Here’s a question that’s worth pondering over the weekend. Can a domain extension be good for a company but bad for a Domainer? This is top of mind for me because yesterday I wrote an article about .BANK, and people seemed to get confused about why I thought it was a good domain extension for banks.
With an extension like .BANK, domain investors actually can’t own it, you have to be a bank to buy it, so no – it’s not something for investors. That being said, it has a rigorous verification process that allows you and me as consumers to know that if a company is on a .BANK domain, they’re a real bank and not a scam.
As a domain investor my focus is .COM, period, the end. If you’re investing in domains I think your focus should also be .COM. I don’t think there’s any argument there.
Now, going back to my point above. If I’m a software developer and I want to build a portfolio site, what’s wrong with Morgan.dev? If I run a subscription service for wine, doesn’t Wine.club make a lot of sense?
All this being said, yes – I think companies should brand on a .COM in many cases. However let’s be honest, in some cases it’s not possible. So then the question is, do you pick a different name or pick a different extension? There are a TON of startups that have raised tens of millions of dollars on a .CO, .IO, .ME and many other extensions. Will they eventually buy the .COM? Maybe, but it’s clear that you can still build a great company without one.
Zoom bought Zoom.com only after they were a billion dollar company. They build a billion dollar company on a .US domain. While they now own the .COM, having a .US domain didn’t stop them from growing like crazy and becoming the company they are today. Of course, I wouldn’t invest in .US and I don’t think you should too.
Going back to my example from yesterday. With an extension like .BANK does that extra validation build trust over time? Sure, it may not have the brand recognition now but is it so crazy to think that it might over time?
Like I said, as an investor, I’m .COM all day, but when it comes to a business branding on a domain, do we really think that now and forever everyone has to pick .COM and that will never change?
I know this is a hot topic and a bunch of people are going to call me a “new gTLD lover” but I’m not, I’m a .COM lover, I just think that there are some domain extensions out there, like .BANK that aren’t for domain investors but could be a great fit for a bank. Make sense or did I lose my mind?
I want to hear from you, good or bad (and oh yeah, I know some bad is coming!) – comment and let your voice be heard!
As was stated yesterday, .bank is a terrible extension almost no usage and it has been shrinking for years, that is the “endusers” who are dropping them.
You are in the habit of make comments such as this “having a .US domain didn’t stop them from growing like crazy and becoming the company they are today.” This is why some (including myself) say you are slanted towards new tlds and alt tlds. And that is why you try to get in first with a fakish endorsement of .com on almost every post!
Zoom.us would have been a problem for them over years. A domain is probably 1% of the equation, but that does not mean a company should use a bad domain because it is only 1%. Should a company also use a known bad logo designer or ship things out slowly, because some companies can do well in spite of it?
Let’s remember what the founder of ycombinator said,
“There are of course examples of startups that have succeeded without having the .com of their name. There are startups that have succeeded despite any number of different mistakes. But this mistake is less excusable than most”
Paul Graham