dot bike or dot com?

[mambo1]

Hi guys,

I am in the process of setting up a new bicycle brand. Do any of you guys know which is be better to have a .com or .bike web address?

Thanks

 

[BigMac]

Hi guys,

I am in the process of setting up a new bicycle brand. Do any of you guys know which is be better to have a .com or .bike web address?

Thanks

I'd say .com.

Not only it looks much more professional and enterprisish cool, it is also a cheaper domain, I imagine.

Best of luck with your project.

 

[DirtyWorks]

One is not better than another. They all resolve the same.

Maybe you want to keep the blog and whatnot on the .bike and all the specs/business info on the .com?

Worst case, point the .bike domain to the .com. In the unlikely event your business is successful, it will cut down a little on domain squatting, typo squatting, and all the other annoyances.

Good luck.

 

[WillemS]

Okay, here's something from a cognitive perspective. Please be advised that this is outside of my field of specialisation and it's only one aspect influencing memory.

Memory and Cognitive Schemata
Most people that use the internet often have cognitive schemata about domain names. This means they have expectations about how domain names look and will use that information to aid (memory) performance. As most (commercial) websites use either a dot com or country code TLD (.nl; .co.uk; .de; and so on) or both, domain names using such a familiar TLD are often easier to remember, as it does not require some piece of unfamiliar information.

So "cyclingnews.com" is easier to remember than "cyclingnews.bike", as you have to specifically store the ".bike" piece of information in the latter case, while in the former case you can rely on the "normal domain name"-schema to fill in the usual TLD. While bike is semantically related to both the name "cyclingnews" and the website's content, making successful memory retrieval more likely, I think it's likely that at least some potential visitors would get it wrong if they are a bit fuzzy on the details.

If you're considering a .bike TLD because the .com-equivalent is taken, then I predict that at least some visitors will end up on the wrong website (i.e., the .com website instead of your .bike website).

So, I would recommend to either register the domain name with both TLD (i.e., .bike and .com) or to go for a dot com only domain name.

(In the Open-Source Software community, a lot of websites use "dot org" domain names. With some exceptions, I usually get it wrong the first time by defaulting to "dot com" and end up on some ad site, as ad companies know people make that mistake often.)

 

[BigMac]

Okay, here's something from a cognitive perspective. Please be advised that this is outside of my field of specialisation and it's only one aspect influencing memory.

Memory and Cognitive Schemata
Most people that use the internet often have cognitive schemata about domain names. This means they have expectations about how domain names look and will use that information to aid (memory) performance. As most (commercial) websites use either a dot com or country code TLD (.nl; .co.uk; .de; and so on) or both, domain names using such a familiar TLD are often easier to remember, as it does not require some piece of unfamiliar information.

So "cyclingnews.com" is easier to remember than "cyclingnews.bike", as you have to specifically store the ".bike" piece of information in the latter case, while in the former case you can rely on the "normal domain name"-schema to fill in the usual TLD. While bike is semantically related to both the name "cyclingnews" and the website's content, making successful memory retrieval more likely, I think it's likely that at least some potential visitors would get it wrong if they are a bit fuzzy on the details.

If you're considering a .bike TLD because the .com-equivalent is taken, then I predict that at least some visitors will end up on the wrong website (i.e., the .com website instead of your .bike website).

So, I would recommend to either register the domain name with both TLD (i.e., .bike and .com) or to go for a dot com only domain name.

(In the Open-Source Software community, a lot of websites use "dot org" domain names. With some exceptions, I usually get it wrong the first time by defaulting to "dot com" and end up on some ad site, as ad companies know people make that mistake often.)

Great post WillemS.

 

[avanti]

Obtain all the .com, .bike, .bix domain sites - otherwise someone may take one of them and drain potential customers. Some you can get for free or minimal cost.

Imagine how ****ed Permancebike.com would be if I started a competing performancebike.bike site.

 

[sponsor]

Hi guys,

I am in the process of setting up a new bicycle brand. Do any of you guys know which is be better to have a .com or .bike web address?

Thanks

Do both. Have them redirect.

 

[ustabe]

(In the Open-Source Software community, a lot of websites use "dot org" domain names. With some exceptions, I usually get it wrong the first time by defaulting to "dot com" and end up on some ad site, as ad companies know people make that mistake often.)

I was listening to my favorite public radio station while driving to work. They were having a fundraising drive, so when I got to my desk I decided to donate online, at "kuvo.com." I was shocked, and relieved that most of my co-workers hadn't arrived, when a Mexican porn site came up.

I should have typed "kuvo.org."

 

[Tyre Byter]

I was listening to my favorite public radio station while driving to work. They were having a fundraising drive, so when I got to my desk I decided to donate online, at "kuvo.com." I was shocked, and relieved that most of my co-workers hadn't arrived, when a Mexican porn site came up.

I should have typed "kuvo.org."

That story just made my day!

Thank you

(So, did you donate?)

 

[mambo1]

Thanks for the advice guys. Dot com it is and well look at getting the other dots!