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Lack of .com domain = no go for branding large niche authority site?

by Matt Ward
9 replies
I'm just wondering what your opinion is when it comes to choosing a domain name that is primarily for branding and not particularly SEO. Is it a bad idea to choose a domain name with .net/org in this case?

There is a surprising lack of .com domains available, even outside of EMDs. Say you wanted to make a general domain about laptops, good luck getting any kind of decent .com with "laptop" in the name at all. If you open up to net/org then you have a lot more options, but you lose that .com

I'm not sure how important it is to have a .com if your goal is to build a large site, but I know there aren't many authority sites using .net/org, although I'm sure there are exceptions which someone will point out. There are lots of sites with .com domains that don't have much to do with the content (Amazon, eBay, Twitter, WarriorForum) but I feel like that may only work with a truly massive site and are and exception, not something like a niche authority site on laptops, etc.

So, yeah, the question is basically: is it a bad idea to build a large niche authority site without having the .com available? If it must be a .com then you have to get pretty creative with coming up with a domain name...
#authority #branding #domain #lack #large #niche #site
  • Profile picture of the author graymax
    I don't think so, I'm seeing many more niche sites using .info. I'm not sure how these domains are valued by search engines though.

    At the same time, there are ALWAYS .com names available. You made the point of a laptop site. I just did a quick whois and saw that 96laptop.com is available. Now that's just a random number, but it shows there are still some unique combinations out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author thebetterbocaj
    I think that a non .com could still work well. If you want to have a site brand and the name is already taken in .com, .info or .net could still allow you to get the domain you want. So if you are really wanting a certain domain, it is worth it.
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  • Profile picture of the author stevenjacobs
    Banned
    .com is very important for branding. It is most known and most trusted. It will be important if you want to make a authority site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
    Banned
    Originally Posted by mattward View Post

    Say you wanted to make a general domain about laptops, good luck getting any kind of decent .com with "laptop" in the name at all.
    I bet you a dollar I could find quite a few, available domain name searching on the .com - this is one of my key skills.

    Let's have a look, see what I can turn up, note the post time...

    3, 2, 1, start now...
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeff Henshaw
      I would not get too hung up on this. Yes, I like a .com when I can get it with the title that I want. If not I'll try and be creative (by thinking of something meaningful and close to what I originally wanted).

      Do this and you should be good to go.

      Yes, if it is a human audience that you want, then dot com is the best way to go. Otherwise, in your situation, go for any of the suffixes. After all, it's the content and quality of service that will get you ranked.

      I'm just wondering what your opinion is when it comes to choosing a domain name that is primarily for branding and not particularly SEO. Is it a bad idea to choose a domain name with .net/org in this case?
      As to your OP, try talking to Richard Branson - virgin.NET

      Just my thoughts,

      Jeff.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
      Banned
      It's a pretty difficult niche admittedly, just popped in about a hundred domains straight off the top of my head, these one's are available on the .com

      TheLaptopsStore.com

      PriceSlashedLaptops.com

      LaptopMegadeals.com

      LatopShop247.com

      LaptopPriceCrunch.com

      LaptopShop4U.com

      SaleTimeLaptops.com

      If I was to spend a couple of hours doing this, guaranteed, I could turn up some real beauties. But just from the few above...

      LaptopShop247.com isn't a bad brand name.

      And LaptopShop4U.com is short, fairly easy to remember and again would make an ideal brand name.

      SaleTimeLaptops.com       is also not too bad.

      And finally, LaptopMegaDeals.com is a very good find.

      You just have to use your imagination.

      All of the domains above btw are available right now, I've got no interest in the niche at all, so if you act quickly, you could register one of these right now if you wanted to.

      Best,


      Mark Andrews
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      • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
        Banned
        Bear in mind, this was less than 20 minutes, not just finding the domains but editing them out in Wordpad too and making the above post and proofreading it before I posted it up.

        For less competitive niches, it's a doddle to find really good domains.
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        • Profile picture of the author ExRat
          Hi mattward,

          It's either/or -

          Either you have to compromise on the main word to have a dot com

          Or you have to compromise on the dot com to have a nice main word

          Or you have to buy yourself a domain off a speculator

          I'd say that problogger.net was probably an authority site, although in all honesty that's only in the eyes of the search engines and those who don't know better. :rolleyes:
          Signature


          Roger Davis
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  • Profile picture of the author Suthan M
    the thing is rarely do people think of domain name other than one ending with .net

    So, if you want to get a .net, you need to understand that there will be the extra work of branding the .net to your customers/prospects. The easier way out is just keep on looking for a .com and settle with that
    Signature

    Whats the latest movie you watched? Anything good?

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