Two word .COM vs. One word .ANYTHING – which is better?

dotcom-vs-dotanything

Here’s a question that I’m seeing come up more and more – should you go with your ideal one-word name and choose a non .COM, or should you enter the two-word market where there are tons of options and lower prices?

Of course there’s no right or wrong here, but as usual, I’ll share my opinion and I’m interested to hear yours. I personally think the answer changes depending on what you’re using the domain name for. If you’re building an app I think you’re going to care about app store rankings the most, and going with a one-word non .COM is probably a fine move. On the other hand, if you’re a consumer-facing startup and driving people to your website is how you get customers, a two-word .COM might be a better bet.

Think about the difference here. An app like Vine isn’t depending on people asking, “hmmm, I wonder if it’s on Vine.com or Vine.co?” Instead people go to the app store and search for Vine.

Now think of a consumer looking for a new product or service, they aren’t likely heading to the app store. If they’ve heard of you through word-of-mouth there’s a good chance they’ll go to to yourname.com and if you own it, great, if not, the traffic’s going to someone else.

What do you think? Comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton