The mind of an entrepreneur naming his business.
There have been a couple more mainstream stories lately about how startups are using domain hacks and country code domain names because they can’t find a good .com domain available.
Content analytics company Parse.ly has responded by explaining how it originally came up with its name, and when it decided to buy the “matching” .com. It’s a must read for domain name investors because, regardless of whether you agree with Parse.ly’s decision, it gives the perspective of a startup in the naming process.
The company went with Parse.ly because “the name resonated with people we tested it on, the domain was unregistered, and we were cheap and scrappy.”
They traded another domain name to someone who helped create their first logo.
The next year, when they started getting traction, the company spent about $2,000 to buy Parsely.com.
Despite owning the “.com”, we decided to keep the “.” in our branding because we think it emphasizes the play-on-words (“parse”) and reminds people about the mis-spelling [2]. The mis-spelling is important: this way people don’t accidentally type “parsley.com”, which we don’t own.
Parsley.com is owned by domain investor Braden Pollock. It’s also worth noting that another business started on parse.com, which is technically the “matching” second level .com.)
I have to wonder if they inquired about buying Parsely.com early on, since it only ended up costing them $2,000.
Again, you may not think Parse.ly is a great name for a business, even owning Parsely.com. But it’s important to understand how many entrepreneurs approach naming their business and getting their first domain name.
(Hat tip: Name Ninja)
Braden Pollock says
Makes you wonder how long it will take for them to realize that they’re losing traffic to Parsley.com – spelled correctly. Perhaps when they’re done with their current funding round
🙂
Andrew Allemann says
I think you should invest in more herb domains 🙂
Braden Pollock says
So far, so good….
Kassey says
Consumer behavior is hard to change. If you hear the name parse.ly, most people will assume it’s parsely.com. I think most startups go for domain hack because they don’t want to spend the money on a .com.
Braden Pollock says
Actually, I believe most will assume Parsley.com since that’s the true spelling. How can you convey that the name of your company is not spelled correctly without spelling it out? They’re losing traffic to the correct spelling.
attorneydavid2012 says
I actually buy alot of ly name and they seem to sell well. But alternate/correct spelling are a reason I pass. On the other side. Parse I believe is a real word having to do with coding so it makes some sense, also there b2b so I think they can get away with more.
Braden Pollock says
I agree with you but the fact remains that Parsely will undoubtedly be confused with Parsley.