When buying a domain, is it worth the trouble to buy other top-level domains?

[DanSkippy]

When buying a domain, is it worth the trouble to buy other top-level domains? I.e. .com, online, xyz, yada, yada.

From an marketing perspective; is it okay/smart/worth-the-trouble to, lets say, use .com as the website that only elaborates on the service aspect and actually offer the service?

The .online version will be used for general thoughts and ramblings, affiliate links and so on.

The other top-levels will either be routed to .online or .com.

Any input is appreciated in advance.

 

[Ryuzaki]

@DanSkippy,

I only see two scenarios where it's worth doing this (though I'm sure I'm missing many others):

• You want to protect your brand
• You have uses for the other domains

I don't do this for every project I build, but when I do I tend to only pick up the .com, .org, and .net. Anything else isn't as tasty to goobers out there trying to play games. Maybe the .co or .io depending on the niche, too.

But realistically, if you have your trademark registered, you can simply deal with it later once you discover someone messing around. The registrar will likely yank the domain and give it to you (for registration) without much friction, because they know the result. They cough it up now or they do it after it becomes a legal matter that possibly costs them more money.