Domain Name Questions and Answers
Recently I was asked 3 questions from a scientist starting a service business. I've been asked questions like these several times before, so I thought it would be good to put the answers here. So here you go....
QUESTION: "The name I had thought of consists of three words, one of which is a number. The already registered domain has the number written in letters, so my question is, is it worthwhile for me to go ahead and register the domain name with the numeric symbol?"
ANSWER: Using a number in a domain name is usually a good strategy.
1 - Numbers can look very good in a logo. It makes it easy for people to remember the domain name.
2 - Numbers show-up first in most alphabetic listings online. So a domain name that starts with a number will appear in web directories before the other listings.
3 - Some typical numbers used are 4 and 2. When a domain name you want is already taken you can almost always make a good domain by adding "4you" or "2go" on the end. EXAMPLES: widgets4you.com or widgets2go.com.
TIP: Network Solutions and Register.com are the top domain registration services. But you can get better deals. For domain registration price comparisons click here.
QUESTION: "Is it acceptable (or foolish) to email the person who has this domain name to ask them if they are intending on setting up a business, or this practce generally frowned upon?"
ANSWER: Yes it's perfectably acceptable to e-mail someone and ask about their business. It is more acceptable to ask them if they want to sell you the domain name since they aren't using it right now. Most of the time they will entertain your offer.
When asking someone if they want to sell their domain name, 9 out of 10 times they want some outrageous fee and it's better to just create another name. But it never hurts to ask.
FINAL QUESTION: "...judging from the name it seems fairly explicit that this "other" company would be going into the same business as me, so if this were the case, would having a name so similar be problematic in the future"
ANSWER: This really depends on the nature of the business. There could also be trademark issues and other legal issues. You can find out more about trademarks here.
I hope that helps you. Good luck with your new venture.
QUESTION: "The name I had thought of consists of three words, one of which is a number. The already registered domain has the number written in letters, so my question is, is it worthwhile for me to go ahead and register the domain name with the numeric symbol?"
ANSWER: Using a number in a domain name is usually a good strategy.
1 - Numbers can look very good in a logo. It makes it easy for people to remember the domain name.
2 - Numbers show-up first in most alphabetic listings online. So a domain name that starts with a number will appear in web directories before the other listings.
3 - Some typical numbers used are 4 and 2. When a domain name you want is already taken you can almost always make a good domain by adding "4you" or "2go" on the end. EXAMPLES: widgets4you.com or widgets2go.com.
TIP: Network Solutions and Register.com are the top domain registration services. But you can get better deals. For domain registration price comparisons click here.
QUESTION: "Is it acceptable (or foolish) to email the person who has this domain name to ask them if they are intending on setting up a business, or this practce generally frowned upon?"
ANSWER: Yes it's perfectably acceptable to e-mail someone and ask about their business. It is more acceptable to ask them if they want to sell you the domain name since they aren't using it right now. Most of the time they will entertain your offer.
When asking someone if they want to sell their domain name, 9 out of 10 times they want some outrageous fee and it's better to just create another name. But it never hurts to ask.
FINAL QUESTION: "...judging from the name it seems fairly explicit that this "other" company would be going into the same business as me, so if this were the case, would having a name so similar be problematic in the future"
ANSWER: This really depends on the nature of the business. There could also be trademark issues and other legal issues. You can find out more about trademarks here.
I hope that helps you. Good luck with your new venture.
posted by Doug Stewart at 5:35 AM
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1 Comments:
thanks Doug for both answers and the link...I may "bug" you in the furure with mroe questions!
thanks again!
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