My mistakes on choosing a domain name for web 2.0 / 3.0 startups

With the boom of internet website businesses, everyday new web 2.0 / 3.0 startups arise from different parts of the world. Yet as you notice their domain names, it all seems to be totally unmatched with the concept. But thanks to their big budget in marketing, their domain names do get noticed. Not all startups have that much of a budget, so it’s wise to really study the domain names so it doesn’t go to waste or need to spend more money on marketing. These are the mistakes that I had when I was first scouring for good domain names that would fit my ideas…

Grabing all extensions

– How much would you spend to secure all domain name extentions –

I spent countless hours thinking and coming up with unique domain names and combinations that I could think of. So when I found the domain name that I wanted, I was quite surprised to see so many other extensions available (.COM, .NET, .ORG, etc). I got so worried that anyone was going to grab my domain name that I registered all the extensions. BIG MISTAKE! It wasn’t the best investment to register all, instead grab the most important ones like .COM and .NET. I spent around $60 for all domain names (I even got the .CO.UK domain name). It doesn’t seem to be too big, but I could’ve just spent around $20 for the .COM / .NET.

We’re not yet Google to think about acquiring all those domain name extensions, and if we do get bigger and someone grabs those domain names in other extentions. You could always contest it with ICANN and get those domain names back once you own the trademark.

Singular or Plural or Both?

– One, two or All? –

I always had a hard time with this, I started to think what if the user types in my domain that is plural, where do they go? I wanted to secure traffic to my website so I registered both Singular and Plural. MISTAKE AGAIN! It cost me twice the amount yet traffic was just going to one domain name (the one I primarily used). It’s best to avoid this by getting a domain name that is almost plural proof (e.g. Directory or LetsTell). Or just secure the one that makes sense (e.g. TechFilipinos doesn’t seem to make much sense). But if you find that you really are caught in a dilemma then go for both to avoid wasting time and someone registering it before you.

Going for Misspelled / Typo

– Would this man remember if you told him your domain name? –

Yes, it’s really cool to have domain names that are very short (4 – 5 characters) but it’s not cool when people can’t even spell it out. If I was to tell you over the phone the URL of my domain name, would you know how to type it in your browser later on? It was attractive to grab those ones that have a slight 1 – 2 letter misspelled / typo, but you might suffer in people mistyping the address directly to their address bar (and going to another URL). It’s best to avoid this or just spend money on advertising if you really are decided to go with it.

If you’re interested in discussing more on domain names, let’s talk about it here on how we can make the most of our domain names.