RE: UKNM: are .com domains necessary for startups?

[Ben Hunt]

Tim's more or less right. Most people have forgotten the original list of

TLDs (top-level domains).


They are:

.com (for a commercial enterprise)

.net (for an *Internet business*, i.e. where your business is *about* the

net (like an ISP) - *NOT* that it *uses* the net, because

      EVERY F*%�+NG DOMAIN NAME BELONGS TO A F*%�+NG COMPANY THAT

COMMUNICATES VIA THE F*%�+NG NET

.org (for a non-profitmaking organisation: charities, political parties,

religious groups, loonies)

.edu (educational establishments)

.mil (military)

.int (I'm informed - for international businesses!? Very very rare)


On top of that you get your national ones, your .co.uk .ac.uk .it .com.au

.ca .de etc. etc. (And no, you can't register mycompany.etc!)


(So the practise of bagging as many different TLDs as you can is a bit

arse-about-tit cos it makes a mockery of the system).


The rule of thumb when registering domains has been for a few years now to

bag the .com if at all possible. Why? What do you first try when you're

searching for a company on the web? Generally, I'll put in

www.davesparts.com, even if Dave's Parts is a UK firm. Quite often I'll try

.com first even if the site isn't commercial. Don't know why I do, I guess

it's trial and error (increasing returns taking hold - the more people covet

.com, the more sites go .com first, the more often I get what I want by

trying .com, the more often I try .com first).


Obviously get the .co.uk to cover your back if you're exclusively a

uk-active company, or if you want to differentiate your site from a .com

equivalent.


I don't try .net, and in fact I don't remember .net domains. I see them as

weak, especially now that their meaning is degraded. Freeserve changed its

TLD from .net to .com as part of its recent brand review.


I'd be interested to hear what other subscribers subconsciously tap in, and

what the general perception is of different TLDs.


: )B


Ben Hunt

Producer

Poulternet

ben [dot] huntpoulternet [dot] com

www.poulternet.com

0113 383 4200

direct: 285 6469




-----Original Message-----

From: Tim Ireland [

timdesignercity [dot] com (mailto:timdesignercity [dot] com)

]

Sent: 06 October 2000 09:16

To:

uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

Subject: Re: UKNM: are .com domains necessary for startups?



.com is an international domain - and the 'Park Avenue' of same. If your

site presents information and/or promotes/sells goods to an international

market, then you should start with a .com and move on from there... also, if

you have a brand that is well known, the chances are much higher that

someone will take a punt on www.brandname.com first.


.net etc. are only necessary (IMO) as extra coverage if you have a vested

interest in securing your brand online.


.co.uk (or the equivalent for your country) is needed to target local

traffic, primarily because of the boost to search engine ranking (local

search engines and directories often give priority to local domains when

users launch a search for local sites).


SIDEBAR - The Australian market is particlularly insular with regards to

domain names. Most companies are only allowed one, and it's almost

impossible to get listed in a local SE or directory with a domain ending

with the local suffix (.com.au)


Tim Ireland

Director of Marketing

www.designercity.com



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