Let’s say that I wanted to set up a website for a business called Amalgamated Burrito Toppings. Much to my chagrin, nearly all top domain variations of Amalgamated (.com, .net, .info, etc.) are already reserved.
In your opinion, does the .cc domain have any less appeal than the more common .com? Or does the retained integrity of the Amalgamated name, kept with a lesser known domain, outweigh any such loss?
I think it depends on who you expect your clientele to be. If the site is meant to cater to other businesses, or to technically savvy people, I don’t think it would make much difference.
If, however, you are trying to get average people to use your site, you would be better off going with a .com, even if it is not the name you’d prefer. I base this opinion on the fact that sometimes, when I mention a website to someone, the response I get is along the line of: “Website? Oh, is that one of those dot-com things?”
.com has become so attached to the idea of a website for many people that they’ll automatically try the .com version.
amalgamatedburrito is awsome! Just seeing it piques the curiosity and makes me wanna check it out!
Reminds me of a funny (one of the few) SNL commercial parodys where a fancy investment banker group had to settle for “clownpenisfart” (or something close) cause all the good names were taken.
Damn! I have forgotten to not become drunken again!
The older TLDs, particularly .net, are acceptable substitutes, but (again, IMHO) none of the newer (or even older) two letter TLDs, with the possible exception of .tv for entertainment sites, are worth the money you pay for the registration.
As long as you don’t butcher the name of your company too much - in other words, it should still be relatively simple - you’re probably still good.
No, definitely use a .com domain. I would go with amalgamatedburrito.com. If that’s the name of your business, then it would be my first attempt at guessing your domain. I usually guess the domain once and then type it into Google. Better a long domain name then a hard to guess or obscure one.
I agree with .com, although if you’re looking for something local, your country’s extension might do, if you can get one. I try a lot of .ca things, when I’m not sure if it’s .com or .ca.
Try register.com & input the name. If its taken, they give you alternatives that are just very nice & sometimes
hilarious.
I once input ‘straightdope.com’ which ,as you know is taken, so they gave me a list of alternatives
which they took ‘dope’ to mean drugs’…so you can imagine that much hilarity ensued.