Singular or Plural – How to Choose a Name
By Alan on Oct 28, 2008 in Branding
Singular or Plural? .com, net or .org? These are questions asked by newbies every day when looking for the perfect domain. Take a name like CowboyHat.com which just sold for $16,000 on NameJet. I’m sure most domainers who are relatively new in this industry are scratching their heads and appraising some of their own names – If CowboyHat.com went for this much mine has to be worth this much?
I’m going to say this again for people who haven’t read some of my earlier posts.
Do not get wrapped up in the prices of domains at NameJet.
Yes, there are some good deals that happen every day but there are also many names that go much higher than they ever would if placed on another forum. The name above may very well be worth 16k or more but for most newbies its a lot of change and you’re battling against the proper tense to build a brand around.
Remember, its auction mentality and you have people with deep pockets where 16k is chump change. NameJet is addictive. Domain buying is addictive. It’s a game for some and you can get wrapped up really easy.
There is no easy way to valuate domain names and anyone worth a penny in this business will tell you all the appraisals available are more valuable for the paper they are written on than the information they provide.
Maybe the buyer saw value in parking, maybe he owns CowboyHats.com (defensive registration with traffic quality) – who knows for sure but again, if it’s worth 16k to him that’s cool and congrats on winning the name.
However, back to singular or plural for newbies and brand builders.
If you are buying a domain to develop as your MAIN site than get the right tense.
Sure, you can buy 1,000’s of secondary domains in wrong tenses, alternate extensions and hyphens to feed them in to your MAIN site by forwarding, mini sites etc but please for your main site, your benchmark, the brand you are trying to build – get the right tense.
If the .com is not available in the correct tense for your brand you may even be tempted to think the wrong tense is still ok but seriously, don’t do it.
If you have to settle for a .net or .org in the right tense my opinion is buy and develop around the .net or .org.
Again, if you’re buying to develop a MAIN site.
You want to show a professional image behind your brand and the wrong tense can tarnish that professional appeal – in some cases, it can even make you look stupid.
.com is king but .net and .org are the queens and I would rather have a great queen than a secondary king any day.
Its all about content – build it and they will come.
When they do, try not to look like an ass.
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Scott | Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
I agree with going after the correct tense, that is, if you can’t get both.
However, the same logic you use to go after the correct tense, the
“You want to show a professional image behind your brand and the wrong tense can tarnish that professional appeal – in some cases, it can even make you look stupid.”
can just as easily, and some opinions moreso, be applied to acquiring the .com version over the .net or .org.
After all, how serious of a CowboyHats dealer are you with a domain like CowboyHats.org? If you were that good, wouldn’t you own the .com?
I think you are right on the tense and that’s a good point to make, but I believe every situation is unique and that dismissing the .com shouldn’t be done so quickly.
Alan | Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
Scott,
Some good points and I’m certainly not dismissing the .com but I do think we have reached a stage where proper tense is more important than extension if someone is building a brand based on a generic domain name.
Of course, I’m not talking about trademarks. Pepsi, Verizon, Coke - there are lots of reasons why global brands like this obviously want the .com but these terms are trademarks and it only makes sense to get the .com for the word they created.
However, most small business who try build out “generic” domains - will never reach a global identity where everyone knows their name and I think the loss of credibility is not as much as everyone thinks. Its about content more than anything else.
There are many examples where the .com is designed horribly or just a parked page whereas the .net or .org have been transformed into these great sites. Your content will dictate your credibility more than your extension. Sure .com rules the world but a good .net or .org in the correct tense is not going to hurt your credibility - in my opinion. I would say the wrong tense would cause people not to take you as serious more than the extension. Of course, I’m not talking about the .me’s of the world – just net or org.
Again, some good points – appreciate the comments.
Ms Domainer | Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
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Please get the terminology correct. “Tense” has to do with verbs and time, not nouns and plural/singular, like cowboy hats/cowboy hat.
Example: write vs. wrote or publish vs. published. (Or publishes, as in “She publishes a book.”)
But I do agree that it’s often tricky selecting the best domain name, and the plural/singular conundrum can be confusing. I recently set up a website for my ex-husband’s business: ElectricianPA.com, and ElectriciansPA.com redirects to it. Better to be safe than sorry.
Thank you.
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Sammy Ashouri | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
Absolutely wonderful article.
I recently managed to pick up a “PERFECT” .ORG domain. It also gets natural type-in traffic (30+ uniques/day) which made me love it even more. I also had the opportunity to pick up the e[keyword].com a couple days ago since it was expiring. I couldn’t think of which one to use as a personal website. I absolutely loved the .org and the keyword seriously was precious for me… but then the availability of the e[keyword].com really started to mess with me. Should I go for image with a great keyword.org or ekeyword.com?
I went with the keyword.org. It was just irresistible and the name has seriously turned some heads when I mentioned it to some people. The eKeyword.com? No traffic. I can’t say it was a waste of money since I like making sure the brand is protected in anyway I can, but I’m extremely happy with the .org and owning the eKeyword.com allowed me to potentially have future branding power in case I needed it.
.com is great and I love .net… but sometimes we really need to reconsider things. I’d love to brand a generic .net/.org rather than a crappy .com anyday!
Liverpoolian | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
This is an interesting point and it not written enough about it. I would be interested if its worth registering also with and “s” at the end. For example, tshirts or tshirt.com. Its a thought.
Whatever | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
If you think that CowboyHats.net is better than CowboyHat.com, you smoke crack.
Liverpoolian | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
no way, .com is better any day
Alan | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
Funny, no crack here my friend. Mushrooms are so much better
bullshitwebsites | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
dot com is still the king and heck get the s too , after all it costs less than a cup of noodles.