Sometimes I come across an advertisement in my local newspaper that comes across as a real head-scratcher. I know- many of you's are likely scratching your heads already.. what the heck is a newspaper?? But I'm not going to get into that, as newspapers will remain my go-to for local and world news as long as they keep printing them.
Anyboo, few years ago I began noticing some advertisers (mostly real estate agents) getting into using a new gTLD as their website rather than a dot-com at the bottom of the ad. It was exciting to see, because it somewhat justified many of my own investments. Usage (to a larger degree, development) equates trust, and for a wider acceptance of a new product, we need to see usage. Of course, as investors, we need to see sales, but usage means that at some point or other the domain was bought. Nothing against .coms, I own many, but many many businesses are under the false impression they have to settle, when they could do so much better.
But in my quick study, I believe this particular business may believe they are forward thinking, where personally I think they made a hasty decision and are actually using the wrong domain. This is a case where they should be either using the .com, or a better new G. So here's the ad I came upon:
I believe this soccer club really was forward thinking in it's intentions by going with the domain "forgefootball.club", but what I'm interested in seeing is what the rest of you think. Where I stand on it is, kind of awkward going with keywordkeyword.NEW, generally it's a no-no with new G's. However, there are some exceptions, and this one is just OK. Still a little long. Here are two interesting revelations on this particular business's domain usage though:
1) They aren't even using the domain as a developed site! It is being forwarded to their .ca official site (which is abysmal imo - forgefc.canpl.ca)
2) They registered the .com version on the same day, but are not using the .com at all!
Which leads to a couple questions/observations:
1) Was the only purpose to acquiring and publishing the .club version to make it easy for people to remember where to go, rather than that abysmal .ca version? And if so, is this in and of itself "forward thinking"?
2) Is this a good example of a brick-and-mortar type business that is really not dependent on a good domain name for exposure, because they are well-known and well-established within the community already, and an ad like this is really just for informational purposes?
3) The .com version, which is forgefootballclub.com, goes to a dead page YET has been registered to expire many years in advance (rather than the .club version which expires next year). Does this indicate they are merely experimenting with the new G, and have the .com as a fallback in case things don't work out? Is it smarter to not have the .com forwarded to the .club version with this type of strategy? Personally I would just implement at the very least a 302 temporary forward. But perhaps they are savvier than meets the eye, and are interested in gathering traffic stats on the pure new gTLD without the .com influence.
4) I think the .com works better, in this case. Multiple (more than two) keywords are tricky, so when they end in .com the name flows nicely. However, the more I stare at the .club, it isn't that bad!
This led me to something else.. and really starting to feel now like a rabbit hole.. do you go with an exact match to your business when choosing a domain, or the best match? Because an exact match might not be the most sensible one, and the two are not always interchangeable. Here is why I put that question out there: even though this business is a soccer club, and lucky for them there is .club extension, to me the domain name they chose is a little long and awkward, albeit a perfect fit, in both the .club and .com version. A better choice in my eyes, if you're going with a new G, shorten it as best as possible while still keeping true to your brand. And guess what, there's a .football extension, and as of this writing Forge.Football is avail as a hand-reg for less than $15/year. Looks nice, it's short, and cheap renewals, and describes this particular business perfectly.
No, I am not that kind of domainer. You're welcome to it, and best of luck. But this post was a study than an opportunist opening. Comments/reactions welcome.
Anyboo, few years ago I began noticing some advertisers (mostly real estate agents) getting into using a new gTLD as their website rather than a dot-com at the bottom of the ad. It was exciting to see, because it somewhat justified many of my own investments. Usage (to a larger degree, development) equates trust, and for a wider acceptance of a new product, we need to see usage. Of course, as investors, we need to see sales, but usage means that at some point or other the domain was bought. Nothing against .coms, I own many, but many many businesses are under the false impression they have to settle, when they could do so much better.
But in my quick study, I believe this particular business may believe they are forward thinking, where personally I think they made a hasty decision and are actually using the wrong domain. This is a case where they should be either using the .com, or a better new G. So here's the ad I came upon:
I believe this soccer club really was forward thinking in it's intentions by going with the domain "forgefootball.club", but what I'm interested in seeing is what the rest of you think. Where I stand on it is, kind of awkward going with keywordkeyword.NEW, generally it's a no-no with new G's. However, there are some exceptions, and this one is just OK. Still a little long. Here are two interesting revelations on this particular business's domain usage though:
1) They aren't even using the domain as a developed site! It is being forwarded to their .ca official site (which is abysmal imo - forgefc.canpl.ca)
2) They registered the .com version on the same day, but are not using the .com at all!
Which leads to a couple questions/observations:
1) Was the only purpose to acquiring and publishing the .club version to make it easy for people to remember where to go, rather than that abysmal .ca version? And if so, is this in and of itself "forward thinking"?
2) Is this a good example of a brick-and-mortar type business that is really not dependent on a good domain name for exposure, because they are well-known and well-established within the community already, and an ad like this is really just for informational purposes?
3) The .com version, which is forgefootballclub.com, goes to a dead page YET has been registered to expire many years in advance (rather than the .club version which expires next year). Does this indicate they are merely experimenting with the new G, and have the .com as a fallback in case things don't work out? Is it smarter to not have the .com forwarded to the .club version with this type of strategy? Personally I would just implement at the very least a 302 temporary forward. But perhaps they are savvier than meets the eye, and are interested in gathering traffic stats on the pure new gTLD without the .com influence.
4) I think the .com works better, in this case. Multiple (more than two) keywords are tricky, so when they end in .com the name flows nicely. However, the more I stare at the .club, it isn't that bad!
This led me to something else.. and really starting to feel now like a rabbit hole.. do you go with an exact match to your business when choosing a domain, or the best match? Because an exact match might not be the most sensible one, and the two are not always interchangeable. Here is why I put that question out there: even though this business is a soccer club, and lucky for them there is .club extension, to me the domain name they chose is a little long and awkward, albeit a perfect fit, in both the .club and .com version. A better choice in my eyes, if you're going with a new G, shorten it as best as possible while still keeping true to your brand. And guess what, there's a .football extension, and as of this writing Forge.Football is avail as a hand-reg for less than $15/year. Looks nice, it's short, and cheap renewals, and describes this particular business perfectly.
No, I am not that kind of domainer. You're welcome to it, and best of luck. But this post was a study than an opportunist opening. Comments/reactions welcome.
