

Ask HN: Use domain name as startup name or keep separate? - starshadowx2

I own a .st domain that fit with my planned name, the last 4 characters are &quot;klst&quot;.<p>Would it be better for brand recognition to use the &quot;kl.st&quot; part in my company name and social media or use it without the &quot;.&quot; as just &quot;klst&quot;?<p>I&#x27;m thinking it would be easier to remember&#x2F;connect the name to the website, but I&#x27;m also wondering if that&#x27;s a general &quot;don&#x27;t do&quot;.<p>It would be like the difference between registering the company as &quot;bit.ly&quot; vs &quot;bitly&quot;.
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brudgers
I won't say "it doesn't matter" because it does matter a rather great deal,
but not in the way your question assumes it does. You see the thing is that
effort regarding the company name and the perfect domain feel like work but
they are not. Work is those things that are harder like making something
people will pay for and getting them to pay for it. "What a great name" does
not produce checks.

Microsoft isn't in microcomputers. AirBnB doesn't rent air-mattresses Justin
wasn't on JustinTV, and Reddit.com is Reddit.com not Redd.it.

Good luck.

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thekevan
From an SEO standpoint, having the domain name the same as social media user
names is beneficial. Google will see when your domain is "yourcompany", and so
is your Twitter handle, your FB user name, Intagram, etc., especially when the
social media profile links back to that domain.

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andersthue
Try letting go of what is "the best" (tm) thing to do and do what makes most
sense - what delivers most value to your customer is probably a name that is
easy to spell and remember after your customer has seen or heard about it.

Perhaps test it with a few, asking them to write down your domain/brand name
to see if you got it or not?

