What's In A Domain Name?

A dot by any other com — ugh, sorry.

Photo: Bernard Spragg

The making of a “good domain name” is, I heard in conference sessions and was told repeatedly by NamesCon attendees, more alchemy than chemistry. Again, brevity is typically a good move, though memorable phrases are also effective. Some TLDs are hot right now (.io), and some single words are always a good investment (lotions.com, furs.com), but good TLDs and good words together don’t always work (as was explained to the owner of furs.io and lotions.io in one session). Long-time domainers also had oddly specific advice — ”Hyphens make your domain less valuable — unless you’re in Germany” and “.info is a dead zone.”

Ingrid Burrington goes to Las Vegas for “NamesCon, an annual conference for the domain-names industry.” This is enjoyable and you may learn something, and also you are not the one who had to go to Vegas for a domain names conference, so it’s really a win in every way.

A Surreal Trip to a Domain Names Conference