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Personal site, .com vs. net

by CAmarketing
10 replies
So I was wondering which is better, for a site that I'm not exactly sure WHAT I'm going to do with yet, (I might use it for internet marketing, I might use it for real estate which is what I'm getting into here pretty soon after I get my license).

My firstlastname.com is taken. Is it better to throw in my middle initial in the middle and have a .com, or better to have just my full name but .net.

Example:

Janewdoe.com

or

JaneDoe.net


I know it doesn't REALLY matter, but which do you think looks better? Thanks!
#net #personal #site
  • Profile picture of the author elusian
    I would go with the .com with the middle initial simply because if you go with the .net for your actual name they will still automatically type in the .com and you will be driving traffic to someone else's site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
    You're right: it really doesn't matter.

    Remember, people will try .com before they try .net, if they don't have the URL in front of them or can't remember it exactly.

    Since you'll need to include a middle initial if you use a .com, you're going to have to work a bit to brand yourself either way. Branding yourself with a .net won't require any more work than with a middle initial. So it really comes down to whichever you prefer.

    Hope that helps!

    Michelle

    P.S. elusian ha a good point! Go with the middle initial.
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  • Profile picture of the author Christian B
    Hello,

    I prefer Janewdoe.com: .com is more natural for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author thundertoms
    i think .com for me.. All people like to type .com
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  • Profile picture of the author CAmarketing
    Thanks everyone!

    I'm getting married soon so I'm also debating between using my maiden name or married name. BOTH .coms are taken :/

    Maiden .com was registered in 2005, last updated July 2014

    Married .com was registered in 2002, last updated May 2014.

    Stupid thing is, NEITHER of them go to any actual website!

    Maiden name just says "under construction" (And I think I checked this domain like a year ago and said the same thing) And married name says "Site Temporarily Unavailable"

    I wonder if it'd be worth it to reach out to them via their emails in the whois database and ask if they'd be willing to sell their domains to me? What's a good asking price? I have a pretty limited budget :/
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  • Profile picture of the author master reseller
    If someone is clicking on your link from a signature line, they won't care if it's a .com, .org. or .net. However, if that same person is trying to recall your web address from off the top of the head, they will likely use the .com version of your site name. That will be trouble if you used the .net as the person would go to the wrong site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chaudhary Daniyal
    If you plan to go big with the site, then you definitely need to get the .com ! .net and .org are great, but you'd always be losing traffic to the .com

    Darren Rowse, a very successful blogger at ProBlogger.com started out his blog on the .net of the same domain. When the blog took off, he started losing his traffic to the .com so he went to the .com owner and got the domain for $5000 !

    If you like the .net as a better looking/sounding domain, you can always redired the .com to .net .. i.e when someone goes to JoneDoe.com, they'll be automatically taken to JohnDow.net.

    Hence, it's better to get the .com right from the go.
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    • Profile picture of the author MrJeff
      If you can work on a name that you can use the .com, .net, .info then you can forward the .net and .info to the .com. This is specially important if you want to brand yourself.
      I own a garage flooring company in Atlanta, GA my website is Garage Flooring Atlanta - Atlanta Epoxy Garage Flooring. Call Today ! but I also have the .net and .info of the same domain which are forwarded to the .com site. It works great for branding yourself.
      Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisWJohnson
    Banned
    I think people are more familiar with .com. So I recommend using .com. People always type sites name with .com
    Also .com is more professional then .net.
    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Here's the one thing you need to know: it doesn't really matter very much what you use, as long as you own the .com yourself.

      It makes no sense to set up a business on a domain-name of which the .com variant already belongs to someone else. That's all downside, however you look at it (and the potential resale value, if your business succeeds, can be a disaster by comparison).

      All international domains are the same for SEO, so that isn't relevant. I use ".info" for some of my businesses because my customers and subscribers and visitors like and trust that a lot (and say so): it speaks to them of an "informational site" rather than a "marketing/commercial site" and since I'm an affiliate marketer, that's a really good appearance for me. It gives me more credibility in the eyes of my customers. (You can't ask for much better than that, in business, can you? ). But I'll do that only if I also own the .com. myelf (I just re-direct the .com to the one I'm using).

      So: it's not so much about what you use - it's about what you own, (because otherwise someone else can, and that's bad for you).

      So, to answer your question (finally!): I don't care whether I use the ".net". It makes little difference to me. In the overall scheme of things, it just doesn't matter much ... unless someone else owns the .com, in which case it's a hopelessly bad idea. The idea of building a business on something without owning the .com is simply a non-starter, to me. It's as simple as that.

      .
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