* 8o.com

Welcome to 8o

Two character dot coms, or the alpha-numberic CC.coms as they are collectively known in the domain world are, for the most part, the shortest dot coms available on the internet. There are 1296 (36x36) all together and range from 00.com to zz.com.

They have a kind of uniqueness and cool-factor that appeal to computer people with math backgrounds (like myself), web designers, companies and domainers. The aforementioned, combined with their increasing value over the years have made the CC.com - and all the subgroups encompassed - an asset and collector's item of sorts.

Of the CC.com subgroups, the two-letter, LL.com, and two-digit, NN.com, are the most desirable and this fact is reflected in the price tag. Which are the more desirable of the two depends upon specific needs. The next in line, in terms of desirability, are the letter-number combinations and the number-letter combinations.

8o.com, the site you're currently visiting and will no doubt leave soon due to boredom, is part of the latter group - collectively refered to, in domain-speak, as NL.coms.

Apart from being desirable, these particular names have a surprising amount of uses and, depending on the combination, can receive decent traffic. You'd be amazed at the number of times a letter-number combination is used to describe products, so for this and other reasons, they get typed into the browser and search engines quite often.

8o.com is one of the 260 NL.coms in existence, ranging from 0a.com to 9z.com. These days they cost anywhere between $10,000 US and much more, depending on quality. NL.coms can be chosen for brandability, intrinsic traffic generation or both.

An NL term like '3G' meets both specifications. It's already branded, and as such, gets searched a lot. A term like '2a' gets searched often but wouldn't be as brandable.

'8o' fits more into the brandability category. I prefer it because it rolls off the tongue, has an association with the 80's and is the shortened term for 8 o'clock. In addition, the number '8' is associated with luck in China which, in turn, has given it more favor amongst westerners, like myself. There is also the loose association with oxygen, which has atomic number '8' and chemical symbol 'O'.

Some NL.coms have been developed and some haven't. As a programmer with an interest in design, I'm hoping to go against the parking trend and actually develop this one. I'm not sure what I'm going to call it just yet. '8 Online', or something along those lines. Until such a time, which shouldn't be too far away, this hastily written, long-winded composition will have to suffice. -:)

By the way, this page is best viewed through a Safari Browser with the Quartz Engine running, preferably on a screen with high resolution. It looks terrible on any other setup. I've thrown this two-page wonder together from scatch in half an hour. Give me a bit more time and I'll see if I can improve things.