Ask HN: Stats around non-traditional domain endings

2 pointsvirmundi2 comments

I'm trying to come up with a product name/domain. I've seen the trends on HN to have endings in .io or .ly. While I see the appeal in smart names like that, I don't know how well they work with average consumers. Has there been any research on how using a non-traditional domain (.com, .org, .net) effects sales?

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Depending on the size of your market, it's possible that the TLD won't matter so much in the beginning. At that point you may be more reliant on word-of-mouth and early adopters, so a non-traditional TLD could be in your benefit, giving you time to prove out the idea and generate some income that can be put towards purchasing the .com version. I suppose the demographic would also be a factor to consider.

In my opinion, domains have become rather unimportant. Just create a name that does not return any search results on google and make it as short as possible and easy to pronounce.

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