# Should I use a .NET Domain Name



## Bvlgaro (Oct 14, 2010)

Hello everybody!

This is my first post, and I apologize if it has been mentioned before, but I am still reading through the motherload of topics and posts here and have not found the answer.

I am planning on starting a T-Shirt website which I intend to grow into a good brand and a clothing company. I like the name I have picked up, but the domain .COM was unavailable. Somebody has bought it (GOD DAMN SQUATERS!!!) and receives bids starting from $1500 for it. I bought the .NET, .INFO and .ORG domains and plan on using the .NET for my site and eventually the other two for referencing to the .NET.

Does any of you use a .NET and what do you think about using .INFO and .ORG for comercial use.

Thank you for making this forum such a great and priceless source of information.


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## imindless (Jul 13, 2010)

Honestly, if they took the .com, .net isn't going to help you much if its the exact same name. Everyone is immediately going to go to .com (because it is the most popular) and see if its the site which is yours, and it won't be. 

You can use the .info and .org to redirect to your main .NET site, but its not needed really. If you can produce enough unique site views with just advertising your domain you should be fine and those wont help much. 

Is the domain which is already taking, a website, or is it in park right now?

If its a website and its established, it will only be harder for you to show up on google as that name, it will at least take some time. I suppose you could do some SEO optimizing but still. 

I am not saying you can not be successful with a .NET domain, it will just take a little more because people are so fixed on .com names because its more, mainstream.


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## CoryJP (Oct 27, 2010)

Could you do... yourcompanyclothing.com?
Nissan had settle for www. nissan-global.com


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## shopkeeperjim (Jul 14, 2010)

you can take the name you want and change it slightly to get into the .com environment. put your town/city in front or something. I would not do the .net if someone else is using the same name.com


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## Bvlgaro (Oct 14, 2010)

That is not good news 
I will try to come up with a variation than.

Thanks for your help!

Vlad


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## lifeworkusa (Oct 29, 2010)

Vlad -- I hate when that happens. Sorry to hear about your trouble and good luck with coming up with another name.


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## LTD Tee (May 20, 2010)

i use a .net and have 9k visitors a month. in 2010 .net is a well socialized extension so i disagree with .com or nothing at all.

seo is based on popularity (hits) and inbound links. a for sale domain should be easy to push to the bottom.

the MOST important part of this is to keep your domain name short: 8 characters or less. this is the most integral piece to a customers retention. i strongly disagree with tacking on a word or two to what you want. it works for Nissan, but that's Nissan. people will find them no matter what. you, not so much.

btw i do websites for Forbes 500 clients for aliving and a t-shirt company as a hobby.


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## shopkeeperjim (Jul 14, 2010)

Does your .net also have a corresponding .com that you are competing with? Seems it would be very confusing if both are out there.


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## Bvlgaro (Oct 14, 2010)

shopkeeperjim said:


> Does your .net also have a corresponding .com that you are competing with? Seems it would be very confusing if both are out there.



No, the .COM site has some generic links and a button saying that it is FOR SALE. When I click it, it takes me to DomainBrokers.com and I can put an offer. I placed just for a test $500 but I got a reply that the owner of the domain does not accept bids lower than $1500

Thanks,

Vlad


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## shopkeeperjim (Jul 14, 2010)

If the .com is still for sale and you get yourself established as the .net, you should be good and at the same time diminish the value of the .com to anyone else. He who is first usually wins.


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## adhamm (Oct 30, 2010)

Hi guys!
Regarding the .net domain name, it actually doesnt matter .net .com .biz .info it is all the same.
The question you need to ask your self is, am I going to build a strong brand, if yes then you are losing on your .com.
TO explain I have mybusiness.com and also .info .org. .biz .net and so on, and got nothing to do with strong or weak I am just protecting myself in the long future.

On the other side, go to whois.net and find out who is the owner and email him directly, offer him 100$ then raise till you reach your limit, you will never know you might get it for a good price.

I bought one for 75$ as owner gave up on big prices.


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## shopkeeperjim (Jul 14, 2010)

I disagree. It does matter what you put at the end of your domain. When looking for a website they have heard about, the majority of people automatically go to .com. It is the suffix of online business. That is why the squatters only take the .com, and leave the others alone. Can you work from the also rans? Yes. Relying on Google and other search engines, you will get found as a .net or .biz and people will click on you if the ad is appealing. If you can get yourself branded under the .net before the .com gets sold you *can* come out ahead, but it will be more of a battle. If the .com is owned and being used, it is very much an uphill battle.


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## CoryJP (Oct 27, 2010)

shopkeeperjim said:


> If you can get yourself branded under the .net before the .com gets sold you *can* come out ahead, but it will be more of a battle. If the .com is owned and being used, it is very much an uphill battle.


I agree with this.


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## lincolnapparel (Nov 21, 2009)

I took this into account when naming my company, since there's a lot of companies named after Lincoln, and each one has to have their own domain (the car company owns lincoln.com, registered long ago in 1997). No one had lincolnapparel.com, so I registered it and decided to name my company that (because "apparel" sounds more "upscale" than, say, "tees" or "clothing"). I'd disagree with the "only 8 characters" advice - I'd say 3 words or less (with no dashes). Put clothing or apparel or shirts or something like that at the end if you want to use a .com. It's important for your domain to be easy to remember, not necessarily short. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, for instance, uses presidentlincoln.org instead of alplm.org since it's easier to remember, even though alplm.org is shorter (they have both domains). 

Interestingly enough, presidentlincoln.com is owned by a Lincoln impersonator who has an active site there, so it is possible to use another TLD besides .com and still be recognized (granted, the museum is a nonprofit, so of course it makes sense for them to use .org). I'd say it's possible to use .net and still be recognized, it's just a matter of getting people to remember it, though I would say for a business it makes the most sense to use .com if at all possible (after all, .COM is short for COMmerce) and is the TLD most associated with websites (so if you say yours is blahblahclothing.com, people will know it's a website even without saying the tedious WWW part). I don't think this is true with .net so much (and .NET domains are associated with InterNET related companies and sites the most - like the aforementioned whois.net).

I'd stay away from .biz though. It's associated with spam and other shady activity on the Internet (besides, it's hard to tell how to spell it if you say it to someone and they don't know about the .biz TLD).


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## Bvlgaro (Oct 14, 2010)

Thank you for all your responses guys, I appreciate you took the time to give me your opinion on that. 
I will try to come up with a better domain name and when I am ready and my site is online I will place the link in my signature for everybody to see.

Have a great rest of the week!

Vlad


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## LTD Tee (May 20, 2010)

shopkeeperjim said:


> Does your .net also have a corresponding .com that you are competing with? Seems it would be very confusing if both are out there.


Someone owns the .com but does not utilize it. However, a parked domain or crap website would be just the same in my mind.


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## LTD Tee (May 20, 2010)

adhamm said:


> Hi guys!
> Regarding the .net domain name, it actually doesnt matter .net .com .biz .info it is all the same.
> 
> The question you need to ask your self is, am I going to build a strong brand, if yes then you are losing on your .com.
> TO explain I have mybusiness.com and also .info .org. .biz .net and so on, and got nothing to do with strong or weak I am just protecting myself in the long future.


Cosign this quote


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