If you read TechCrunch on a daily basis you start to see a lot of trends in the brand names that startups are picking. Brand names are directly related to domain names and if you look today, the startups making news now are short and brandable, and two-word domains are definitely still very much in style. While you will find other TLDs like .CO, .ME, and sometimes .TV in the mix, .COM is definitely the king and .NET and .ORG are rarely seen.
So what happened to .NET and .ORG? Well extensions like .CO, .ME, .TV, .IO and several others gave people what they consider to be better options. Everyone agreed that .COM would be their absolute first choice, but in going for a second choice .NET isn’t favored over some of the newer and more brandable extensions.
Often it is startups that want to brand around a one-word domain that opt for an alternative extension to .COM. A good one word .COM could easy cost over $350,000 and when you’re just starting a company, this isn’t feasible. So starting with a .CO or a .ME for $5,000 – $10,000 may be the best way to get started, and then you can buy the .COM once the company becomes profitable.
I work a lot with startups and this is the behavior I’m seeing and a reason why I think .CO was so smart to focus on the startup space. I have been surprised how quickly .IO has caught on but I think this has to do with the fact that IO is nice and geeky, and startup people like myself are also pretty geeky π
It is a tough debate but one that many startups have to make. Go with a brandable two-word .COM like InternMatch.com or ChowNow.com? Or build a brand around Chow.me or Intern.co while you build a profitable business and the funds to buy a one word .COM. There’s no right answer but here are the startup domains that are making news on TechCrunch today:
ShopKick.com
Thumb.it (Brands itself as “Thumb”)
What do you think? Would you pick a two-word brandable .COM or a one-word dictionary .ME, .CO, etc.? Or would you just make-up a word like Jongla or Ayasdi and stick with a brandable one word .COM?
Comment and let your voice be heard!

To me, relevancy is important, something that is completely obscure, while it may be catchy, snappy, memorable, all good traits in a brand name, if it doesn’t describe the product or service directly, well, I think that’s a little loose. So in regards to your question of one word or two word brand names, it depends on what is most relevant to my product / service. A name like Jongla will require so much more of a push to get your brand into the minds of consumers, what could it possibly pertain to? The names above that I like at shopkick.com – ecommerce / retail, chownow.com – food / restaurant directory, internmatch.com – internships, lovefilm.com – movie reviews, and I love Tred.com because it is short, but not sure what it best pertains to. I haven’t visited any of the domains, but I can attach meaning to them. The others, I have no clue, they are obscure.