg last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 5:30 PM Feb 6, 2015, 5:30 PM

        Thank you for your input, Michael. In your opinion, when will it not be "settling?" With the continuously growing number of sites in addition to the number of squatters, don't you think we will, as users, eventually have to accept non-.com TLDs? As a user I'd rather go to bestthing.net than thisisthenextbestthing.com (extreme example, but hopefully you see what I'm saying).

        FrankDawg 1 Reply Last reply Feb 6, 2015, 7:06 PM Reply Quote 0
        • FrankDawg
          FrankDawg last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 5:08 PM Feb 6, 2015, 5:08 PM

          I'd go .net personally.  Been around longer, more trusted and you won't be sending as much confused/fatfinger traffic to the guy who has the .com as you would if you went with .co (for obvious reasons).

          That said, your best option is to come up with a new name for a domain that is either currently available or is available for sale at a reasonable price.  There's no reason to settle for a .net or .co (and you are settling) when there are plenty of viable .com options.  There are countless examples of companies being highly successful with completely made up names.  It isn't about the name.  It's about what you put behind the name from a branding perspective.

          trl711 1 Reply Last reply Feb 6, 2015, 5:30 PM Reply Quote 2
          • Bryan_Loconto
            Bryan_Loconto @RyanPurkey last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 4:47 PM Feb 6, 2015, 4:47 PM

            I like your style Ryan! Excellent add-vice

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • RyanPurkey
              RyanPurkey last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 4:52 PM Feb 6, 2015, 4:41 PM

              You could focus group the two and see which people prefer.  Or you could buy several and test their performance via Adwords split testing before taking the plunge of transferring or creating the new site.  Really this boils down to not what has possibly worked for others, but what works best for you.

              Bryan_Loconto 1 Reply Last reply Feb 6, 2015, 4:47 PM Reply Quote 4
              • Bryan_Loconto
                Bryan_Loconto last edited by Feb 6, 2015, 4:40 PM Feb 6, 2015, 4:40 PM

                Hey TLR711!!

                Oh man that's unfortunate that he is just sitting on it like that. But what can you do?

                I would go with the .net as it is a TLD.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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