Is it HopStop.com or StopHop.com? Confusion with Rhyming Domains

HopStop.comI am headed down to Park Slope, Brooklyn today to meet with the buyer of ParkSlope.com. He suggested a sushi restaurant, and I have no idea how to get there, but fortunately there’s a handy website that will map my voyage using New York City’s public transportation.

HopStop.com is a great tool for people who use the subway system in New York City, and it looks like the website is expanding to other metropolitan areas. There’s only one problem – I can never remember if the website is called HopStop.com or StopHop.com. Judging by the traffic the typo parked page receives (Compete says over 1,000 visitors/month), I am not alone with this problem.

There are a lot of factors to consider when buying a domain name on which you plan to build a brand. Consumer confusion is one of those things. Buying spelling typo domain names may not be enough. Think about all of the ways people may butcher your domain name, and buy those potential typos as well.

1,000 lost visitors a month might not be much when your site receives close to half a million visits, but I am sure the 12,000 visitors a year are well worth the $8.00 annual renewal fee.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
  1. WOW! Slightly off-topic, but that domain name jumped off the page the second I saw it. Did you own parkslope.com, Elliot? As a Brooklyn boy, I own several local neighborhoods here (Mill Basin, Bed Stuy to name just two.) Park Slope is getting very pricey, I would have loved to owned the dotcom. I’m going to follow the development very closely.

  2. Nice post but I dont think they are really losing out on those 1k visitors per month. Most people know what they are trying to find. I’m sure most of the 1k people that go to the wrong site immediately retype the correct site when they realize they are on the wrong one. This happens to me all the time when I try to go to GameStop.com or GameSpot.com. Both are sites I use but sometimes i get it mixed up but if I end up on the wrong one I immediately type in the other. It is just a hassle for those 1k people per month.

    • @ nr

      That’s a good point. I am sure they are losing some though – especially those who click on one of the links. Visitors who know the site (like me) certainly realize their mistake when they visit the landing page, but others who learn of it from others may not realize their error.

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