Hyphenated .com or .biz?

[Joe Blow]

I have a good two word domain name but the unhyphenated .com is taken.

Should I register the hyphenated .com or the unhyphenated .biz?

The .biz is the only unhyphenated TLD of this two word combo available and it was registered for 8 years before being dropped.

The hyphenated .com was registered for nine years before being dropped.

I should point out that the niche I am targetting is business related so the .biz is not an unrelated TLD.

Thoughts?

 

[Theo]

If this argument is over $9 then why not register them both?

 

[angel69]

joe blow, you mean you have a good two-word idea for a domain and you want to handreg it.... ? or do you already own it, if so in which ext .....?

both are not so good options (a hyphenated .com and a non-hyphenated .biz) no one uses .biz even for business domains except for a few exceptions, and a hyphenated .com....dunno, if you're going to use it for your site or your own business i'd go for the .com even with a hyphen, but if it's to resell later do not reg either one, you'll be stuck w/them

think of a similar term for a domain or a variation of those two words where the .com (no hyphen) is available, that's what i'd do ..... because the fact that all exts are taken for your term does not mean you'll do well with the .biz...

I have a good two word domain name but the unhyphenated .com is taken.

Should I register the hyphenated .com or the unhyphenated .biz?

The .biz is the only unhyphenated TLD of this two word combo available and it was registered for 8 years before being dropped.

The hyphenated .com was registered for nine years before being dropped.

I should point out that the niche I am targetting is business related so the .biz is not an unrelated TLD.

Thoughts?

 

[Gerry]

biz blows

 

[dcristo]

Do you mean for development or to resell and make a profit? If the latter, the idea would be absurd.

Your name seems very relevant. You seem to like blowing money.

 

[urlurl]

find a nice alternative or brandable name. if the site has good potential to make money spend the extra bucks and buy a nice name. I personally would not buy either.

 

[Joe Blow]

joe blow, you mean you have a good two-word idea for a domain and you want to handreg it.... ? or do you already own it, if so in which ext .....?

There's a good domain name I want but the .com is taken. So my options are good-domain.com or gooddomain.biz.

All the other TLDs are registered, even .us.

I would not be interested in selling down the road, I just want to develop it over the long term to generate some income.

The .com would probably cost me a few thousand at least to purchase off the current owner - maybe more - and I am not willing to invest that much money in the domain name.

 

[Joe Blow]

If this argument is over $9 then why not register them both?

Sure that's possible. I could 301 redirect one to the other. But which domain do I actually have the website on? Which would be better?

 

[angel69]

Appropriate answers from the other 4 guys lol, Joe Blow would actually be BLOWING money for either option, .biz BLOWS big time, we would not buy EITHER one (heed some of our advice, dude) and if you really love that 2-word term and decide to stick w/it then acquire BOTH the .biz AND the .com with a hyphen, it's only $9 or so extra .....lol

I would use the hyphen .com (the .biz domain you can simply forward its url to your hyphen .com site) if I had to choose one of the two..... also .biz domains get terrible se results in general regardless of the domain term, ANY .com is better than a .biz, even hyphenated ones

Now I know it's an idea only and the options are .biz (all gTLDS may be taken for the non-hyphen but that don't mean dick, ie you'll still have a lousy domain in .biz even if the term is great) or hyphenated .com. Rethink your buiseness or site name. You won't be reselling it but I don't want my site having a .biz name, a hyphen .com is a bit better (just a tiny bit tho.....) get a new term and do not make plans for your business/site UNTIL you've secured a non-hyphen .com

If the site were already established and generating income in .biz or hyphenated .com versions that'd be another story, although buying based on past revenue doesn't assure you that income will be sustainable, so even then it's not a great idea acquiring those domains

Paying at least a few thou to buy a .com is expensive (no hyphen) .....but just might make some sense if the domain is really dynamite (and non-trademarked).....

There's a good domain name I want but the .com is taken. So my options are good-domain.com or gooddomain.biz.

All the other TLDs are registered, even .us.

I would not be interested in selling down the road, I just want to develop it over the long term to generate some income.

The .com would probably cost me a few thousand at least to purchase off the current owner - maybe more - and I am not willing to invest that much money in the domain name.

 

[amplify]

Agreed with Theo on this one, $18 is worth owning both of the TLDs (it's important to own the entire brand to capture all traffic, as an example I own 3 of the top TLDs of one of my websites and I get redirects from the .net and .org on them to the .com). Even if it's business related, do a 301 to the .com if you plan on developing the websites.

If you plan on registering them for resell, there's probably a reason why they were dropped after that long... however, without knowing the name, things/trends could have changed... but I suppose it would have been reregistered if that were true.

With the time spent in arguing over this, we could have all made $18 by now and had enough for 2 beers tonight.

Though, if you have a much greater budget than $18, I would try finding something relevant that's for sale, has some exacts and snatch it up.

 

[Biggie]

if you get domain-name.com and domainname.biz and develop the names, you will only make domainname.com more valuable....

which will make price for it go up, while you loose traffic to it.
so, best to buy that name or find another


a few thousand is low investment, if you want to be the .com on top of this niche'

maybe try and partner up with the .commie or try leasing it for a yr to see if your plan takes off.

imo...

 

[amplify]

if you get domain-name.com and domainname.biz and develop the names, you will only make domainname.com more valuable....

I agree with this 99.99%, but there are those very few select domains that have popularity with the hyphen and are known for it. Harley Davidson being one of it them with the hyphen being registered before the unhyphenated one and they still redirect the unhyphenated to the hyphenated (as well as most likely later on acquiring their L-L.com). Though, they have a huge budget to push that hyphen down your throat than what we're talking about with $18 in the air.

 

[katherine]

I would think very hard about how ambitious your business venture is going to be because you never know, sometimes you start a small-scale project and then it grows and it becomes successful.
And when you finally have the cash to invest in a domain 'upgrade' you'll find out that your preferred domain has become much more expensive in the meantime, partly because you have become the obvious end user for it. As Biggie says you indirectly boosted the value of the coveted domain(s).
For a serious project I would not hesitate to spend $$$ or $$$$ on the aftermarket. Even if things don't pan out as expected, you still have a decent domain that is worth something, and you can liquidate it. If it's a .biz it's clearly going to be more difficult to sell unless the combo is very strong, or you have built valuable traffic.
If I am certain it's never going to be a profit-making site or will never make it big - then a handreg is certainly something I would consider, even a hyphenated domain.
Just think long-term.

 

[NorthwestRegisteredAgent]

Our experience has usually been that the .com domain is more valuable than the .biz, at least it seems to rank better for Google. Biggie is correct in the idea of buying the similar named domains. It will also protect your brand. Misspellings of the business names can also be of value. Why not 301 redirect those? Grow the business and when your budget allows, buy the unhyphenated .com domain.

We provide registered agent and business formation services northwestregisteredagent.com/services.html and our clients are often new business start ups needing to have a website and want purchase a domain name. If there are domainers out there who have buyers who need to have their business formed, check out our affiliate program: