How important is the TLD?
I'm currently interested in validating one of my ideas, so I want to buy a domain and create a landing page to see if there is any interest. Of course this requires me coming up with a name, and while I think that I've come up with a pretty good one, there is already a large company (in a completely different area) that owns the .com domain. This probably means that even if my project does become successful, I will more than likely never be able to acquire the .com domain.
Luckily the .gg domain fits my project perfectly and is available, so I can easily go for that, but I can't help wondering if I shouldn't find a different .com domain instead...
I wouldn't worry about not being able to get the .com TLD. But if you start getting traction and finding success; I think it is important that if someone search the product's name that it would come first with site links.
So my 2 cents is don't buy the .gg domain if it is used by a successful large company that you wont be able to out rank.
Since they are in completely different areas my guess is that people will generally be searching for something else like "brand name + X" so hopefully it won't end up being a problem, but I could be wrong!
Hey Amos 👋
Just wanted to share my insight regarding your question for TLD.
I don't think it's an issue at all if you don't get to ever buy the .com
IMO, you're still validating your idea and you want to move fast.
Getting the .gg (I'm guessing gaming industry project ? 🕵️) is more than enough to launch your page and talk to your customers.
In the long run, traffic might be better in the .com domain as pointed out by @levelsio in his experience that cost him 100k$ but for now, just stick with your idea and get validation.
As a side note, I think the increase in traffic is also mostly due to the habit of typing .com in the URLs (although I'm not 100% sure).
If you don't get to initial traction and ramen profitability with the .gg domain, I don't think the lack of availability of the .com will ever be the reason, so don't pressure yourself 😊
Moreoever, brands sometimes change their names and you might have a fresher or better audience due to a pivot or a rebranding, so it's one more reason to just focus on getting your product to life 🚀
Thanks for the reply and your insight Axel! You bring up some really good points and I think this is the final push for me to stop overthinking and get to validating 😆
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I am like 99% sure my target demographic is tech savvy enough and will understand the .gg domain, so I'm not worried about that. My problem is that the other company (who owns the .com domain) is massive and I assume they would never consider selling it, but yeah I guess I will be fine without it 🤞