Advice Please...Buying Domain Names

Hi All,

I would like to start a companion site to my AZ forum and the catchy name that I want is for sale. I contacted the seller and it is available for a somewhat reasonable price. My other choice would be to get the same name but hyphenated. My question is, do you think buying a name can be worthwhile? If you see a hyphenated name, do you think it looks cheap?

I know it is hard to make a deciison without knowing all of the details (like price) but I'd like to remain a little discreet. Thanks for all of your opinions.

Robert
PS You may be seeing a lot of lights for sale!

Well, ultimately, the value of a domain is up to you. If the price is worth it to you, then it is worth it. If it is too much, then it is not.

That said, I think the most importaint thing about a domain name is how easily it can be remembered and communicated. You want something that you can easily tell someone and they will remember it when they get home.

What it is isn't nearly as importaint. After all, something needs to point them to it (word of mouth, referal links, whatever). People don't tend to find domains buy guessing anymore (hail Google!).

I think it is that simple.

-john

I think you're right. I also think you can't easily tell people a name with a hyphen in it. And people expect a .com, not a .net, etc. What do you think?

While they are not show-stoppers, I agree they are not as good. I don't know if you are looking for variations on aficionadozone.com, but if you are, consider branching out a bit like aficionadoshop.com or shopaficionado.com whatever. Not that I think aficionado is easy to spell!

-john

That's pretty funny. Aficionado is definitely not the easiest to spell or say for that matter. I'm hoping people bookmark it!

I agree w/ John. It's all about marketing. dot com with no hyphen. I dont think the name has to be short. When I read aficionado zone I dont get any visual. It is ambiguos to me. GadgetsForYou.com is much clearer. (taken) GadgetsRus.com is good but may be confusing. buyandreviewgadgets.com is better. BestGadgetsToBuy.com is also good.

Try some google searches on marketing and creating url's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

FWIW, if they have to bookmark it, you are already a step behind. Keep looking! No offence intended.

-john

I'll toss a couple out there, for fun.

I did a quick look at http://www.whois.sc/name-spinner/, and it looks like these names are not regged.

topflashlight.com and topflashlights.com
and
digitalflashlight.com and digitalflashlights.com

Thanks for all the tips guys! No offense taken. I'm looking for advice, not someone to just tell me what I want to hear.

LOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

dot-com is so overpopulated. I always thought it more appropriate for a site whose only purpose is online services be dot-net.

Hi Idle,

You may be right. I always use the "my mom" test. My mom knows how to get to yahoo.com and how to check er email, but if I told her an URL that was .net, I'm not sure she'd even know what it was. I know, my mom's not my target audience, but I want it to be easy for people.

Take it from me..... stay AWAY, far AWAY from domain names that are hard to spell. I have had "www.aardvark.cc" for about 7 years now. BTW, there's no web site there so don't bother clecking it out.