Why get non-com versions?

[IanBo]

Is it worth the money to get the us and info and org [maybe even net] versions of a domain?

Is it useful to get anything more than com at all?

What I'm thinking, specifically - besides dominating pagerank with multiple sites, if SEO [e.g., rank 1] is totally attainable with one website. . . . would it be more than just a buy and sell for the rest of the endings? Would it be worth it to keep the other sites and "cross-link" for traffic? Or would it be better to sell the other sites and get traffic elsewhere and make money?

 

[ulasbbtr]

if you develop, the answer is yes.
if you park, the answer is it depends.

 

[lincolndsp]

if that's a keyword rich domain, it's worth considering to get them all and create a network of sites for SEO purposes, that's what i'd do.)

 

[Takwa]

For local companies their local domain is perferred over .com, as it is said to come up better on the local search engine.

it really depends on the domain name, if it's a high searched keyeord in that country then yes, if it's just a name you thought of and plan to develop it then, i will say no, until your dot com has proved to be a success.

 

[Eric]

I would say yes it's useful to go after other extensions. A lot of it is going to depend on the keyword(s) you're going after. Some extensions are only worth it if you plan to develop, especially ccTLD's.

 

[JoshuaPz]

End-users purchase based on keywords first, extension second. Thus far I have achieved better ROI flipping .NET/.ORG domains to end-users than I have flipping .COM domains. I've found that when a small/mid-sized company knows it could achieve the same organic search benefits with Keyword.com vs. Keyword.net but Keyword.com is priced 20 times higher than the .net, in most cases they will purchase the .net.

If I had to start domaining again, I would probably catch strong-keyword .NETs/.ORGs for regfee, quick-flip them for low/mid $XXX, then re-invest my profits in strong-keyword .COMs, which tend to receive more unsolicited offers than the .NET/.ORG equivalents do. I refer to this practice as TLDing your way up!

If you're in the market solely to sell to domainers (which you shouldn't be if you know what's best for you), then you should probably stick with .COM as domainers tend to underrate the values of strong-keyword .NETs/.ORGs.

 

[rafaelrls]

If the name is your brand name I think it is good to buy .com .net and .org at least and even your local name (.us in the case). If the name it is not your brand name maybe you can just buy the .com version.

 

[gamingmaster]

It depends on the traffic and keywords you get.

 

[IanBo]

So does everyone generally buy multiple versions of their domains?

 

[Name Trader]

I don't think so. I've begun dropping the .net/.org of my .com. But of course it depends on the keywords.

 

[snoop]

End-users purchase based on keywords first, extension second.

If this was true you'd see huge numbers of endusers using .net/.org, .info etc. 99% think extension first, keyword second. They generally will not compromise on the extension.

---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:49 PM ----------

So does everyone generally buy multiple versions of their domains?

Overall I'd say it is a waste of reg fee. Unless you are really serious about developing one name and want to keep competitors out.

A lot of the time though people register a .com (which may or may not be worth registering) then they get on the prune juice and completely blow out their holding costs by registering a whole lot of other extension that have no chance of being worth anything. This is particularly true for people new to the industry.

 

[bmugford]

Totally disagree there. There are tons of developed .NET/ORG sites. The reason you don't see them is because you never look for potential end users.

Keyword first, extension second as JoshuaPz said. But it is important the extension has credibility (COM/NET/ORG) ccTLD and others in certain situations.

No one is going to run a website on some extremely obscure extension.

No offense Snoop, but while you hold some great domains you are no authority figure on the potential of NET/ORG domains. You have said in the past that you do not contact end users, so there is no way you can speak on the potential. That is where the bread and butter sales for those extensions come from.

I guarantee I could sell any good keyword .NET for way more money than a mediocre .COM

So I guess in the end it depends on your business model.

Brad

If this was true you'd see huge numbers of endusers using .net/.org, .info etc. 99% think extension first, keyword second. They generally will not compromise on the extension.

 

[snoop]

Totally disagree there. There are tons of developed .NET/ORG sites. The reason you don't see them is because you never look for potential end users.

Keyword first, extension second as JoshuaPz said. But it is important the extension has credibility (COM/NET/ORG) ccTLD and others in certain situations.

No one is going to run a website on some extremely obscure extension.

No offense Snoop, but while you hold some great domains you are no authority figure on the potential of NET/ORG domains. You have said in the past that you do not contact end users, so there is no way you can speak on the potential. That is where the bread and butter sales for those extensions come from.

I guarantee I could sell any good keyword .NET for way more money than a mediocre .COM

So I guess in the end it depends on your business model.

Brad

You can simply compare the numbers of of companies using .com domains versus .net and .org domains. It is plain to see most go with .com. When the .com they want is gone most go with a weaker .com, rarely is the choice .net or anything else.

The registration statistics speak for themselves.

Domain Name Counts

Does that look like a world where most people go with .net or .org if they can't get the .com they want?

 

[bmugford]

Yeah, they do. It just proves there are far more worthless .COM that are registered than alternate extensions.

Here is a real life example.

If your business is selling Horses, one of the most in demand terms is "Horses For Sale" with 300K exact searches a month.

You can tell the demand for it by the 450 domains that contain "HorsesForSale" or "Horses-For-Sale"

There are hundreds of companies that pay for the term. Only one of those can have the exact match HorsesForSale.com. This is out of the budget of most companies.

When looking for an alternate domain the vast majority of companies are not going to go with a brandable for a business based on keyword like this. This leaves very limited options. What prefix or suffix are you going to add to "HorsesForSale" in .COM that would be appealing?

This leaves an exact match in other extensions appealing. This is an actual example that I can speak on, and it is not even related to a NET/ORG. It is related to HorsesForSale.us, which I back ordered last month for $59 and am negotiating a sale in the low $X,XXX range with several interested parties.

I deal with end users on a daily basis and you don't.

When your eyes are closed you will never see the light.

Brad

You can simply compare the numbers of of companies using .com domains versus .net and .org domains. It is plain to see most go with .com. When the .com they want is gone most go with a weaker .com, rarely is the choice .net or anything else.

The registration statistics speak for themselves.

Domain Name Counts

Does that look like a world where most people go with .net or .org if they can't get the .com they want?

 

[snoop]

This leaves very limited options. What prefix or suffix are you going to add to "HorsesForSale" in .COM that would be appealing?

horsesforsale[location]
[location]horsesforsale
horses4sale...similar combination's
horsesforsaleonline
[brandingword]horsesforsale
[horsetype]horsesforsale

I could list combinations all day.

Type "horsesforsale" into google and you can see all the variants that get used, how many are using .net's?

You can tell the demand for it by the 450 domains that contain "HorsesForSale" or "Horses-For-Sale"

Surely that shows what most people do? They use variations of it.

When looking for an alternate domain the vast majority of companies are not going to go with a brandable for a business based on keyword like this.

Are you looking at google?

Here is some examples,

www.horse2buy.com
www.horsedeals.co.uk
www.prehorsesforsale.com
arabiansites.com
www.horsetopia.com

 

[bmugford]

Variations don't have the SEO benefits of an exact keywords match.

Regardless, I am not going to get into a pissing contest. If you are REALLY interested in how lucrative this model can be you don't have to trust me. Contact Federer, or any of the other number of end user specialists.

BTW, since .NET is so bad let me know before you drop HealthCare.net

I didn't see any .NET results for "Health Care" on the top 15 pages of Google results, so I guess there must be limited value there by your logic.

Brad

horsesforsale[location]
[location]horsesforsale
horses4sale...similar combination's
horsesforsaleonline
[brandingword]horsesforsale
[horsetype]horsesforsale

I could list combinations all day.

Type "horsesforsale" into google and you can see all the variants that get used, how many are using .net's?



Surely that shows what most people do? They use variations of it.

 

[snoop]

Variations don't have the SEO benefits of an exact keywords match.

Regardless, I am not going to get into a pissing contest. If you are REALLY interested in how lucrative this model can be you don't have to trust me. Contact Federer, or any of the other number of end user specialists.

BTW, since .NET is so bad let me know before you drop HealthCare.net.

I didn't see any .NET results for "Health Care" on the top 15 pages of Google results, so I guess there must be limited value there by your logic.

Brad

Now you are really on a tangent.

The debate is not about what you think is lucrative, healthcare.net or seo benefits.

You claimed people choose keyword first, extension second. Looking at registration data and what people actually use in google that clearly is not the case. Let's keep the discussion on track.

 

[bmugford]

I have made all points I wanted to make. Congrats on the sale of Libel.com BTW.

Brad

 

[Expron]

I scratch my head to see some sales of .net domains that are for example: double keyword.

Perhaps these individuals registering the less than KING .com extensions don't see the importance of .com & have accepted to develop or keep the domain because of the extension. Like ,net = network & .org = organization. I see developed sites in .net & the .com is a parked page. I am just sharing my thoughts. I have held on to .net domains myself, some since late 1999 - early 2000 - because back then the net meant network & I didn't think or care about .com. Leaving the .com available.

I started domaining in late 2007, before that I was strictly a designer / developer. I could give two hoots about .com for about 11 years. Maybe there's a bunch of non-domainers who think like I used to?

I have to catch myself from staring down .net's to buy & on drop lists, disciplining myself as a domainer. There's a lot of people who "don't get it yet" I guess to maximize their potential.

 

[IanBo]

So since this is my thread and this is Domain Discussion, I do have a question.

I recently got that "DomainAquarius.com" and "AquariusDomain" is "brandable" and only worth reg.

What's your take on this? I pointed out that Aquarius is the first non-tm in top keywords and ranked 14.

Whether to lable it a "brand" - I'm new at this - but it does seem to have a specific territory as a domain [aquarius personalities and meeting up (or whatever aqarius are attracted to . . meh, astrology)] which I thought gave it value.

Would it not be easily rank 1? There's already a site above wiki, and a hotel below it [wiki being number 2]. For an online-targeted website [especially since it's member specific] - what's your ranking of the domain name(s)? how much would a domainer and an end-user pay [or would you pay]?

TIA.
IanBo.