Hyphen or biz

[floatingworld]

I need to make a choice between a 2-word .com with hyphen OR same 2 word .biz with no hyphen. It is absolutely NOT a respectable business name. So...do I make a choice or buy both and point 1 towards the other?
(I will shoot the NPer who says diddle up another name combination! don't do it!)

 

[Carlton]

.BIZ will work much better than the hyphenated .com. As a business brand or address you plan to convey verbally (or in writing), you don't want a hyphen. .BIZ is up and coming with a unique distinction for "business".

 

[floatingworld]

for one of the names I am looking at, there is no hyphen option so it is .biz or nothing, so I did what I said not to do, being a shame-faced hypocrite (see first thread message: I will shoot the NPer who says diddle up another name combination! don't do it!)...and what did I find? in the 3 word combo I came up with the hyphen version (1-23.com) was registered with a developed website and the the non-hyphenated version was available, so I hoovered it up...
BTW, the first name hyphen Vs biz option is still staring at me and now I am diddling 3 word alternatives...pathetic!

 

[Malaysia]

hyphen .com is way better..

 

[gamex]

I prefer .com like most people here, to me, it just seems more professional. Whenever I see a company with a .biz, for some reason, it makes me think the company isnt as professtional as a company with a .com. I know, its probably crazy, but thats just what I think

 

[niceguy]

Tough one.....I dont like hyphenated names at all - they are not as easy to type in - I personally have to actually "look" at the keyboard to use the hyphen.

.biz .....I don't know what it is but .biz (and this is totally personal) has a "hustler" kind of sound for me, like "hey lets do some "biz" together sometime.....". The extension just kind of rubs me the wrong way. The "z" is too casual to be professional.... Now there are no doubt some great uses for .biz and other people obviously think differently. (and maybe someday when I actually buy a .biz I will feel the same.

My suggestion, you are starting something new - take some more time and get a better non-hyphenated .com

I'm not worried about getting shot - your avatar suggests you prefer swords.... :hehe:

Peace,
Tarry G

 

[mojojo]

hypen.com is better than biz IMO. I do not like biz at all.

 

[mole]

.biz .....I don't know what it is but .biz (and this is totally personal) has a "hustler" kind of sound for me, like "hey lets do some "biz" together sometime.....". The extension just kind of rubs me the wrong way. The "z" is too casual to be professional....

BIZ is a common vernacular in business speak, eg. look at the Small Biz tab on http://www.businessweek.biz

 

[-db-]

.BIZ shares something in common with .US and .INFO - in that most people either love it or hate it. But I'm surprised there is so little support for .BIZ in a thread versus hyphenated domains. Maybe it's just because I'm accustomed to seeing people dislike hyphens so much. The role is reversed here.

Web-Hosting.com -OR- WebHosting.biz

Auto-Parts.com -OR- AutoParts.biz

Hmmmm.....

 

[floatingworld]

.BIZ shares something in common with .US and .INFO - in that most people either love it or hate it. But I'm surprised there is so little support for .BIZ in a thread versus hyphenated domains. Maybe it's just because I'm accustomed to seeing people dislike hyphens so much. The role is reversed here.

Web-Hosting.com -OR- WebHosting.biz

Auto-Parts.com -OR- AutoParts.biz

Hmmmm.....

yes, this is precisely the problem I have been having bounce around in my head.
The .biz looks better I have to say. maybe the real answer is that neither is OK, and that the trump answer is eg crapwebhosting.com and crapautoparts.com

 

[Gene]

To me, the main problem with a .biz is that it always looks like an afterthought. Couldn't get the .com or .net, so settled for the .biz. It also gives the impression that the business you're using it for isn't important enough to invest in a good .com. Those are my personal feelings about it anyway...

 

[floatingworld]

To me, the main problem with a .biz is that it always looks like an afterthought. Couldn't get the .com or .net, so settled for the .biz. It also gives the impression that the business you're using it for isn't important enough to invest in a good .com. Those are my personal feelings about it anyway...

hmm...one school of thought would take that argument further and say that all non .com extensions apart from ccTLD are an 'afterthought', even .net

 

[Carlton]

To me, the main problem with a .biz is that it always looks like an afterthought. Couldn't get the .com or .net, so settled for the .biz. It also gives the impression that the business you're using it for isn't important enough to invest in a good .com. Those are my personal feelings about it anyway...

Gene- That sentiment is generally held about anything non-com. It is changing gradually and I do expect us to see accelerated acceptance of the newer tld's in the coming year. It's already begun.

 

[seeker]

To me, the main problem with a .biz is that it always looks like an afterthought. Couldn't get the .com or .net, so settled for the .biz. It also gives the impression that the business you're using it for isn't important enough to invest in a good .com. Those are my personal feelings about it anyway...

with that line of thinking (and there is nothing wrong with it, many people share it), .net would look like an afterthought, as would any non .com extension.
and to be honest, doesnt example-domain.com with the '-' look like an afterthgought, and that the person/business couldnt get the non hyphenated version and settled for a '-'?
To take it further, doest any made up sounding .com (instead of a dictionary word describing what you do) look like an afterthouight and that they couldn't aford the real thing?
host.com vs. madeupwordhost.com

I know ebay and amazon for example are extremely successful. I also know that they couldnt afford auctions.com or books.com at the time.

.biz is very good for business related domains IMO, especially 1 word generic .biz domains

 

[Gene]

with that line of thinking (and there is nothing wrong with it, many people share it), .net would look like an afterthought, as would any non .com extension.

Gene- That sentiment is generally held about anything non-com. It is changing gradually and I do expect us to see accelerated acceptance of the newer tld's in the coming year. It's already begun.

I don't view "anything non-com" in the same light. .NET is quite acceptable, .US is really nice, .ORG is very good for the right kind of site, but .BIZ is the tld that sticks out like a sore thumb to me. It just reeks of 'amateur' business and "I couldn't get a better name". Again, that's my opinion.

and to be honest, doesnt example-domain.com with the '-' look like an afterthgought, and that the person/business couldnt get the non hyphenated version and settled for a '-'?

Yes. But I think it's the best of two evils in this case.

To take it further, doest any made up sounding .com (instead of a dictionary word describing what you do) look like an afterthouight and that they couldn't aford the real thing?

Not to the same degree, but yes, of course.

 

[MCDomains]

Depends on marketing, IMO. Hard to get word of mouth going at all with the hyphen...

"it's joke hyphen shop dot com" ... people are more likely to remember "joke shop dot biz" IMO!

assuming it's all online and not to be marketed outside of the computer realm, then .COM + hyphen all the way!

 

[Gene]

Depends on marketing, IMO. Hard to get word of mouth going at all with the hyphen...

"it's joke hyphen shop dot com" ... people are more likely to remember "joke shop dot biz" IMO!

assuming it's all online and not to be marketed outside of the computer realm, then .COM + hyphen all the way!

Absolutely agree (see my first reply in this thread: "Go with the dash, unless it needs to be vocalized."). It boils down to how you're going to use the domain. If the plan is to rely on search engine traffic, there's nothing wrong with a dash domain. But if it's a site that you will promote to the public verbally, the dash adds too much confusion. However, I would never opt for the .biz variation as the solution, especially if you do intend on heavy marketing. Much of the traffic will be lost to the .com counterpart.

 

[faisj]

I don't agree the .biz ext has value!
I just sold a domain at sedo ( .biz ) for $US 822

 

[Gene]

I don't agree the .biz ext has value!
I just sold a domain at sedo ( .biz ) for $US 822

ALL extensions have value to somebody! Again, it depends on what the site will be used for and it especially depends on how you intend to market it.

 

[mole]

ALL extensions have value to somebody! Again, it depends on what the site will be used for and it especially depends on how you intend to market it.

That is correct. B2B keywords fit best with this professional business space, or marketers who have both a b2c and b2b component in their playing arena eg. billboard.com and billboard.biz