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Do I really need the .com domain ?

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Peanut Butter Man

Free Member
Jul 17, 2013
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Hi guys

I have a while ago registered a brand name and when I have come to use it found that the .co.uk domain name is available but the .com version is sitting on a shelf somewhere and up for sale at $15k (I aint paying that ;-)

I would only be trading in the UK but I feel better having both .co.uk and .com domains

But do I really need it?

I could make an offer for the .com I guess

Could the holder of the .com cause my online sales problems in future. Maybe my visitors will go to the .com and not .co.uk.

Just after a steer from what you guys think really

Thanks
 
If you're only selling in the UK for the foreseeable future and most of your traffic is linked from other websites (including search engines), I'd say it's not necessary.

If you're expecting visitors by word of mouth or running audio ads, there's a chance some people will type <your business name>.com rather then searching for it, which could pose a problem.

It's certainly ideal to own the .com too but realistically it's not always possible, especially for a good name. I'd consider what you're prepared to pay for the domain (even if it's only a fraction of the asking price) and put in an offer, you have nothing to lose.

Ultimately I'm a believer that in most cases your business makes your domain name rather than your domain name making your business, the same goes for business names. So while you may not have the .com to your disposal, you should be able to build a successful business using the .co.uk alone in most cases. There are always alternative options should you decide to expand outside of the UK in future.
 
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When I registered my domain name over 15 years ago the .com was already taken and in the intervening years I don't think that either of us have ever suffered a problem by not having the other domain and in fact the only time I ever realize that I don't have the .com is when I see threads like this so dinna fash
 
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I would, and just point it to your co.uk domain. The reason for this is to protect your brand, at least where domain registrations is concerned. If someone claims the .com domain and optimised it well, it could very well pop up on branded searches for your company name and be a tad confusing for your customers when choosing which site to visit.
 
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One consideration. If your new venture is successful, the price of the .com will rise the more you need it. I recently secured the .com domain for a side project of ours. We already owned all the important variants except the .com. We paid £1k for the .com so not the same big decision as yours.

Our US rankings have improved since we 301'd from the .co.uk to the .com which for this project is important.

I think punting your best offer at the .com owners is worthwhile.

d
 
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You can operate without the .com but it's a risk long term if you want to run your business without limits.

I can't imagine many non-tech people type the full address of websites these days. I've even seen my girlfriend go to Google to get to Amazon/eBay and I imagine this is quite common these days so you shouldn't need to worry about loosing traffic this way.

But the big risk is if in future the owner of the .com decides to develop their site and compete directly with you. By not owning the .com this is always a risk.

I also wouldn't pay £15k for a .com that's more than enough to justify me finding a cheaper alternative and you will find that there's always a equally good name out there. I have paid £1500 for a .com for one of my brands and it was worth the price but I can't see myself paying much higher than that in future for a domain.
 
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With so many domain variants now available where do you stop. If you do not have any plans to sell in the USA then i personally wouldn't bother.
 
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Peanut Butter Man said:
the .com version is sitting on a shelf somewhere and up for sale at $15k (I aint paying that ;-)
Click to expand...
Snap up the .co.uk quickly as it could also be worth a fair bit if the .com is worth that much. I'd tend to agree with others that it doesn't matte too much and the fact the .com seems to be on offer for so much tends to suggest it's a good name.
 
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I think it is fair to say most people google and hit the first link(s) instead of knowing and typing your url in.

With that in mind, depends on what kind of service it will be
- If it is a consumer / web service it will definitely help.
- If it is B2B or mobile only, it should not matter too much

If you are going to go for it then here a few suggestions
- A personal, fairly chatty email don't want to increase prices with business jargon
- From a personal (eg gmail, yahoo) account – with no traceable links to your company
- It is just one of the many ideas you’re looking at
- Anchor the price physically (eg “A case of wine”, “A weekend away”, “Two weeks holiday”)
- If you're fundraising, do it before PR news hits
 
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Peanut Butter Man said:
Thanks everyone. .co.uk bought. I will maybe make an offer on the .com but otherwise just crack on with it.
Click to expand...

You have taken the right decision by buying .co.uk domain TLD because you told that "You would only be trading in the UK". So no need to buy .com TLD in future too. Because mostly people remember brand by its name not by its TLD.
 
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With all the new TLD available now you would be bonkers to pay $15 for a .com domain, unless you are making millions in profits there is just no need to pay such sums for a domain when there are so many options available now.
 
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Have to say. A couple of bits of silly advice in this thread.

If you do get the pair, don't re-direct the .com to the .co.uk
Do it the other way around.

Also, probably would have been wiser to have placed the offer on the .com before registering the .co.uk
You've probably just put the price up :)

Whether you even need the .com at all really depends on your business.
Not enough info to make a reasonable judgement.

Best of luck!
 
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DEFCON1 said:
Have to say. A couple of bits of silly advice in this thread.

If you do get the pair, don't re-direct the .com to the .co.uk
Do it the other way around.

Also, probably would have been wiser to have placed the offer on the .com before registering the .co.uk
You've probably just put the price up :)

Whether you even need the .com at all really depends on your business.
Not enough info to make a reasonable judgement.

Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Buying the .co.uk wouldnt have raised the price of the .com, they would be more valuable together.

And its becoming less important with apps and GTLDs to have the .com, if you own trademarks/copyrights then the .com won't really affect you.
 
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SamLH said:
Buying the .co.uk wouldnt have raised the price of the .com, they would be more valuable together.
Click to expand...

Well I'm afraid it probably would if anyone half savvy owns it.
Yes, of course they are more valuable together, but also less valuable if other extensions are left available.

SamLH said:
And its becoming less important with apps and GTLDs to have the .com, if you own trademarks/copyrights then the .com won't really affect you.
Click to expand...

I also questioned whether they would actually need the .com
 
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If you start running a business on whatever domain and it has a name which is distinct then anyone who subsequently starts a business with a very similar name is in a precarious position. The trademark protection is now a lot more important in the eyes of the registrars regulators. The first person actively using a trademark (registered or un-registered) can force the transfer of domains which infringe on them.
 
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Countries TLDs are not absolute. I saw a lot of search queries' results to include more than one domain's extensions. Some of the above posts have to do with search engine optimization. My opinion, it's good to have all the TLD extensions but if it's 15k there's completely no reason to spend this amount of money.
 
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Not having the dot com has not done Currys any harm.

You can always set up a domain watch on the dotcom and pay a domain company a yearly retainer to register it for you if it ever becomes available. It worked for me, I just had to wait 3 long, long years. Luckily for me, the previous owner was as lax with renewing the domain as he was with updating it.
The problem with this method is that they might auto renew or that someone else has a spare $15k
 
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Hi Guys,
I sell premium domains and I thought that it was interesting to read everyone's perspective. Based on what I've read I see no reason for Peanut Butter Man to purchase the more expensive option if the same domain is available with another extension.

Better doesn't always mean more expensive. Well done!
 
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