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Someone else is using .com. Should I use .net?

by 512 Designs
15 replies
My wife wants to start a company using a specific name. The name is available for the state we are living in, however, someone else is using the name as a website with ".com".

So would it be better to use our name as a .net -or- as a .com with hyphens?

For instance.

www.mycompanyname.net or www.my-company-name.com

Basically, is it more important to use .com with hyphens. Or is it more important to have no hyphens even with it being .net?

I hope this makes sense.

Mike
#net
  • Profile picture of the author joe golfer
    In my mind, the problem with choosing the same domain with hyphens or a different TLD is branding. I'd rather make the name more unique so I can brand it easier in the market.

    Unless it is a niche feeder site to your authority site. Even then, I would try to make it stand out while incorporating the core keywords. Instead of common-keyword.com, why not commonkeywordexaminer.com or commonkeywordexpert.com or whatever.

    I also find these new domains like .tips and .today interesting, although I've never bought one.
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  • Profile picture of the author GforceSage
    You might want to make sure that the other user does not have any filed legal rights to the name.

    Also, even if you were to file for the rights to a given name and it came out that the .com user was in business first, you could complicate your life in ways you'd rather not. If the competing site is involved in a different type of business than your wife, than it might be safer using the name. For example: There are lots of "Emerald" something or others out there, but if you choose to do the same business as an existing business called "Emerald," you might get a bad surprise some day. However, if your wife is using "Emerald" for a business that no one else appears to be using it for, than you may be ok. Dot Nets are good.
    This is not to be considered legal advice, just what I've heard through the years.
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  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Here's the recipe I follow when coming up with new domain names:

    I first come up with a list of different names, at least 5 - you already have a name so no need for this.

    I then go to namecheap to see if the domain is available.

    If it is, I grab it up...

    If not, then I move on...

    For me... 98% of the time... I want the .com.

    I want the .com in the exact way that I want it in.

    So let's say its:

    mypreferreddomain.com

    And the .com is not available.

    Then chances are... I'll move on.

    I don't want to go with:

    my-preferred-domain.com

    I want something that no one else has.

    And yes, there's still untapped .com's out there.

    I just registered 4 VERY unique names for different niches that I'm in.

    The key is to get creative... I usually spend 5 to 10 hours to come up with a good domain name with a .com that no one else has... of course that 5 to 10 hours isn't straight... but it's spread out to about 2 to 5 days.

    I hope all this makes sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author amcg
    Originally Posted by 512 Designs View Post

    My wife wants to start a company using a specific name. The name is available for the state we are living in, however, someone else is using the name as a website with ".com".

    So would it be better to use our name as a .net -or- as a .com with hyphens?

    For instance.

    www.mycompanyname.net or Click

    Basically, is it more important to use .com with hyphens. Or is it more important to have no hyphens even with it being .net?

    I hope this makes sense.

    Mike
    I'd advise changing the name so you get the .com i.e add a prefix or suffix. The .net is ok but .com has the marketing spend behind it and overall much greater recognition.
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  • Profile picture of the author joe golfer
    Try bustaname.com or nameboy.com to get some more ideas for new domains.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    If the business your wife wants to start is in the same space then you are probably better off not using a name that's the same as the other person.

    However, if you are in something completely different then chances are you'll be safe as there's no real claim of trademark delusion.

    I'm not an attorney so the advice I've given should be checked out with real legal counsel.

    As far as hyphens or using a .net I'd forgo any hyphens and as others mentioned you could always add an extra word to the domain so you can get a .com.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Since she is starting a company up, you should check to see if that name is trademarked. Even if not, the site has First Use in Commerce trademark rights to the name. Are the products similar? I wouldn't want to start a company with a name already in use. I'd create a new name and buy the .com, .net, .org and .info and use the .com.

    I would not want a hyphenated domain name for my company.
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    • Profile picture of the author 512 Designs
      Thanks for all your replies.

      Here's some more details. She has a video production company which may also add photography. She does a lot of wedding and event type stuff. She wants to name it "Steel City Studios". The person who currently has the domain name is from the UK (we're in the USA). And the frustrating thing is that the Steel City Studios .com domain simply forwards itself to some kind of home rental company if Florida.....so they're really not using it as far as I'm concerned.

      Since it's a company name, there's really no reason to worry about having it being a long tail keyword type domain. I'm not sure what kind of prefix or suffix I could add to keep it a .com.

      I did do a generic USA trademark search along with a business search in our state. Both of them came up negative so I don't believe we'll have a problem there.

      I guess I could try to contact the current owner of the domain and see if he/she would sell it....otherwise we'll have to come up with something different if using .net would be bad.

      Thanks

      Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author AmericanMuscleTA
    .com all the way! Is there another word that you can add in the domain name to make it different?
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  • Profile picture of the author serryjw
    Suzanne is right...check TM! If it is not a problem which would work better .NET or .ORG for the domain.? You may also find a good match for the domain with the new gTLDs
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  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    yes, contact the owner of the domain first to see if they'll part with it. most people are reasonable especially if the domain isn't a core part of their biz.

    if you cant make a deal, much of your marketing dollars will just drive traffic and recurring traffic to their domain as most people who might remember your name will go to the .com
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  • Profile picture of the author redlegrich
    steelcitystudiosusa.com or steelcitystudiospa.com (I assume this is near Pittsburgh with Steel City).
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  • Profile picture of the author xlfutur1
    I would use a .net domain before using hypens. If you are good at SEO, google doesn't really care whether its a .net or .com. I think it used to be more of an issue, but with all the updates over the years, its not so much anymore. It does depend on the niche I guess, but remembering and typing a bunch of hyphens will always be a pain.
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  • Profile picture of the author amcg
    Originally Posted by 512 Designs View Post

    My wife wants to start a company using a specific name. The name is available for the state we are living in, however, someone else is using the name as a website with ".com".

    So would it be better to use our name as a .net -or- as a .com with hyphens?

    For instance.

    www.mycompanyname.net or Click

    Basically, is it more important to use .com with hyphens. Or is it more important to have no hyphens even with it being .net?

    I hope this makes sense.

    Mike
    First of all, don't use a hyphen!

    My own preference is for .com above all else, unless you're doing ecommerce at which point I'd think about a country level domain i.e .co.uk. If you can't get the .com, try a suffix i.e myappapp or myecommercestore. I'd also recommend a prefix if the suffix isn't available though most domain folks rate the suffix a better option as your keyword comes first.

    .net is still a good option however the marketing dollars behind .com are huge in comparison to the other tlds.
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  • Profile picture of the author Multiverse
    Trying to purchase "SteelCityStudios.com" makes sense. If not perhaps change "Studios" to something else where the .com is available.
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