Domain name research

February 24, 2006 9:00 AM

I'm looking for recent research on Web site names, looking at both branding and domain name selection, especially concerning non-standard (not .com, .net or .org) domains.

Some partners and I want to create a site. I have a domain/name I believe is perfect. Short, cute, catchy, clever. The partners all love it. But it is a domain hack. And everyone wants more research on domain names before going forward with it.

The site is targeted to metropolitan young professionals, so the audience is probably more Web-savvy than your standard Internet user, and more likely to be familiar with site names like Del.icio.us. But the site has a regional focus, so the number of potential audience members likely to be familiar/comfortable with those domain names is definitely much smaller than an international site like Del.icio.us.

My Google-fu fails me. Searching for research on choosing domain names brings up advice like this, targeted to a business site, which our site is not. Then from the opposite perspective, there's advice like this, which advises site owners to think beyond dot-com, but seems like advice based on little other than "Del.icio.us is popular!"

The biggest question is how much trouble non-techy audiences have finding or navigating to a domain hack. The second biggest question is how well or badly evocative words not literally related to the site's contents (think Amazon.com or Flickr.com) can work. Renaming the site post-launch if the name confuses the audience is not viable.

Advice -- with specific examples of names that worked or didn't -- is quite welcome. Links to any research that's been done would be most helpful. Thanks very much.

posted by grrarrgh00 to computers & internet (7 comments total)

you could always just register another bland, boring domain and when giving out the address, rather then giving out the crazy name, give out the boring name. For example, if your name was "goatse.cx" you could give out the domain "goatse-cx.com" or "goat-sex.net" (both of which is actually available)

For "del.icio.us" you could tell people to go to "bookmarksharing.net" (which is still available).

That's what I'd do, in your situation.
posted by delmoi at 9:10 AM on February 24, 2006

del-icio-us.com was probably available when icio.us was registered.
posted by delmoi at 9:11 AM on February 24, 2006

That's an option we're looking into. Although the dot-com alternative of our domain hack is currently taken, we would probably try to purchase it from the owner if we went ahead.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 9:13 AM on February 24, 2006

Much depends on whether any promotion you do for the site will be audible or in print (either on paper or screen).

If you're planning on some word of mouth it's a mixed bag as much word of mouth these days really comes from the web anyway.

I manage nearly a quarter million domain names for the company I work for and I can tell you that far less than 1% of those are domain hacks. Far less.

However, of the ones that are, there are a couple (and yes, I mean a couple) that have decent traffic. But none of them are business oriented, so whether they get traffic or not isn't really the issue for the owners.

There isn't a lot of information out there on hacks from a true business perspective because it's still an insanely small number of people registering these names. And it's usually digerati that do it. It's growing in popularity, but it's slow growth. There's even a Domain Hacks search engine now, so it may be the right time.

If the site has relevant, useful or fun conent people will find it. If it's links and printed promotion, people will get it. If you're relying solely on audible word of mouth I wouldn't go there.
posted by FlamingBore at 9:54 AM on February 24, 2006

I think del.icio.us is popular because it is a useful service, not because of its domain name. In fact I have always considered its domain name as a flaw rather than an advantage. If they hadn't tried to be so damn cute they could have just registered a standard .com domain like everyone else. I find that "del.icio.us" is a pain in the ass to remember how to type, not to mention trying to convey verbally to someone. Make your service reliable, easy to use, and well-designed. Don't try to be all cutesy about the name. IMHO of course.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:25 AM on February 24, 2006

FlamingBore, are most of the domains you manage keyword domains, or are they meant to be brands? One company with a quarter-million domains makes me think that most of those are of the www.best-vacation-spots.info variety, given the impossibility of actually managing 250,000 separate brands. Is that right, or am I totally off-base?
posted by grrarrgh00 at 12:04 PM on February 24, 2006

grrarrgh00 - neither actually. When I say manage I mean simply that, I'm a product manager for domains. I work for an Internet company that sells domain names.

So, in essence, it's not 250k separate brands, but it's closer to that than you'd think. We do have some customers who have lots of keyword domains, but the overwhelming majority of our customers are branded businesses of one variety or another.
posted by FlamingBore at 5:50 PM on February 24, 2006