

Ask HN: Would you trust a .me domain? - hellweaver666

Hi all,<p>I'm thinking of launching my new startup idea on a .me domain name - I already have the .com and .co.uk version (I'm in the UK) but think the domain would sound snazzier with a .me domain.<p>That said, I'm concerned that with .me being a relatively new domain people will struggle to remember it or type it wrong or just plain not trust it because it's not a 'mainstream' extension...<p>What do you think? Should I risk it?<p>Thanks
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jacquesm
I think it would depend greatly on the kind of service you are going to offer.

If you mean 'trust' to stand for 'comercially trust' then I think the answer
is no, simply because it is different. We started out as a .nl but within days
it was clear that if we were to have any sales at all it had better be a .com,
or people simply aren't going to pull their credit cards.

If you mean 'trust' to stand for 'are they going to put their data in to your
site' then I think that that effect will be a lot less, and once you've built
up a user base it will fade. del.icio.us is a nice example (even if it does
still have the .us in there, and they eventually changed over to
delicious.com).

Personally, for any commercial website I'd use nothing but a .com, unless it
was targeted to a specific geographic location, then I'd use the domain for
that country instead.

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mdasen
I think you'll be fine. The issue usually isn't trust. The issue is more often
that people will go to your-name.com and not see the site and give up - no
matter how much you tell them to go to your-name.me. Make sure you have both
your-name.com and your-nameme.com so that you can redirect those to your-
name.me if you're going to go this route.

I don't think trust is as big a factor (unless you're asking for credit card
numbers) as them typing the address correctly.

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tsetse-fly
It didn't stop del.icio.us. If you build it, they will come.

~~~
ErrantX
yes. but the URL is actually the name in that case - so it is a "flash"
feature. :)

myapp.me.uk does not, quite, have the same draw.

To the OP I'd say if you already run it from a .com domain adding .me.uk cant
hurt!

If the .me _adds_ to the name (say, for example, find.me.uk) then 100% go for
it :D

Trust is a funny thing: if your userbase is hardened hackers like the HN lot
then you might end up (at least initially) with a trust issue - but the
general public aren't going to care that much.

Though you do raise a good point about people being confused: but if you own
.com and .co.uk variants then I doubt it will account for much loss of traffic
:D

~~~
katamole
"Trust is a funny thing: if your userbase is hardened hackers like the HN lot
then you might end up (at least initially) with a trust issue - but the
general public aren't going to care that much."

I think the opposite is true - "hardened hackers" may judge the TLD less than
the general public.

Eg, I run a couple of small websites, and I know that .com is a matter of
routing, and says little about the intention of my website. However, a casual
user might see .com as more of a directory than a routing issue.

A few years ago I had a couple of people try and convince me that .org was
reserved for non-profit organisations. While that might be the intended usage,
it certainly isn't mandatory.

~~~
whatusername
Depends on where you live. <http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2008-05/>

SCHEDULE F

ELIGIBILITY AND ALLOCATION RULES FOR ORG.AU

The org.au 2LD is for non-commercial organisations.

The following rules are to be read in conjunction with the Eligibility and
Allocation Rules for All Open 2LDs, contained in Schedule A of this document.

1\. To be eligible in the org.au 2LD, registrants must be: a) an association
incorporated in any Australian State or Territory; or b) a political party
registered with the Australian Electoral Commission; or c) a trade union or
other organisation registered under the Workplace Relations Act 1996; or d) a
sporting or special interest club operating in Australia; or e) a charity
operating in Australia, as defined in the registrant’s constitution or other
documents of incorporation; or f) a non-profit organisation operating in
Australia, as defined in the registrant’s constitution or other documents of
incorporation.

2\. Domain names in the org.au 2LD must be: a) an exact match, abbreviation or
acronym of the registrant’s name; or b) otherwise closely and substantially
connected to the registrant.

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Jem
I've not had problems getting (and keeping) users on a .me; but I'm not
selling anything. I also have a fairly young audience (14-18 primarily). I'm
sure both of these things have an effect.

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streety
If: 1) You can secure the domain <yoursite>me.com and 2) It helps with your
marketing

I would say go for it.

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olifante
Domains are becoming less relevant as more and more users just google the name
instead of typing in the address. Choose any non-obscure domain name with one
of the common TLDs (.com, .org, .net, .me, .eu) and you should be fine.

~~~
whatusername
yes - but then you need some funky google-fu so that when users google for
www.yoursite.COM they get directed to www.yoursite.NET

The .com is still the best option

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matwiemann
If you have a service for the tech-savy audience this shouldn't be a
dealbreaker - actually it may be more exotic/interesting to some.

If you want to cater to a broader audience - a .com may be better.

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hellweaver666
Thanks for all the feedback guys - I think I'm going to operate the site on
the .me primarily but make sure I have the .co.uk .com and .me.uk point to the
same place just in case.

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Tichy
I wouldn't worry about trust, but I think people will definitely forget about
the .me and just try .com instead.

For del.icio.us they also bought delicious.com eventually...

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vaksel
I would try to avoid it. Top level domains are better performers

