discuss Why Dot-Best new tld may in fact be one of the "best"

[namemarket]

There seems to not be a lot of good potential keywords in front of .best These are my thoughts on that subject.

I believe one of the main perceived and quite possibly valid benefits of dot-best is keyword(s) do not necessarily need to be in front of "best" but can work without the best word in the name by being instead in the extension and which can replace the 'best' word by only being in the URL with extension.

For example, BestDomainName.com can be replaced with DomainName.Best and the search engines may rank it well or possibly even the same ranking, assuming the name is listed in the search index. A good example of that is as Cyril said 'Madeira Best' search results being the same or similar to 'Best Madeira' etc.

So the idea is BestKeyword.com or whatever can be replaced with Keyword.Best URL resulting in a shorter URL with search engines potentially giving value to the term by also using the reverse word order in the search index results. So in that random example the extension replaces a need to put the Best word in front of the dot.

I know it all sounds confusing but I have reasons to suspect this is actually correct and may be valid thinking and in fact I now personally like dot-best a lot and believe it's an excellent new extension, probably the "best" overall potential of any of the new tlds and certainly a good buy with the $1.98 promo, IMO.

 

[Jay Ha]

DumbAndDum.best is avail..

 

[Domaindogged]

https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-advanced-search-operators/

 

[Domains - Wanted]

Goodbetter.best

I think you missed one dot there... http://good.better.best

Wait! Here's a good one...

http://andrew.knows.best

.Best,
Andrew

 

[frank-germany]

I'm not sure if I am understanding this issue but a possible example where the .Best name may bring superior traffic and search engine returns is searching for "bestcancerdoctor.com" vs "bestcancerdoctor" but without typing-in the dot-com and also assuming the dot-best URL is indexed in the search engine..

Another advantage is there's likely to be far more people searching for that term without bothering to add an extension.

best.cancerdoctor

would make sense

 

[Joakim]

Well, some people didn't believe in the internet either..

In fact, all common TLDs have a certain meaning - and they all have a certain dot in front.

Commercial
Network
Organization
Best

It's more or less obscure and weird because we aren't used to it. We may never get used to it. But that is mainly psychological. Imo. And no, I'm not comparing those TLDs and have very much doubt as well on most nTLDs. But there's always opportunities and I certainly prefer working with an open mind and open eyes.

 

[johnnie018]

In fact, all common TLDs have a certain meaning - and they all have a certain dot in front.

Commercial
Network
Organization
Best

Only problem is very few care about meaning, they want the same extension everyone uses. For those who do want meaning .best domain mean nothing because the words are jumbled.

What market does .best have? Maybe a few people on a discussion forvum?

 

[Yusupbabay]

https://egy.best/

 

[Brands.International]

Act.Best is my favourite domain name, so many potential uses

 

[BrandableDomain]

Here are the BEST NameBio reported dot COM suffix sales:

NaturalBest.com $25,000
BestBest.com $13,401
SinoBest.com $10,911
USbest.com $6,900
cubest.com $5,000
gerbest.com $4,108
IsBest.com $4,000
VoteForTheBest.com $4,000
IndiaBest.com $3,888
BakersBest.com $3,405
GardensBest.com $3,400
TheAbsoluteBest.com $3,388
MensBest.com $3,188
MomKnowsBest.com $3,000
CompareBest.com $3,000
ColoradosBest.com $3,000
FreshIsBest.com $2,950
ToolBest.com $2,888
GetBest.com $2,800
BitBest.com $2,500
AsiaBest.com $2,500
FiveBest.com $2,500
ParentsKnowBest.com $2,500
DaBest.com $2,500

Natural.best is or was available a couple of hours ago at Uniregistry for $239.04. Renewal price also $239.04. (Maybe that will change in August?)

Level.best is registered.

Absolute.best is registered.

Ten.best is registered.

Buy.best is registered.

 

[Yusupbabay]

I park this domain at bodis.com and for 4 days have a parking income of $ 0.26.

anyone can explain why the new extension can have parking revenue

 

[Bob Hawkes]

.Best is hard to use in businesses as it may easily lead to false/misleading advertising that may be illegal. It is hard for a business owner to prove that his companies or his product is the best. So we should be careful when investing in .best domains. I think .best can be well used for review websites.

You raise a good point about misleading advertising, although with best open to interpretation I suspect a case would be so difficult to prove that it is unlikely to be attempted. For example I was just browsing PDR and they proudly proclaim "The Industry Leader in Domain Industry Solutions" Now I suspect that GD and others might dispute that claim, but doubt we will ever see an action partly because there is wiggle room in both leader and domain industry definitions. Just my non-legal opinion but I agree that the point you raise is a potential concern.

I also agree strongly that the most appropriate use of the extension will be in review/discussion/announcement type sites. The social media experience and plans of the registry tie into that as well.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

best.cancerdoctor

would make sense

Ah I went to look but someone already has BestCancer(.) doctor registered although I think there are other possibilities. I noticed that BestFoot(.)doctor is for example available at reg fee. I even thought of regging it but my credit card is frozen in ice in the freezer .

Seriously, @frank-germany makes a good point that existing TLDs can be used to say some of the same phrases in more linguistically correct ways.

Bob

 

[Joe N]

For example, BestDomainName.com can be replaced with DomainName.Best and the search engines may rank it well or possibly even the same ranking, assuming the name is listed in the search index. A good example of that is as Cyril said 'Madeira Best' search results being the same or similar to 'Best Madeira' etc.

I've seen a few people talking about the .best TLD and pumping it as a big SEO advantage, but this strikes me as just plain false.

My understanding is that the domain name itself carries very little weight when it comes to ranking power. The key advantage of a strong domain name nowadays is brandability and perceived authority. And when you go with a TLD like .best, which most people and businesses have never heard of, those critical value factors take a big hit.

 

[NameLlama]

On April 1, ICANN should release PreTLDs, like best.
Then we can have
best.price
best.sellers
best.deals
best.games
best.friends
best.wishes
best.recipes

 

[Bob Hawkes]

On April 1, ICANN should release domain Prefixes, like best.
Then we can have

HaHa .... good idea.... why stop there? com is officially a prefix according to dictionaries, and i suspect that the prefix com with various things would sell well . And why not top as a great prefix?

By the way the existing owners of a few of these would probably protest though. For example the nice name best(.)recipes has been registered since 2015.

Bob

 

[NameLlama]

HaHa .... good idea.... why stop there? com is officially a prefix according to dictionaries, and i suspect that the prefix com with various things would sell well . And why not top as a great prefix?

By the way the existing owners of a few of these would probably protest though. For example the nice name best(.)recipes has been registered since 2015.

Bob

Didn't think about that. .deals and .games ar extensions too

 

[NameLlama]

I've found another best of the .best
Sunday.best
available! $959.04 Renewal $959.04 http://sundaybest.com/ http://www.sundaybest.net/

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The key advantage of a strong domain name nowadays is brandability and perceived authority.

I agree with you 100% Joe IF you are talking about a SINGLE domain name for a large company.

But I think it is important to see that domain names, in addition to that use, also (at the right price and with the right promotion) find application for non-business organizations, for specific marketing campaigns, and for reference/review/sharing sites. They also sometimes see use for personal/celebrity/influencer/ etc. sites. To me we should be viewing .best primarily for use in the these categories, rather than as a competitor for .com as a single domain for a large business (and the co CEO has mentioned exactly that).

Best is a widely used word (a bit over 18 billion Google results for me today) and is at least in English easily remembered. I think at the right price point some small enterprises may like the name when combined with the product or service they offer as being memorable in an important way for a few person startup. I agree, in most cases not brandable, but if they go with a madeup word they essentially start at zero in recognition. To demonstrate this go to a brandable marketplace, read 50 names, wait one day. How many can you repeat exactly? You see one of those names on a bus poster how likely you remember it correctly from one exposure? On the other hand, lets say I have a little store selling golf clubs. As of writing this I can pick up GolfClubs (best) at reg fee and non-premium renewal. I would argue that domain is far more memorable form a single exposure experience than a brandable. Now the struggle that any new gTLD has is to be the best available TLD at a price the user will pay.

Anyway, my main point is that unless we are only talking domain resales in the 4 figure and up range we should not be thinking only of what names are good as the main name for a large company. And occasionally even big name companies pay big bucks for a name that describes their product or service, as opposed to their company brandable name. To my knowledge CPAP still plan to use that name, but they paid $500,000 last year for sleeping.com, as one example.

Bob

 

[Joe N]

I agree with you 100% Joe IF you are talking about a SINGLE domain name for a large company.

But I think it is important to see that domain names, in addition to that use, also (at the right price and with the right promotion) find application for non-business organizations, for specific marketing campaigns, and for reference/review/sharing sites. They also sometimes see use for personal/celebrity/influencer/ etc. sites. To me we should be viewing .best primarily for use in the these categories, rather than as a competitor for .com as a single domain for a large business (and the co CEO has mentioned exactly that).

Best is a widely used word (a bit over 18 billion Google results for me today) and is at least in English easily remembered. I think at the right price point some small enterprises may like the name when combined with the product or service they offer as being memorable in an important way for a few person startup. I agree, in most cases not brandable, but if they go with a madeup word they essentially start at zero in recognition. To demonstrate this go to a brandable marketplace, read 50 names, wait one day. How many can you repeat exactly? You see one of those names on a bus poster how likely you remember it correctly from one exposure? On the other hand, lets say I have a little store selling golf clubs. As of writing this I can pick up GolfClubs (best) at reg fee and non-premium renewal. I would argue that domain is far more memorable form a single exposure experience than a brandable. Now the struggle that any new gTLD has is to be the best available TLD at a price the user will pay.

Anyway, my main point is that unless we are only talking domain resales in the 4 figure and up range we should not be thinking only of what names are good as the main name for a large company. And occasionally even big name companies pay big bucks for a name that describes their product or service, as opposed to their company brandable name. To my knowledge CPAP still plan to use that name, but they paid $500,000 last year for sleeping.com, as one example.

Bob

Bob, I definitely see the logic of what you're saying. It's just that real world application doesn't seem to agree. It's all well and good to espouse the benefits of a well-priced .best name, and to point out how much sense it makes for a business to buy one for promotional use, but it's all rainbows and unicorns until we see evidence that these things actually sell in the aftermarket (and not just by the registry).

 

[Joe N]

Act.Best is my favourite domain name, so many potential uses

Show attachment 112858

I see the uses, but none of them strike me as commercial. "Act best" is kind of a grammatically awkward behavioural suggestion.

There seem to be no companies advertising with these keywords... and while the .com version is in use, the "Act" portion is actually an acronym for something else, and the "best" looks like it was just an extra word tacked on because they couldn't get Act.com.

What are the many potential uses that make this name valuable?

 

[Kate]

It's kinda funny that new TLDs are released all the time, and each time domainers think the new kid on the block is going to perform better than the previous ones.
Promised, this one is going to be the 'bestest' of the best.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Bob, I definitely see the logic of what you're saying. It's just that real world application doesn't seem to agree. It's all well and good to espouse the benefits of a well-priced .best name, and to point out how much sense it makes for a business to buy one for promotional use, but it's all rainbows and unicorns until we see evidence that these things actually sell in the aftermarket (and not just by the registry).

I don't disagree with what you say, and in fact have said more or less exactly several times on NPs that almost all domain investments are imho risky, that extensions without a record of sales are even more risky, and I have said this I think in two posts re .best in particular.

My argument was not meant as encouragement for others to invest in .best, but rather to point out that I think sometimes the domain name discussion focuses too narrowly on whether a domain name is suitable for a big business brand name as the only possible application. Yes, if you are selling single word .com for 5 or 6 figures or more, that is your market. But tons of domains sell to end users at small amounts for other uses.

Probably the .best people won't like my comparison in following two paragraphs, but I can tell you how I personally view the situation. I like domain phrases and if there is one thing I hope to leave the domain industry with, other than trying to take a balanced, quantitative, logical and respectful look at things (like you always do by the way), is push the needle in the marketing community to use domain names for marketing phrases. That is what got me back into domain names a couple of years ago, and although I own a variety of types of names, that is still my greatest interest personally. I do see that .best works (along with others like .life, .fun, .world, and many others) so i was interested in the extension.

I also am very risk averse. Right now I see an opportunity to get some (to me) nice domain phrases with rather small risk (the Dynadot promotion). I am not looking for $$$$+ sales. If I sell a name for $750 I am ecstatic, even at $200 I have a great day. Yes, absolutely little track record for .best (2 I think public record sales, 1 in NameBio). Although the new owners have only been running it really since mid fall (bought months earlier than that). So maybe too early to know.

When I started investing in .fun, another TLD I liked a lot for phrase possibilities it had been around for some time and there were no sales above $200 and very few at any level (there now is a registry one at $11,500). Anyway, I liked phrases, I spent $20 or so in investing in .fun domains. I sold one two months ago for $160. Not much but 150x my cost of that name and considerably more than all of my .fun in total. My personal view of .best is for me it makes sense to get some that make good phrases while they are still available. If I sell one, I way more than cover all my costs. If I sell none, it is a risk I accept and live with.

Only invest in domains what you can afford to lose. My mantra.

Bob

 

[JB Lions]

What I mentioned earlier, spend a little time reading today when these first came out, the year 1 new gtlds. You'll start to see a pattern. I picked March 2014 - https://www.namepros.com/s/forums/gtld-discussion.217/page-100

Just check some pages before and after, read around some threads, all the predictions on those early ones.

We were talking about:
.tips
.band
.menu
.sexy
.voyage
.taxi
.pizza
.guru

just some of titles, I remember some big discussion on .voyage, not a term people really use today but people swore it was the next big deal:
Did People Fall Asleep on .Voyage?? -
Dot .Band - I predict success, but...

Is it true what I said most of the sales are at the beginning, first few years then they drop off? Pick one, .tips:
https://namebio.com/?s==UTOyQDM5AjM

Reported Sales
2019 - 0
2018 - 3
2017 - 5
2016 - 2
2015 - 13

Sales over $1,000
2019 - 0
2018 - 0
2017 - 1
2016 - 1
2015 - 10

Pick any first year new gltd, look at sales. Are they getting worse or better?

 

[dande]

Most nGTLD are simply not well thought out.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

none of them strike me as commercial.

Would the following strike you as commercial? (I know a few are, but at first glance). All of these sold in the past year (NameBio listed) for $5000+. My point is there is a whole spectrum of types of uses for domains.

• new.earth
• air.space
• have.fun
• candy.club
• spiritual.life
• face.top
• fan.top
• awakening.global
• preserve.life
• life.club
• real.men
• summit.global
• rex.one

Bob