Ask HN: Is .org ok for a startup?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=559361

by mattberg • 17 years ago

2 9 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Obviously you will always want the .com of a domain, but what if the next best extension available is .org? With many people locating your site by just searching for the name anyway, I wonder if it really matters as much these days.

For the domain that I am currently looking at, the .com and .net both just redirect to some generic keyword search page.

mkyc• 17 years ago

Find some concrete data that compares the two. HN probably isn't a sufficient sample. What sort of startup is it?

It might be easier to make up a new name than to settle for .org. A site like boingboing.net does well enough - though I often forget the URL because the .net isn't part of the brand. I've seen links to boingboing.org/com, which might have an effect on search rankings. If you do choose .org, make the .org memorable.

pg2• 17 years ago

Probably not. The "next best" is likely to be found by traversing the space of available names, not the space of available extensions.

rms2• 17 years ago

My best luck with generating domain names has been sitting down with my cofounder at instantdomainsearch with us simultaneously brainstorming.

That didn't work for my most recent domain. Try http://www.bustaname.com/ or code your own for increased speed/flexibility.

SwellJoe2• 17 years ago

Appending "get" to the front seems a popular alternative. getdropbox.com, getballpark.com, getclicky.com, etc. It is pretty easy to remember (I pulled three off the top of my head just now without thinking hard, and I don't use any of those services).

pg2• 17 years ago

Except about 80% of the time I send mail to someone at dropbox, I send it to whoever@dropbox.com first.

There are always good names available. You don't need to stick get on the front, or use a .net name, or pull a del.icio.us. Just fire up instantdomainsearch and find another name.

SwellJoe2• 17 years ago

Valid point. Now that you mention it, I have tried to email people at the .com when I needed the .net, and I have also mailed people at noun.com when I needed verbnoun.com.

And, I have been surprised to find that if I keep banging away at it, I do eventually find a good name. I was looking for a name for a new site to host some Flash brain games I've been working on, and it only took about 20 minutes of searching to find a domain I loved. I had to make up a word, but there aint no harm in that, I reckon, as long as it isn't too long or too hard to spell.

rms2• 17 years ago

I have a domain with "get" in front of it and I think it's a great domain. However it's an ecommerce site where the goal of the user is literally to get the product offered. For web services it's not a good idea.

bgnm2000• 17 years ago

try dotomator.com - my best friend when finding names

mattberg• 17 years ago

Thanks everyone, pretty much the response I was expecting. I think I will just try harder to find a .com.

Ask HN: Is .org ok for a startup?

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