COM Developed ORG Developed NET is Launching

Now, as you read this next post I want you to try to take off your domainer hat for just a minute and then at the end if you want to put it back on and tell me I am crazy go ahead. The question I have for you the reader is should we never of started? Now let me explain.

Recently we at Localtek decided it was time to build a niche destination site for one of the states we are in, the site will be focused on what is the fastest growing attraction niche in the state with a lot of big money players in it with quite a bit of marketing dollars still going in. Seems a good niche to hit.

Now, as I have said before if you think you have to have the .COM or you cannot even start a business then you will never get anywhere, but here I will give you example and you can tell me your thoughts.

When we went to research names for the site the first thing I noticed is that the .COM was taken by a reasonably small player in the specific niche and the .ORG was taken by the official industry outreach group (there is that concept again) but the .NET was reasonably close to expiration, close enough we waited, as luck would have it we were able to get the category defining .NET and decided to move forward.

So, first thought, since the .COM and .ORG were developed should the business never of started?

Anyway, now understand on many niche geo sites like this the exact match search may only be 1000 with much of the search coming from long tail terms around the topic. So is type in traffic a factor? No it is not.

Next up, we researched the .COM version which does rank on the first page of Google and felt confident that even with a moderate amount of SEO and link building in the next 6 months we could overtake the .COM, the .ORG is a different story but for many they will be looking for something more tourist focused than what the .ORG offers.

So, for a name and topic like this the focus for me is less on type in traffic and more on search engine optimization value. In otherwords, the majority of traffic will come from search more so than type ins so I felt comfortable with starting on the .NET even with the .COM and .ORG taken and developed.

So, the question stands again, should we never of started just because we did not have the .COM? Both the .ORG and .COM serve different purposes than what we are doing, should we of just walked away?

Trust me, I love .COM but should a project never start without. I know I have hit this concept several times but the concept still seems to frustrate people. If the overwhelming majority of traffic would come from search (even for the .COM) then I think it is ok to start with the .NET.

Now, if I went by what quite a few people say I should go buy the business that has the .COM before I even start....I do not think that would of happened.....