“how important is it to buy both the .net and .com of the same domain name?”
Over on Twitter TragicDog asked me this question domains.
Different bloggers will have different approaches to this one but my personal preference these days is to secure the .com version first and then to seriously consider other versions of the domain if you are serious about developing it in the long term.
There are a couple of reasons I advocate grabbing the .net version (and potentially others) of your domain name in addition to the .com.
- As Defensive Move – just yesterday I received an email from a distraught blogger who had worked for 4 years to build their blog up only to find that this week another blog had started using the .net version of their blog. While the 2nd blog was behind the eightball and wouldn’t rank as well in Google this blogger saw it as a threat to their business.
- With a View to Expansion – having a second domain gives you the possibility of expanding your brand later with a different type of site. For example here at ProBlogger I initially set this blog up on ProBlogger.net (.com was parked and not for sale at the time) but now I’ve secured the .com version I now have a 2nd domain to set up another site. In fact with the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge I set up the forums on ProBlogger.com/31Days which gives you a hint at what I have planned for that domain.
Whether you use all of the versions of your domain that you secure or not they are generally handy to have. I usually set mine to redirect to my main blog until I develop them.
My last piece of advice is to secure whatever versions you ‘might’ buy one day now. If you don’t you run the risk of losing your opportunity when others snap them up and either hold them ransom, develop them themselves or park them for their own profit.
For Further reading on domain names check out:
- Choosing the Domain Name for Your Blog
- How to Choose a Domain Name – Brandable Domains vs Keyword Rich Domains
- ProBlogger.com Sold! (the story of me buying problogger.com)
What is your approach to domains? Do you get more than the .com version?
It’s funny that you should write this post now. I had come up with a brand name for my new product and was about to go ahead with it despite the fact that the .com was taken. I looked and it was only parked so I figured it was no big deal.
After reading this article, I thought I’d better check out the .net and it was taken and parked as well. Then, I noticed .ca was taken but not parked. I checked out the website and it was the exact brand I had come up with. The logo even looked the same as I had wanted mine to look.
This post really saved me, thanks!
Funny, I never even imagined wanting the .net domain. But I always have to struggle with myself in deciding whether to get the .org or the .com. But then I’m not a corporation, I’m an artist and activist and philosopher who makes no money off my blog, so that might have something to do with the difference in priorities.
There are some smart businessmen out there who recognise potential blogs, buy it’s other available versions and finally sell them for higher prices.
So, I advice bloggers to decide the importance of their blogs and then go for buying other versions. First secure .com then .org and then in for .net and others.
This is quite an interesting topic. It seems as though many people are making free WordPress and blogger.com blogs and websites. It wouldn’t affect them much would it? However, owning these subdomain blogs is sort of self-restraining anyway.
I even purchased the .info when it was only .99. I think that anything containing the same string as yours within the actual domain can be a threat.