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Successful Host With -DASH?
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Successful Host With -DASH?

While most hosts choose ".com," we've seen Hosts can be very successful on ".net" & even on ".io."

But I couldn't think of a major successful hosting company using "-" dashes in it's domain.

Do you know of one? Could a host be successful with a "Best-Host.com" type of domain?

Could a Host be successful with a "-"?
  1. Could a Host be successful with a "-"?50 votes
    1. Yes
      50.00%
    2. No
      50.00%
«1

Comments

  • BlaZeBlaZe Member, Host Rep

    Although I voted a NO as I dislike a dash in the domain name but honestly speaking, a good name wont matter if the services are shitty. Or, even if the name is a generic one & the services are phenomenal then you are in for a success :)

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • bruh21bruh21 Member, Host Rep

    If the service is good enough, sure. But if you're just starting out, an easy to type domain will be more optimal.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • DPDP Administrator, The Domain Guy

    IMO, success does not lie within a domain or the brand that's being used, but with the services and professionalism being offered.

    OTOH, a good name is a bonus, because if your services/products don't make it, at least your domain can get you something later :joy:

  • Dash domains:
    English = No
    German = Yes

  • edited June 2021

    @amadex1337 said:
    Dash domains:
    English = No
    German = Yes

    Good point! German Host Contabo 1st became a successful company as Giga-international.com from 2003 before changing their name to "Contabo" in 2013.

    That's 10 years with the "dash."

    Dashes are strangely accepted in Germany.
    See: https://contabo.com/blog/giga-international-becomes-contabo/

    Thanked by 1amadex1337
  • mich-ael @SmallWeb

    Thanked by 1MichaelCee
  • bulbasaurbulbasaur Member
    edited June 2021

    @Offshore_Solutions said: But I couldn't think of a major successful hosting company using "-" dashes in it's domain.

    The biggest problem would be besthost.com (without the dash) being in your competitor's hands. The good thing is you're participating in a domain auction for what I think is a very good name, so maybe don't cheap out in the auction and you won't have to settle for best-host.com.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • dfroedfroe Member, Host Rep

    If the name consists of two distinct words, like "best-host", I personally find it much easier to read and recognize if there is some kind of separator between the two words.

    So I'd prefer "best-host" over "besthost".
    But maybe according to @amadex1337 that's just because I'm from Germany. :)

  • yoursunnyyoursunny Member, IPv6 Advocate

    Ask @EvolutionHost how they got their domain.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • @SirFoxy said:
    mich-ael @SmallWeb

    That's just wrong. He's not invited to the Michael's club.

  • @yoursunny said:
    Ask @EvolutionHost how they got their domain.

    They bought it like anyone else.

  • pikepike Veteran

    php-friends

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • jhjh Member

    No. If a company has a really good reputation then the name stops mattering but in the beginning when you're trying to grow a business, the dash just makes it look amateurish.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • amadex1337amadex1337 Member
    edited June 2021

    de-cix.net, try to remove dash :smirk:

  • SaahibSaahib Host Rep, Veteran

    We have a poll for dash.. ?

    Honestly, you can make have noMeaningWord and can be successful if they have quality and people will remember .. so ..

    POLL !

  • FalzoFalzo Member
    edited June 2021

    @dfroe said: because I'm from Germany

    yeah, there are few other countries where dashes are a thing (e.g. japan I think)... in Germany there is also https://all-inkl.com/ which is well established.

    PS: a decision what to use simply depends on the audience you are targeting...

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran

  • edited June 2021

    @dfroe said:
    If the name consists of two distinct words, like "best-host", I personally find it much easier to read and recognize if there is some kind of separator between the two words.

    So I'd prefer "best-host" over "besthost".
    But maybe according to @amadex1337 that's just because I'm from Germany. :)

    How does this happen that the majority of a particular culture, in this case the German culture, agrees that something like "dashes" are good in contrast to outside cultures (or that David Hasselhoff is talented)?

  • dfroedfroe Member, Host Rep
    edited June 2021

    @Offshore_Solutions said:
    How does this happen that the majority of a particular culture, in this case the German culture, agrees that something like "dashes" are good in contrast to outside cultures?

    Well, I think it has more to do with the language itself.

    In German language a dash is much more common.
    For example in English you have an "IT budget" whereas in German the correct spelling is "IT-Budget".

    Something like "best-host" wouldn't be correct in German, either. But it probably looks "less awkward" to German people than English folks. :)

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • DPDP Administrator, The Domain Guy

    @Offshore_Solutions said:

    @dfroe said:
    If the name consists of two distinct words, like "best-host", I personally find it much easier to read and recognize if there is some kind of separator between the two words.

    So I'd prefer "best-host" over "besthost".
    But maybe according to @amadex1337 that's just because I'm from Germany. :)

    How does this happen that the majority of a particular culture, in this case the German culture, agrees that something like "dashes" are good in contrast to outside cultures (or that David Hasselhoff is talented)?

    Plausible explanation.

    https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-reason-businesses-in-Germany-and-prefer-to-use-hyphens-in-domain-names-while-its-a-big-no-no-in-the-English-speaking-world

  • edited June 2021

    That Quora answer seems to hit it dead on.
    An interesting part to me:
    "The only scenario where I see big brands investing in such names is if they already own the non-hyphenated name."

    Here's where there may be an English exception to "no dash." Some words like "co-op" are written with a dash. Since one day I hope to start a hosting cooperative, I've registered the dash:
    http://HostCo-op.com

  • aquaaqua Member, Patron Provider

    fallout-hosting.com from @Ian_Dot_Tech seems to be a pretty successful company.

    Domains don't really matter, it matters how reliable and legit you are.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • Define successful.

    Clients? Sure.
    Profit? Sure.

    How much profit? Dunnae.

  • XiNiXXiNiX Member, Host Rep

    IMHO, in hosting business domain/name doesnt matter quality of service does.
    Atleast in a long term perspective.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • amadex1337amadex1337 Member
    edited June 2021

    Also don't forget the germany's 24! :D
    Almost every company name has 24 number at the end... :D

    Offshore-Solutions24.de would fit.

  • Ian_Dot_TechIan_Dot_Tech Member, Patron Provider

    Yeah, our gaming brand has a - in it and does well for itself.

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • @dfroe said: For example in English you have an "IT budget" whereas in German the correct spelling is "IT-Budget".

    I used to work with a German guy, and I could tell which code comments were his because they'd have a lot of hyphens in them :tongue:

    As a front end developer, German translations are sometimes a nightmare due to the number of long compound words. The UI designers sometimes don't take huge strings into account when designing a UI that has lots of buttons side-by-side.

  • FalzoFalzo Member

    @Daniel15 said: As a front end developer, German translations are sometimes a nightmare due to the number of long compound words. The UI designers sometimes don't take huge strings into account when designing a UI that has lots of buttons side-by-side.

    being German, working for an international company... so much this!

    Thanked by 1Offshore_Solutions
  • Also, when I first read "DASH" in capital letters in the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about the DASH video streaming technology.

    @Falzo said: being German, working for an international company... so much this!

    At my workplace we have an option to display the longest strings out of all the translations, which is very useful for testing weird UI edge cases (since everything will render using the longest possible string for that UI element). The longest strings are usually German, but occasionally other languages have longer strings. There's also a fake RTL language that's English but rendered like a RTL language, so people can test how their page looks in RTL languages without having to understand Arabic or Hebrew (the UI is generally flipped in these languages, for example the site logo would be at the top right rather than the top left, and a left sidebar becomes a right sidebar)

  • @Daniel15 said:
    Also, when I first read "DASH" in capital letters in the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about the DASH video streaming technology.

    Yeah, he was redundant.

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