opinions please, re: .com vs .net

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

Post Reply
User avatar
DrummerMan
george martin
Posts: 1436
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

opinions please, re: .com vs .net

Post by DrummerMan » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:45 pm

Just curious what you're takes are in this current day and age on this age-old question of web address extension. I know it's been brought up a million times but I didn't find anything too recent on the subject and thoughts on what's important in web presence to seem to change from time to time.

I've got

geoffmann.net

and

geoffmannmusic.com

I need to pick one that I put on my business cards, links from other sites etc.. Obviously geoffmann.com is unavailable

This is a site for composing/film scoring, though I'm not sure how much that information really matters in this case. I don't expect much business to come from online searching or anything, but I like to have a place I can direct people who I meet to see what I do, and I'd like it to be something they can possibly remember. I like the simplicity of how the .net address looks but besides .com being what (i'm assuming still) most people will go to by default, I'm wondering if having "music" in the name will actually help by telling people what to expect.

I guess the truth is that I WANT to hold on to the .net address because of how it looks, but I don't want to be ignorant to the realities of the internet.

WWYD?

Thanks!

User avatar
Snarl 12/8
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3510
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
Location: Right Cheer
Contact:

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:02 pm

I think most people that aren't web developers won't give a shit and will prefer the shorter URL if they have to retype it. As a web developer I always feel like .net implies some sort of ISP or other provider of the internet as opposed to a denizen of it, like a web site. But again, I can't imagine how many people really remember the origins of that (or any) TLD (top level domain).

Did you google ".net vs .com" there might be a more wonky discussion of the pros and cons out there. If there's one thing discussed, ad nauseum, on the net, it's the net.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

trevord
gettin' sounds
Posts: 128
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2003 2:20 pm
Location: San Jose, CA

Post by trevord » Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:47 pm

in my opinion it does not matter
keep the following in mind
1) people use google first to find you then bookmark you - most of the time they forget the link any way
so pay attention to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rules and you will be at the top of the search reasults in no time.

2) Pay more attention to your Social Network profiles (Facebook and twitter) and the other music/industry social web pages

3) have some one - integrate you into google apps and gmail

What tell people is - unless you are providing some function over the web so you need to have an application on your site - stick to social sites plus google.
As a matter of fact only if your app is more complicated than - calendar, contact us etc - because google supplies all of these.

Its exciting to think about doing you own page but like everything else it has been commoditized to the point where its more of a bother than any return you will get.

User avatar
Gregg Juke
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3544
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Contact:

Post by Gregg Juke » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:33 pm

I think most people (and more and more everyday that are still coming) will be inclined to default to ".com" .

But, why not keep both (what is it now, $13.00 a year?), and use one as your main address, but have the other one (.net) just point to your main site, so they can find you with either one?

GJ

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:40 am

Gregg Juke wrote:But, why not keep both (what is it now, $13.00 a year?), and use one as your main address, but have the other one (.net) just point to your main site, so they can find you with either one?
This is what I'd do.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

User avatar
Snarl 12/8
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3510
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
Location: Right Cheer
Contact:

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:47 am

cgarges wrote:
Gregg Juke wrote:But, why not keep both (what is it now, $13.00 a year?), and use one as your main address, but have the other one (.net) just point to your main site, so they can find you with either one?
This is what I'd do.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
I assumed he was going to do that. (Assuming - bad!) But I thought the question was which one to print/publicize the shorter .net or the longer .com. I'd go with the shorter .net, if it was me.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

User avatar
digitaldrummer
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3476
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:51 pm
Location: Austin, Texas
Contact:

Post by digitaldrummer » Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:47 pm

put whichever is shorter to type, or easier to remember on your biz card. then redirect one (or more) to the other.

Mike
Mike
www.studiodrumtracks.com -- Drum tracks starting at $50!
www.doubledogrecording.com

User avatar
Snarl 12/8
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3510
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
Location: Right Cheer
Contact:

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:36 pm

digitaldrummer wrote:put whichever is shorter to type, or easier to remember on your biz card. then redirect one (or more) to the other.

Mike
Why not redirect everything to the shorter to typer? Eventually, he could analyze traffic and see if anything whatsoever is coming in from the longer and maybe save $13/yr. down the road.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

User avatar
DrummerMan
george martin
Posts: 1436
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by DrummerMan » Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:38 pm

Snarl 12/8 wrote:
cgarges wrote:
Gregg Juke wrote:But, why not keep both (what is it now, $13.00 a year?), and use one as your main address, but have the other one (.net) just point to your main site, so they can find you with either one?
This is what I'd do.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
I assumed he was going to do that. (Assuming - bad!) But I thought the question was which one to print/publicize the shorter .net or the longer .com. I'd go with the shorter .net, if it was me.
Your assumption was, in fact, correct. Not throwing anything away, but as I understand it, consistency is worth something. I can't imagine it would be very good or useful to have one site on my business cards, bandcamp page and invoices, and another on facebook, myspace (still! :roll: ) and cd's I hand out to people. I would just like to have one thing that I tell people about/link to, which will by that act probably become what search engines latch on to as well.

So, thanks for the thoughts as far as "it doesn't really matter". Unless someone else sways me strongly in the other direction, I'll probably just stick with the shorter .net address for what I tell people.


As for this:
trevord wrote:What tell people is - unless you are providing some function over the web so you need to have an application on your site - stick to social sites plus google.
As a matter of fact only if your app is more complicated than - calendar, contact us etc - because google supplies all of these.

Its exciting to think about doing you own page but like everything else it has been commoditized to the point where its more of a bother than any return you will get.
I'm not sure if you're suggesting that my web address should point to some other social media site, or if you think that people like myself should forgo any centralized web location and just keep all the various social sites updated (or possibly something else that I'm not understanding). I understand that for a lot of people having a wordpress page or something like it as your site is totally the way to go, and I've seen sites of studio owners or musicians/bands like that that do everything that they need to to promote themselves successfully, and I have no problem with that.

I'd say that, at least in the film/tv/ad/video game world, it's still a good thing to have your own web address that goes to your own site. What producers (and to some degree directors/creative directors) want to know, almost more than the awesomeness of your work, is that you are 100% professional, are yourself a contained well-oiled machine of efficient productivity, that you work cleanly and will integrate into a team where the final product is your goal and you can deliver in a timely manner. I think having a single clean, direct website of your own without any extraneous bullshit on it still says something to a lot of people about how seriously you take your business, and can imply those attributes listed above. Whether or not this actually reflects on your professionalism is besides the point. I know of ad agency people who don't take you very seriously if you have film and video game music on your site, so it's really not hard to imagine that putting your demo reel on your facebook page next to a million comments on what some people ate this weekend and how some other people feel about it could come across as less than fully dedicated.

I will say that I find it frustrating when I look somebody up only to come across their facebook/linkedin/bandcamp pages and have to sift through to find any pertinent information. I'm probably just an old fuddy-duddy at this point holding on to the archaic idea of what your own site represents, but so are many of my potential clients. Until it starts to feel like having one website that stays the same through all the fads and comings and goings of different social networks is an actual detriment to my business, I say might as well keep every little bit of help I can get.


Snarl 12/8 wrote:
digitaldrummer wrote:put whichever is shorter to type, or easier to remember on your biz card. then redirect one (or more) to the other.

Mike
Why not redirect everything to the shorter to typer? Eventually, he could analyze traffic and see if anything whatsoever is coming in from the longer and maybe save $13/yr. down the road.
I still don't see the benefit to having a bunch of different web addresses that all go the same place. Does it help with searches?

User avatar
Snarl 12/8
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3510
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
Location: Right Cheer
Contact:

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:29 pm

DrummerMan wrote:I still don't see the benefit to having a bunch of different web addresses that all go the same place. Does it help with searches?
I don't think there is a search benefit. In fact, it might hurt you with Google, who's been known to blacklist sites that it thinks are trying to "game" the system. I've always said the best way to rise in the google rankings, for the search terms you want to be found with, is to be the best web citizen you can be in that subject area. So, you want compliant HTML and great, compelling, human readable subject matter in an easily identifiable place. So great that other, respectable web sites would rather link to your page than create one of their own.

The only reason to have more domains is if you think people might generally try just typing in your name in the location bar before they typed it into google or read it off your card.

Google won't reveal exactly how they search and rank, so the above is sheer speculation on my part, backed up by reading other web developers speculating generally the same thing.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

trevord
gettin' sounds
Posts: 128
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2003 2:20 pm
Location: San Jose, CA

Post by trevord » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:41 pm

Snarl 12/8 wrote: I've always said the best way to rise in the google rankings, for the search terms you want to be found with, is to be the best web citizen you can be in that subject area. So, you want compliant HTML and great, compelling, human readable subject matter in an easily identifiable place..
Thats exactly what i mean by SEO - I would add proper dealing with google bots (and other search engines in particular). Anyone who offers you anything to move u up in the page rankings is selling snake oil!

As far as social networking sites not being "business friendly" - Most of these sites (facebook in particular) are totally different animals when you approach them as a business not as a user/consumer.
Remember these sites make their money (theoretically anyway :) ) by getting a large herd of consumers to go to their site and sell that herd to businesses.

Try creating a business under your facebook profile - it is a totally different site with great tools for any business trying to reach customers. I recommend it to any band/artist trying to market to general consumers.

As far as - updating many sites with your changing info - some of us are making a sort of living writing web applications that do just that - contact me for details ;)

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 52 guests