Look at subpar domains companies are using to understand possible domain upgrades.

I enjoy doing end user research because it can uncover domains as perfect upgrades for Chinese companies. Here are two startups I came across while reading venture capital news a few days ago.

Ding Dong Ke Tang (叮咚课堂) is a platform which helps young children learn English. Courses are AI-driven, interactive, and based on games. The company was founded in 2014 and has already accumulated close to 5 million users. Recently, it raised more than $30 million in a Series B funding round.

The company’s corporate domain is DDKT365.com but 365 appears to be unrelated to the brand. Now, Ding Dong means “jingling of bells” and Ke Tang refers to classrooms, so the brand can be shortened to simply Ding Dong without losing its identity. Therefore, its domain upgrades are DDKT .com and DingDong .com. The ultimate upgrade will be DD .com.

Wu Kong Zhang Gui (悟空掌柜) is a social ecommerce platform which provides group buying for members. The startup was established in 2018 and recently raised about $15 million in a Series A funding round.

The startup’s corporate domain is WK96.com but 96 appears to be unrelated to the brand. Now, Wu Kong is a well-known character in the novel “Journey to the West” and Zhang Gui means “shopkeepers”, so the brand can be shortened to simply Wu Kong. Therefore, its domain upgrades are WKZG .com and WuKong .com. The ultimate upgrade will be WK.com.

By studying these two companies alone, I have identified many domains that are ideal as upgrades for the companies: DDKT .com, DingDong .com, DD .com, WKZG .com, WuKong .com, and WK .com.

These four Chinese companies upgraded their domain names for different reasons.

As a student of the Chinese domain market, I am excited to see companies upgrade to good domains, but I am even more excited when companies upgrade from good to great domains. Generally speaking, Chinese companies upgrade for the following reasons.

Matching brand: An end user may upgrade because its existing domain does not match its brand. For example, the world’s largest drone maker DJI ( 大疆) used to operate from DJI-Innovations.com. In 2013, the startup invested $300,000 to upgrade to the brand-matching DJI.com as its new corporate domain. Currently, DJI-Innovations.com redirects to DJI.com.

Going global: XiaoMi (小米) is the fourth largest mobile phone maker in 2018 according to Wikipedia but its name is not easy to pronounce and remember outside China. XiaoMi already owned the brand-matching XiaoMi.com but in 2014 it upgraded to Mi.com for $3.6 million. Currently, XiaoMi.com redirects to Mi.com.

Switching extension: Qihoo 360 (奇虎 360) is an internet security company. It sells a number of products with names starting with “360”, such as 360 Safeguard, 360 Mobile Safe, 360 Secure Browser, and 360 Mobile Assistant. Its corporate domain was 360.cn. In 2015, the company shelled out (a reported but not confirmed) $17 million to acquire 360.com. Currently, 360.cn is used for the domestic market only.

Going short: Jing Dong (京东) is the third largest internet company in the world according to Wikipedia. It already owned the brand-matching JingDong.com but in 2012 it acquired JD.com for $5 million. Currently, JingDong.com redirects to JD.com.

As we can see in these examples, Chinese companies like to upgrade their domains. So, it is a good idea to check and see if your domains fall into the upgrade path of end users in China.