When it comes to building a brand, a good domain name can go a long way. In the early days of a startup, budget is limited, so spending six-figures on a one-word .COM isn’t an option. This leads to a choice, do you pick a different name or stick with that one word in .CO, .ME, .IO or another popular TLD?
First I’ll tell you, I don’t think there’s one answer that applies to everyone, it really depends on what you do. If you are building a service for developers, .IO could be a perfect fit. Companies like Intercom.io, Keen.io and many more have raised tens of millions of dollars so it’s clear not having the .COM didn’t hold them back in their business.
With prices ranging from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars (and sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars) they have been and still are some of the most solid, reliable domains you can go with when building a global online brand. The advantage of a two-word .COM is clear for B2C startups, you can tell people your company name and they can instantly get to your site. If your business is driven by your website, this is likely your go-to and your stay-with domain name.
Now there is one small caveat here. There are two categories of two-word .COMs:
Two-word .COM’s are more valuable than ever, here’s an example of some two-word .COM sales that have taken place so far this year:
OrganicBaby.com – $168,000 (sold less than two weeks ago)
ForexBrokers.com – $150,000
NeverFail.com – $150,000
TotalCare.com – $120,000
NewsNow.com – $88,000
ClearTax.com – $80,000
OrangeBank.com – $36,000
VoiceLessons.com – $32,000
and the list goes on, and yes you can still get a great two-word .COM for $5,000 – it might not be your first choice but plenty of two-word .COMs sell in the sub $10,000 range. Domains like MindShow.com which sold for $4,500 or BeeProducts.com which sold for $4,000 the options and prices are almost infinite when it comes to two-word .COMs.
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First I’ll tell you, I don’t think there’s one answer that applies to everyone, it really depends on what you do. If you are building a service for developers, .IO could be a perfect fit. Companies like Intercom.io, Keen.io and many more have raised tens of millions of dollars so it’s clear not having the .COM didn’t hold them back in their business.
With prices ranging from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars (and sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars) they have been and still are some of the most solid, reliable domains you can go with when building a global online brand. The advantage of a two-word .COM is clear for B2C startups, you can tell people your company name and they can instantly get to your site. If your business is driven by your website, this is likely your go-to and your stay-with domain name.
Now there is one small caveat here. There are two categories of two-word .COMs:
- Company names that themselves are two-words
- Two-word .COMs that are really one-word .COMs in disguise. The second category is two-word .COMs formed by adding the word “online” to the end or putting “get” in front of the actual name of your company. In my opinion these don’t have the same value when it comes to consumer recognition since you have to tell people – my company is called “blah” but them to your site they have to go to GetBlah.com.
Two-word .COM’s are more valuable than ever, here’s an example of some two-word .COM sales that have taken place so far this year:
OrganicBaby.com – $168,000 (sold less than two weeks ago)
ForexBrokers.com – $150,000
NeverFail.com – $150,000
TotalCare.com – $120,000
NewsNow.com – $88,000
ClearTax.com – $80,000
OrangeBank.com – $36,000
VoiceLessons.com – $32,000
and the list goes on, and yes you can still get a great two-word .COM for $5,000 – it might not be your first choice but plenty of two-word .COMs sell in the sub $10,000 range. Domains like MindShow.com which sold for $4,500 or BeeProducts.com which sold for $4,000 the options and prices are almost infinite when it comes to two-word .COMs.
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