Peter Gasca wrote a good article on INC.com about naming your business, of course there are several articles on the topic that have been written. I like to read them all and compare and contrast, I also look to look for common themes where there seems to be universal agreement.
How you name your company is as important as what you name your company. Here are four tips for finding a name that fits into today’s consumer world.
Peter picked four points and I will post one here, read the article for his other points on the 5-10 rule, the social media rule and one which I did not think of before, the icon rule.
Number 2 on his list of 4 was the .com rule. Even in a world of endless opportunities most with no affiliation to a registry or registrar still advise to go with .com.
The DotCom Rule. Although there are countless domains in which you can secure a business name, such as .net, .co, .biz, and even .ninja, the overwhelming preference for consumers these days is to default to .com. While this will undoubtedly change over the coming years, in order to build brand recognition today, entrepreneurs need to consider a name in which they can secure a .com domain. And while iterations of a name may be possible (sta-rbucks.com, for instance), you want to make certain that your brand does not get confused with other companies.
Read the full article on INC
Very much agreed. .com will remain as corporate identity of major corporations but many gTLDs can be used for marketing purpose.
The DOT COM was, is and will be the number 1
I cant see the .com ever loosing to any other extension. It is too renowned and sought after by almost every investor and business. Even if a business or startup chooses to use a new extension as their primary domain, they should still secure the .com version of their name not only for brand protection but also to mitigate lost traffic.