When people hear the word “hack”, they usually think about exploiting software vulnerabilities, gaining information illegally, or stealing digital assets. When it comes to domain names, however, the term has quite a different connotation. In this article, we will look at what domain hacks are, and we will explore some of the advantages and challenges of using them.

• What is a domain hack?
• Advantages of using domain hacks
• Challenges
• How to choose the right domain?
• Wrap-Up

What is a domain hack?

In short, a domain hack is a word or a phrase that is made up of the second-level domain (SLD) and the first-level domain (TLD). Depending on the name, you can either split a word or join two or more words. For example, the domain name “retrogam.es” uses the Spanish ccTLD, so the entire domain name is an actual phrase - “retro games”. Rarely, subdomains can be used as well – del.icio.us and fa.vor.it are a couple of such examples that use the .US and the .IT country-code extensions.

Domain hacks have been around for a while. The domain name “inter.net” was registered back in 1992, followed by “pla.net” and various subdomains created with it. The name “del.icio.us” appeared after “icio.us” was registered in 2002. The term “domain hack” was introduced in 2004 by the independent game developer Matthew Doucette to describe unconventional domain names. Domain hacks became quite popular in 2007 when the .ME extension was delegated to Montenegro. Lots of domains were registered with that ccTLD shortly after that.

Many people use the so-called new gTLDs to construct phrases as well. More than 1000 new gTLDs have been introduced since 2013, so you have a huge choice. Although domain hacks originally included country-code TLDs, you can create lots of appealing phrases with the new gTLDs.

A few popular examples of domain hacks with ccTLDs are flic.kr (used by Flickr), movi.es (used by Netflix), ti.me, and instagr.am. New gTLDs have been used for goo.gle, home.loans and namesthat.win, for example.

Advantages of using domain hacks

As you will see below, using domain hacks has certain advantages. You can use such a domain name as your main domain, or in addition to a domain with one of the original gTLDs.

• Create a brand name. Using a domain hack, you can create a brand name. You can use it as your main brand or in addition to the main one. Your domain and your brand name will be the same, which is good for brand recognition. Some tech startups use .ai or .io as a part of both their domain and their brand. Both extensions have been very popular lately as they are abbreviations for “artificial intelligence” and “input/output”.

• Protect a brand name. Some companies use domain hacks that are exactly the same as their existing brand name. Although they often use a .com domain, they also use country-code TLDs either to create an exact match of their brand, or to use a domain that is as close as possible. This way, they make sure that a third-party will not register a domain that looks exactly as their brand name, thus avoiding possible lawsuits in the future. The domain names ti.me and spoti.fi are an example.

• Many are still available. Lots of good domain names with the original generic extensions have already been registered, so if you want to register a good name for your new website, domain hacks give you a lot of available names to choose from. Even if a domain with one ccTLD or new gTLD is not available, you have appealing alternatives that you can use.

• Domain investing. If you think of a good domain hack which you don’t really need, you can still register it. A new startup may want this domain name at some point, and they may be willing to pay good money for it. Domain investing is not only about buying and selling popular existing domains, but also about taking a chance to register new ones with the idea to sell them for profit in the future.

• Show your creativity. A domain hack gives you the opportunity to show how creative you are. Form a witty phrase or explain what your website is about by using only the domain name. Considering the number of TLDs out there, these opportunities are countless. Of course, some ideas are better than others, so you shouldn’t jump to the first idea that comes to mind.

• Short and easy. One of the biggest advantages of domain hacks is that they are often short and easy to remember. While many people add .com to a name they cannot remember well, a good domain hack will be easy to remember regardless of its extension. For instance, if you use blo.gs or real.estate, it is very likely that users will always remember these domain names.

Challenges

Of course, using a domain hack can also be risky. We have listed some of the challenges you may face. These are things you should consider, but definitely not reasons to discourage you from using a good domain hack.

• Could be confusing. People often add .com to a domain name they are not sure about or consider the website name to be only the part before the extension. If you use a domain hack, sometimes they may get confused when they try to remember your exact domain name. Of course, this will not happen once they get used to the domain, but this is something you should keep in mind for a new domain. To avoid such a situation, make sure that your domain is easy to understand and remember. If you use some abbreviation for the domain that only you understand, visitors may get frustrated.

• Potential trademark issues. Registering a domain name that includes a trademark, but with a different extension, is not allowed. If you want to register pepsi.com.au, for example, you will probably have to deal with a trademark lawsuit sooner or later. What about pep.si, though? Using a domain hack, you may miss (or intentionally ignore) that the full domain name resembles an existing trademark. You should pay attention to such details though, so always check the full domain for possible trademark conflicts before you register it.

• SEO issues. If you use a country-code TLD instead of a new gTLD, search engines may not show your domain to the right audience in search results. ccTLDs usually target local communities, so it is likely that your domain will appear more often in local search results than in global ones. If the country in question is not your primary target audience, you may miss potential organic traffic. A possible solution in this case is to have a domain with a generic TLD as well and redirect one to the other. Many companies, including ones we have mentioned in this article, do that – ti.me, instagr.am, etc.

• Possible TLD issues. While it is quite unlikely for a domain extension to experience problems on a global level, it is not impossible. Being a part of the global domain system, ccTLDs follow many of the policies that generic TLDs follow. Local registries often adopt TLD-specific policies, though, and have control over the extension. If there is some policy update, your domain name may be affected. In theory, this should not happen if you use a new gTLD, but due to the number of these extensions, many of them are quite unpopular. Nobody can guarantee that a registry operator will not discontinue to manage a particular TLD if the latter is not profitable for a long period of time.
  
  Even if there are no issues with the registry operator, you can face other challenges with certain ccTLDs. Some are quite expensive, especially compared to the original gTLDs. For others, you may have to submit paperwork via snail mail or fax to renew or manage the domain.

How to choose the right domain?

If you wonder whether you should use a domain hack for your new website, consider the pros and cons we have listed above. Should you decide to proceed, do some brainstorming to shortlist words or phrases that will suit your website. To pick the winner, think of how appealing each one will be, or ask colleagues and friends which domain they like the most. Check if the domain may be too ambiguous or too similar to other existing domains.

Some ccTLDs are more suitable for domain hacks than others, although it really depends on the domain you want. A few examples are .IN, .ME, .GG, .ES, .TV, .TO.

You can also use a domain hack generator such as https://domainhacks.info/generator or https://handreg.io/domain-hack-generator. Using a new gTLD is straightforward as all gTLDs follow the same registration and management rules. This isn’t the case with ccTLDs, though. Some of them have special requirements, so you should make sure that you can register the domain name you want. For certain extensions, you may have to use a third-party proxy registration service.

And here are a few of the best domain hacks on the web:

Wrap-Up

Domain hacks are a great way to use a short and memorable domain name for your website. Whether you use a ccTLD or a new gTLD, you can create a witty phrase and build or protect a brand name, or invest and then sell the domain name. Domain hacks are a good alternative to the scarce .COM domains.

Of course, there are some challenges you may face – visitors may not find the domain as amusing as you think it is, and search engines may not display it to the right audience as they may consider the site to be a local one. Nonetheless, you should not get discouraged. With good content and a good marketing strategy, a domain hack can give you an advantage over your competitors.