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19 Comments

Do you really need the ".C-O-M" TLD?

Due to someone stealing my project's name and the fact that Facebook might sue me, I've decided to change Tutorbook's name.

I've come up with a really good one that's not in use anywhere but I can't get the ".COM" for it (some domain investor has already grabbed it).

Do I really need the ".COM" TLD? Should this be a factor when choosing a new brand name? If you were to visit a site with the ".COM" v.s. without (e.g. with ".IO" or ".APP"), would your opinion of said site change?

And then, in your opinion, in what order do other TLDs line up?

P.S. The post title is ".C-O-M" because Indie Hackers thinks that ".COM" is a URL and won't let me put it in my post title. Sorry if that was confusing!

  1. 4

    I'm not a teacher or student so can't tell from their prospective.

    From the prospective of engineer, I've more faith in domains with TLD .app/.io than .co

    So I don't mind going with .app or .io

  2. 3

    Think of it this way - when was the last time you even noticed the TLD of a service you use?

    I would argue a TLD really has no impact.

  3. 1

    It is soo sad to see some idiot not only took your idea also copied the name. And Facebook is bigger enemy to deal with than that copycat.

    I have a web app https://Watermark.ink which is not a .com tld and it is doing good in SEO. I won't say .COM tld is important... But for a project like yours I prefer .org

    Also I have a domain called bookbibo.com if you think it is suitable for your project, you can have it.

    1. 1

      So you would prefer "tutorbook.org" instead of "tutorbook.app"? Right now, I have the "org" redirecting to "app" but I'm not sure which is better...

      1. 2

        I am a bit surprised that you are not using the tutorbook.org.
        At any time I prefer .org more than .app . I don't believe that .org should be for non-profit alone (remember craigslist.org).

        I suggest add some free content/helpful info/blog on the .org.. that way it will also bring some seo.

    2. 1

      Thanks for the supporting comment and generous offer! I totally agree that Facebook represents a much greater threat than this other dude. I'll keep the ".ORG" in mind for my next brand name for sure.

  4. 1

    For little side projects or things you don't expect to grow big, I think it doesn't really matter. For something you want to grow, I think a .com is the way to go.

    Personally I'd go for a modified-name .com instead of an exact match .app / .co / .io
    For example Try Your App .com instead of Your App .io

    Non tech folks are familiar with and trust .com more. If your market is AI engineers and Devops folks, maybe a .io will have more "street cred" but if your market is students/teachers, a .com will probably be better.

    1. 1

      Yeah, I own "tutorbookapp.com" but opt to use "tutorbook.app" and "tutorbook.org" instead.

  5. 1

    prefer .com because of things like keyboard shortcuts but others are ok
    this is a repeating topic, just asked about last week, you can find more comments on similar posts

    1. 1

      Hmm, I searched for "COM" TLD and couldn't find anything...

      1. 1

        Oh wait, nevermind. There's a lot of existing stuff out there haha (that I didn't find originally for some reason). Will take a look.

  6. 1

    Some of the most visited sites in the world end in .org or .tv or .net

  7. 1

    .app will be the new .com in a few years IMO. Prob still need .com if you're in ecommerce or have a webpage for a physical store. Country code TLDs are risky for various reasons.

    .com/.app
    .org (if non-profit)
    .dev (if dev focused)
    .ai/.io
    .co

    1. 1

      Yeah, I think the ".APP" is always a good go-to.

    2. 1

      .ai/.io/.co are country codes, too. so be aware ;)

      1. 1

        I know :) I guess I do think they're worth the risk compared to some of the other generic TLDs out there.

  8. 1

    I'm also wondering how people think about this, especially in regards to the more exotic domain extensions (like .academy, .study, .school could be applicable here). Posted a thread about this here https://www.indiehackers.com/post/branding-using-cool-domain-names-like-blog-cloud-academy-040c58f44d

    It probably depends on the seriousness of the brand, I think .app is great here.

  9. 1

    I'll start off with that list of TLDs in priority order:

    • ".co"
    • ".app" <-- This is the one I'll be getting.
    • ".org"
    • ".io"

    And then I think if all of those domains are taken, you should probably consider changing your brand name. But that's just my opinion; what's yours?

    1. 1

      I guess it depends if those domains are actually used and in similar sectors.

    2. 1

      This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

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