Do not build a brand on a .net domain
One of my domain regrets is not purchasing ChrisGuthrie.com, but then again my foray into online business hadn't begun until 2005 (a year after ChrisGuthrie.com had been registered by a fellow Chris Guthrie). I have contacted the original owner twice over the span of about a year. My original offer was $500 and my next offer was $1,000 to which Chris still declined. My legal name is Christopher Guthrie, but as fate would have it ChristopherGuthrie.com was taken as well so that option had been closed as well. So I was out of options.
What should you do when all of your primary .com choices are taken and you can't buy the .com?
Go to your secondary .com domain choice! The only reason you should settle for a .net domain is when there is a chance for search engine traffic based on the quality of the domain.
Unfortunately, I didn't do that with this blog here. I decided to buy ChrisGuthrie.net and start a blog on it anyway. I had made up my mind that although I would be writing about running an online business I still would like the option to make my blog have a more personal tone. I was mistaken in my decision.
Building a brand on a .net domain is not smart to do unless you own the .com as well.
Are there instances where people have successfully built a .net brand without the .com? Yes, but when you're starting fresh why not find a .com that isn't in use instead?
Most .com domains are always for sale and if you have the money I highly recommend you go for the .com instead of settling for one of the TLD's. A .com can cost ten times as much as a .net but if you look down the road at your exit strategy it will be much more difficult to sell your site to another company if you've built your brand on a .net domain and don't own the .com.
What do you think? Is it worth it to try and build a brand on a .net domain?
As a follow up, I finally acquired ChristopherGuthrie.com my second .com choice from years ago. Should I consider moving my blog via 301 redirect so that I can work to build my brand on a .com instead?
Tagged: .net domain
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If you look at the whole envato marketplace ie (ThemeForest.net, GraphicRiver.net etc) they are huge and all run off of .net domains. Problogger.net did the same and only recently bought the .com.
I was lucky and managed to grab both the Chris and Christopher .com’s of my name. However as you have started out with the shorter ‘Chris’ domain, moving over to the longer one may not be so wise. Maybe hold out until you can get the chrisguthrie.com?
But as the first comment said, .net branding can be done!
I suppose I should restate my position – .net branding can be done, but whenever possible just go with the .com
I don’t think I’ll be able to get chrisguthrie.com without offering up significantly more money. I may move it to ChristopherGuthrie.com….
I was just about to say that you can still create a brand on a .net domain but it is always good to start it off on .com but then a read the comment you left. A lot of people out there have been very successful with their .net domains. The defining factor is how much work you put into building your brand.
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