When you have a ‘great’ idea, one of the first-actions you can take is to register the best domains you can find to brand the idea.

Even if you don’t execute, the perfect domain name may turn out to have some value later when someone else discovers the idea and decides they want to build a business around it.

Domainers have a phrase, ‘category killer’, they use to describe a top tier name that exact matches a search term, especially when it’s higher up on the search chain–like Shoes.com. The ‘long tail’ version would be domains like RedSpikedHeels.com.
Category killer generic domains are long gone. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so attracted to new idea websites. If the idea is fresh enough, you can create the category killer name for it.

It gets a little subjective at this point, but what I look for first of all is a domain name that is easy to remember but that also conveys the purpose of the site. … [visit site to read more]

One of my domain regrets is not purchasing ChrisGuthrie.com, but then again my foray into online business hadn’t begun until 2005 (a year after ChrisGuthrie.com had been registered by a fellow Chris Guthrie). I have contacted the original owner twice over the span of about a year. My original offer was $500 and my next offer was $1,000 to which Chris still declined. My legal name is Christopher Guthrie, but as fate would have it ChristopherGuthrie.com was taken as well so that option had been closed as well. So I was out of options.

What should you do when all of your primary .com choices are taken and you can’t buy the .com?

Go to your secondary .com domain choice! The only reason you should settle for a .net domain is when there is a chance for search engine traffic based on the quality of the domain.

Unfortunately, I didn’t do that with this blog here. I decided to buy ChrisGuthrie.net and start a blog on it anyway. I had made up my mind that although I would be writing about running an online business I still would like the option to make my blog have a more personal tone. I was mistaken in my decision.

Building a brand on a .net domain is not smart to do unless you own the .com as well.

Are there instances where people have successfully built a .net brand without the .com? Yes, but when you’re starting fresh why not find a .com that isn’t in use instead?

Most .com domains are always for sale and if you have the money I highly recommend you go for the .com instead of settling for one of the TLD’s. A .com can cost ten times as much as a .net but if you look down the road at your exit strategy it will be much more difficult to sell your site to another company if you’ve built your brand on a .net domain and don’t own the .com.

What do you think? Is it worth it to try and build a brand on a .net domain?

As a follow up, I finally acquired ChristopherGuthrie.com my second .com choice from years ago. Should I consider moving my blog via 301 redirect so that I can work to build my brand on a .com instead?