4 ms·

I think those custom TLDs will work just fine. It might confuse customers a bit, but most of them will just type "burrito.catering" in Google and miraculously r

I think those custom TLDs will work just fine. It might confuse customers a bit, but most of them will just type "burrito.catering" in Google and miraculously reach the correct website anyway. EDIT: In case it's not obvious, the fact is that most people don't type the website address in the URL bar. They type it in the Google search bar.

Asdrubalini 5y ago
Most people don't even know that .catering is a domain name, so they might not recognize it as an actual website... burrito-catering.com would be much better imho
- smichel17 5y ago
  Maybe it's time for good 'ol www to make a comeback.
- hombre_fatal 5y ago
  Also, a weird TLD like ".catering" usually means you're trying to use a generic word in the domain name, "burrito" in this case, which makes it even harder to remember than something more unique + ".com". The effect is that people have to now remember two generic dictionary words. "burrito" and ".catering", or wait, wasn't it "tacos" and ".food" or something? And like you said, I'm sure most people don't even recognize that ".catering" is a TLD, whatever that is, and the domain name just looks like `<genericword>.<genericword>` making it all the more confusing and arbitrary. It's like having to remember where the periods went in "del.icio.us" and, if you couldn't, googling "delicious" (until it caught on) was incredibly unhelpful. Just like googling "burrito catering" doesn't necessarily take you to "https://burrito.catering https://burrito.catering". I think even a random brand name + ".com" is still preferable to most of these new TLDs.
- LeifCarrotson 5y ago
  Even then, you've got a large SEO and trademark barrier. Can you out-rank Qdoba for the words "burrito" and "catering"? If you do, can you use your trademark recognition to fend off competitors at better-burrito-catering.com? Like Qdoba, choose something unique. The domain caterrito.com is a little overspecific, but memorable, unique, easily trademarked, and available.
- sameerds 5y ago
  I think there's a problem worth solving here. With the DNS, people didn't have to bother remembering IP addresses or even know what they mean. With search engines, people no longer have to bother remember URLs or even know what they mean. That's a good thing, IMHO. All we need now is to create a syntax for "internet identifiers" which is instantly recognizable as such. Enter ... drumroll ... @burrito.catering? The choice of generic words like "burrito" and "catering" is a marketing decision. The original example was mostly a placeholder.
OldTimeCoffee 5y ago
At this point the URL bar is a search bar.
frosted-flakes 5y ago
If I tell my mother to go to a specific website (example.com), she will go to google.com, wait for the page to load, then type the website into the search box and semi-randomly click a result, which isn't always the correct one. I've explained to her that if she has a web address, she can skip the googling step, but she doesn't seem to get it. I've also tried explaining to her that the address box doubles as a search box, but she still goes to google.com to search. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Asdrubalini 5y ago

Most people don't even know that .catering is a domain name, so they might not recognize it as an actual website... burrito-catering.com would be much better imho

smichel17 5y ago
Maybe it's time for good 'ol www to make a comeback.
hombre_fatal 5y ago
Also, a weird TLD like ".catering" usually means you're trying to use a generic word in the domain name, "burrito" in this case, which makes it even harder to remember than something more unique + ".com". The effect is that people have to now remember two generic dictionary words. "burrito" and ".catering", or wait, wasn't it "tacos" and ".food" or something? And like you said, I'm sure most people don't even recognize that ".catering" is a TLD, whatever that is, and the domain name just looks like `<genericword>.<genericword>` making it all the more confusing and arbitrary. It's like having to remember where the periods went in "del.icio.us" and, if you couldn't, googling "delicious" (until it caught on) was incredibly unhelpful. Just like googling "burrito catering" doesn't necessarily take you to "https://burrito.catering https://burrito.catering". I think even a random brand name + ".com" is still preferable to most of these new TLDs.
LeifCarrotson 5y ago
Even then, you've got a large SEO and trademark barrier. Can you out-rank Qdoba for the words "burrito" and "catering"? If you do, can you use your trademark recognition to fend off competitors at better-burrito-catering.com? Like Qdoba, choose something unique. The domain caterrito.com is a little overspecific, but memorable, unique, easily trademarked, and available.
sameerds 5y ago
I think there's a problem worth solving here. With the DNS, people didn't have to bother remembering IP addresses or even know what they mean. With search engines, people no longer have to bother remember URLs or even know what they mean. That's a good thing, IMHO. All we need now is to create a syntax for "internet identifiers" which is instantly recognizable as such. Enter ... drumroll ... @burrito.catering? The choice of generic words like "burrito" and "catering" is a marketing decision. The original example was mostly a placeholder.

OldTimeCoffee 5y ago

At this point the URL bar is a search bar.

frosted-flakes 5y ago

If I tell my mother to go to a specific website (example.com), she will go to google.com, wait for the page to load, then type the website into the search box and semi-randomly click a result, which isn't always the correct one. I've explained to her that if she has a web address, she can skip the googling step, but she doesn't seem to get it. I've also tried explaining to her that the address box doubles as a search box, but she still goes to google.com to search. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯