When you start a company, there are a thousand things to do. Often times, the domain name is the last thing on the list. That can be a huge mistake, and I wrote an entire article about it.
As a rule of thumb, startups do best when they launch with a dot com that passes the radio test and is an exact match for their brand.
I was thinking about this as I read a Business Insider article. It was a list of the top startups of 2015 as of May 19th. Let's take a look at the list of company names and their respective domain names.
HungryRoot / HungryRoot.com
Bingo! This food subscription service hit the broccoli right on the head! They got an exact match, dot com, domain name. Hats off to them!
Periscope / PeriscopeApp.tv
OK, here’s the other side of the coin. In my opinion, this company made some mistakes in their branding and domain decisions.
The League / TheLeague.com
This NYC dating service app got it right. My hat’s off to the smart lady that runs this rather male-oriented website and coed service.
Gogoro / Gogoro.com
This electric scooter company did well. They found an affordable exact match in a dot com. It’s not so hard with an invented company name. That’s the reason we have them, and brandable domainers will note that they chose the popular 6 letter, CVCVCV pattern.
Ride / Ride.com
Kudos to this ride sharing app startup. They got a category-killer brandable in the dot com extension. Way to go!
Honor / JoinHonor.com
This one’s a mixed bag. This elderly caregiver startup got the dot com right, but I question their “join” add-on. Customers won’t remember if it’s GoHonor, GetHonor, TryHonor, or JoinHonor. And why the word ‘join’ anyway? It’s a service, not a club, right?
Eero / Eero.com
This is a WiFi product that chose a four-letter play on the word ‘ear’ and got the exact match dot com. However, I’m still lukewarm on this one, because the words ‘ear’ and ‘WiFi‘ don’t have an obvious connection for me.
(Update: View comments below.)
Even / WhatIsEven.com
This is a terrible domain choice for this financial app startup. Since inception, they’ve made an upgrade to Even.me but I’m not sure that’s any better.
Jet / Jet.com
This startup hits it out of the park! You won’t find a better brand and domain than Jet.com. This online shopping company has some big funding behind it. The domain was bought via a private sale in 2014. The price is unknown but industry insiders are speculating that it sold in the seven figures.
M. Gemi / Mgemi.com
If you’re a fashion startup, you don’t need to worry. Just use the founders personal name. It worked for Versace, Chanel, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. So why not here too? Also, personal names are often available for registration, making it easy to acquire the exact match dot com.
MeerKat / MeerKatApp.co
These folks tried to be playful and unique, but I’m not sure it works. They chose the name of an obscure animal that no one knows how to spell, and then they added ‘app’ to their dot co domain to make matters worse. Ouch!
21 / 21.co
The domain 21.com would cost millions, if it even was for sale. It would seem like they could have gotten TwentyOne.com instead, which is currently a landing page that forwards to an adult content site. I'm not sure why they chose the dot co.
Vive / Vive.co
This hair salon start up couldn’t get Vive.com since its being used by an international phone service, but is Vive so perfect a brand that it counteracts the dragging influence of a dot co extension? It's also similar to Vine, a popular video sharing app by Twitter, that operates on a dot co as well.
Summary
Jet.com and Ride.com are the kinds of domains that most startups (and even established companies) can only dream of. Kudos to HungryRoot, Gogoro, and The League as well. They got it right in my opinion. The rest are left to their own devices. Mobile devices that is.
What do you think?
Which startup (domain) names do you like the most and least?
As a rule of thumb, startups do best when they launch with a dot com that passes the radio test and is an exact match for their brand.
I was thinking about this as I read a Business Insider article. It was a list of the top startups of 2015 as of May 19th. Let's take a look at the list of company names and their respective domain names.
HungryRoot / HungryRoot.com
Bingo! This food subscription service hit the broccoli right on the head! They got an exact match, dot com, domain name. Hats off to them!
Periscope / PeriscopeApp.tv
OK, here’s the other side of the coin. In my opinion, this company made some mistakes in their branding and domain decisions.
- Periscope is a colorful word but it’s prone to misspelling.
- Their slogan “see the world through the eyes of others” is nice, but when I hear ‘periscope’ it makes me think of submarines.
- They used the domain extention (TLD) for the country Tuvalu (population 12,000). That might be OK for a TV station or a video production company, but I don’t think it works for them.
- Finally, they added ‘app’ to their domain name. Ugh!
(After Business Insider's article was published, Periscope "upgraded" their domain name to Periscope.tv.)
The League / TheLeague.com
This NYC dating service app got it right. My hat’s off to the smart lady that runs this rather male-oriented website and coed service.
Gogoro / Gogoro.com
This electric scooter company did well. They found an affordable exact match in a dot com. It’s not so hard with an invented company name. That’s the reason we have them, and brandable domainers will note that they chose the popular 6 letter, CVCVCV pattern.
Ride / Ride.com
Kudos to this ride sharing app startup. They got a category-killer brandable in the dot com extension. Way to go!
Honor / JoinHonor.com
This one’s a mixed bag. This elderly caregiver startup got the dot com right, but I question their “join” add-on. Customers won’t remember if it’s GoHonor, GetHonor, TryHonor, or JoinHonor. And why the word ‘join’ anyway? It’s a service, not a club, right?
Eero / Eero.com
This is a WiFi product that chose a four-letter play on the word ‘ear’ and got the exact match dot com. However, I’m still lukewarm on this one, because the words ‘ear’ and ‘WiFi‘ don’t have an obvious connection for me.
(Update: View comments below.)
Even / WhatIsEven.com
This is a terrible domain choice for this financial app startup. Since inception, they’ve made an upgrade to Even.me but I’m not sure that’s any better.
Jet / Jet.com
This startup hits it out of the park! You won’t find a better brand and domain than Jet.com. This online shopping company has some big funding behind it. The domain was bought via a private sale in 2014. The price is unknown but industry insiders are speculating that it sold in the seven figures.
M. Gemi / Mgemi.com
If you’re a fashion startup, you don’t need to worry. Just use the founders personal name. It worked for Versace, Chanel, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren. So why not here too? Also, personal names are often available for registration, making it easy to acquire the exact match dot com.
MeerKat / MeerKatApp.co
These folks tried to be playful and unique, but I’m not sure it works. They chose the name of an obscure animal that no one knows how to spell, and then they added ‘app’ to their dot co domain to make matters worse. Ouch!
21 / 21.co
The domain 21.com would cost millions, if it even was for sale. It would seem like they could have gotten TwentyOne.com instead, which is currently a landing page that forwards to an adult content site. I'm not sure why they chose the dot co.
Vive / Vive.co
This hair salon start up couldn’t get Vive.com since its being used by an international phone service, but is Vive so perfect a brand that it counteracts the dragging influence of a dot co extension? It's also similar to Vine, a popular video sharing app by Twitter, that operates on a dot co as well.
Summary
Jet.com and Ride.com are the kinds of domains that most startups (and even established companies) can only dream of. Kudos to HungryRoot, Gogoro, and The League as well. They got it right in my opinion. The rest are left to their own devices. Mobile devices that is.
What do you think?
Which startup (domain) names do you like the most and least?
