Domain Naming Goals

Domain Naming Goals – Summary Online naming compared with offline naming

Domain naming has four major goals or criteria, which are sometimes contradictory and tradeoffs must be made. Many of the goals are similar to offline naming goals, but there are important differences. A quick summary introduction of the four goals follows:

A) Image
Names project an image or may have a neutral image if the name is entirely new (coined words). Choosing a name to project a good, appropriate-to-the-business image is similar to offline branding, but online domain names have additional characteristics that affect the image. For example, short one-word domain names have a better
image than long names, everything else constant.

B) Memorability
Without reminders, such as seeing a product on a store shelf, memorability is more important online than offline. In addition to having a better image, shorter names are easier to remember than longer names, everything else constant. There are sometimes conflicts between memorable shocking names and image. Memorability also requires that your name or brand be distinguishable from competitors, which is often a problem with generic names.

Is the company iHosting.com, eHosting.com, iHost.com or eHost.com? Memorability is more important for smaller companies with smaller marketing budgets and less known products. No one is going to forget the names Pepsi or Coke. Online, the exact spelling of the domain name must also be memorable. When typing in a domain name, close does not work.

C) Minimize Trademark Problems

There is no such thing as a perfectly legally safe name, but you can minimize the risks. Trademark problems fall into two groups:
1) Can you prevent competitors or other businesses from using a name similar to yours?

2) Can a competitor or other business legally challenge your name because it’s similar to their name?

If a competitor can use a name similar to yours, you will have both memorability and customer-confusion trademark problems. In severe cases, you will have difficulty building a brand name. For example, there is BankOne, CapitalOne, and occasionally fraudulent firms that use the “one” in their name to mislead customers/victims.
There are often conflicts between minimizing trademark risks and memorability and image, since other companies may have already used most dictionary words. It’s difficult to claim total ownership of dictionary words – especially popular dictionary words.

The major difference between online and offline trademarks is that every online firm is effectively national and international, with trademark conflicts possible with other firms regardless of physical location. In the past, small firms could just worry about trademark conflicts with other firms doing business in their geographical area.
Online there are anticybersquatting laws and mandatory dispute resolution, but these are narrowly aimed at cybersquatters 1) operating in bad faith and 2) without any trademark rights.

D) Buy the Domain Name at a Minimum Cost
There is no comparable activity for offline names. Offline, one can just pick a name and use the name after making sure there are no trademark problems.
For example, the television show Survivor did not purchase Survivor.com, which is owned by Survivor Software – an unrelated company (as of late 2002).
Obtaining a domain name at a reasonable price is one area that conventional offline naming consultants have little knowledge of. But since consulting clients are usually large Fortune 500 companies who may want the best name regardless of the cost – up to $20,000 – most consultants have succeeded in spite of little knowledge of the domain name market.