

Ask HN: Value of .com vs other TLD's - joeblau

How much value is placed on a .com vs other TLD&#x27;s?  In this age of mobile apps, my co-founders and I are trying to figure out if it makes sense to get a crazier .com name or a simple .something-else.
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dictum
The additional revenue that comes from a perfect domain is roughly equivalent
to the cost of building a bike shed.

Actually, it depends on the audience, as ibstudios pointed out. A "mobile
audience" isn't enough information to make a good decision; among potential
users of mobile devices are such different groups as children, adults who
raise children, adults who don't raise children, old people... These groups
can be broken into even smaller demographics.

If you're counting pennies, more alternative TLDs can be more expensive over
time
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7069513](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7069513)).
If you can find a short but not too cryptic .com, go with it. An .io, for
instance, has the advantage of shortness and more available English words.

The domain name should be pretty low on the list of priorities for your app.
Focus on design (for the app and for marketing pages), content and marketing
copy, good customer service, and performance.

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27182818284
From personal experience with a .me product, it is fine. There is like 1% who
dont get it, but I also noticed they are _the same people_ who mess up the
non-TLD part of the address. (They just don't have great listening / reading
skills)

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smpatt
It depends on the purpose of the website.

~~~
joeblau
The purpose of the website of us is really just to serve as a
landing/informational page for the mobile application we are building. Think
of it like [http://www.snapchat.com/](http://www.snapchat.com/), all of the
rage for Snapchat is in the app, not really on the website. We're looking to
go down a similar route.

------
ibstudios
I think it depends on the audience.

~~~
joeblau
We are looking to target a mobile audience. Our app will be the primary user
interaction with our software.

