discuss What makes for a good brandable domain ? Showcase your brandables here

[oldtimer]

With thousands of startups needing a name for their new company and many more existing businesses also branching out all the time and needing names for their new line of products and services it seems that brandable domains is one of the areas that could be very beneficial to domainers both old and new and deserves to be explored further.

Below are a few points of discussion to get this thread started, if I have left something important out please let me know so that it can be added to them. If you have any tips or advice about brandable domains please feel free to share them with the rest of us.


1-What is a brandable domain.

2-How many different types of brandable domains are there and is one type better than the others.

3-What makes a brandable domain stand out amongst thousands of others.

4-What is the optimum length for a brandable domain, how long can a brandable domain be and still qualify as being a good choice.

5-What types of brandable domains are most desired by startups and existing businesses.

6-What is the best way to find brandable domains.

7-What is the best way to sell brandable domains.


Attention Newbies: It's probably best to first hear what some of the more experienced domainers have to say about this subject before you consider getting any domains, and even then it's probably best to experiment with just a few domains at a time. You should be able to sell one domain and then use the proceeds from that sale to get more domains, if you cannot even sell one domain then you are doing something wrong and need to adjust your strategy. IMO

 

[urlurl]

As an end user, or a new company looking at web start up. Would (or could you assuming you had capital)

Spend Millions for - W e b s i t e .com

Spend a couple thousand on nice brandable like - W e b s i t e y .com

or reg some long tail crap WeBuildWebsitesForYou . com

 

[EJS]

Everytime I hear that a name has to pass the radio test I laugh my ass off. People quoting books that were written in the 80's and still talking on their landline phones.

I think the term "radio test" is outdated, but the concept isn't. There are many examples of companies with misspelled / difficult to spell brands that had to go to the aftermarket and buy the correct spelling at a significant premium due to their efforts. Google makes it easier to find those brands, but there are costs associated with that. For instance, when someone has to find a brand via Google, it gives their competitors the opportunity to be seen in organic and paid search. There are also issues with brand confusion when it comes to descriptive domain names where the brand is spelled creatively rather than correctly.

---------- Post added at 10:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------

As an end user, or a new company looking at web start up. Would (or could you assuming you had capital)

Spend Millions for - W e b s i t e .com

Spend a couple thousand on nice brandable like - W e b s i t e y .com

or reg some long tail crap WeBuildWebsitesForYou . com

I would probably create my own brand and hand register a domain name like ElliotsWebsites.com or something like that if I didn't have the capital to buy a meaningful keyword name like BusinessWebsites.com.

A name like Websitey.com is difficult to spell, and at the end of the day, I'd have to spend the same amount of money marketing and advertising for that name as I would for any random brand I create. I'd rather save the $2k and use it for advertising than spend it on a confusing domain name.

---------- Post added at 10:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 AM ----------

You have been very successful so far with keyword and geo domains and you probably don’t see any need to venture into areas that you are not very comfortable with such as brandables or future trend domains, but for those with a low budget these might be good areas to get into if they go about it the right way. IMO

Thank you. I cut my teeth hand registering domain names though (back in 2003-2005), so I know that it can be difficult to create a name and find someone who wants to buy it.

IMO, part of the fun of creating a brand is actually creating the brand from scratch. It's neat to brainstorm ideas and find something the team likes that is available.

 

[eyedomainous]

I think a good portmanteau makes for 'a good brandable domain', as it fuses words and sounds into a new word, like "brandable".

Groupon, Microsoft, even Gmail are portmanteaus. They marry keywords into a brand so its the best of both worlds.

Dropping a few letters, like 'an' from Android, and/or rearranging a few, like Google from googolplex... works well too.

 

[oldtimer]

Just registered G o B r a n d a b l e ,com (All rights reserved) using a godaddy coupon.

I believe it's a great domain for those who want to go with brandable names.










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[eyedomainous]

'GoBrandable' is good, it works as a call to action.

I too just reg'd a name in this space, but was a bit uneasy about "brandable", as the word has less than a million "exact" results on Goog.

"Brand" had nearly 3 Billion "exact" results, so I got BrandSilo.com

 

[oldtimer]

BrandSilo sounds good too, although it seems like there is a lot of competition with Brand+Keyword domains.

Also just registered W e b B r a n d a b l e ,com and W e b B r a n d a b l e s ,com (All rights reserved) using the same godaddy coupon, I guess you can get up to three domains.








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[nebulalive]

Just got Namebly dot com ideal for a brandable showcase!

 

[oldtimer]

IMO, part of the fun of creating a brand is actually creating the brand from scratch. It's neat to brainstorm ideas and find something the team likes that is available.

It’s fun for domainers to search for available brandable domains because they are not limited to a specific field or category when searching, but it can be quite a difficult task for new startups who have to come up with a name that has to be perfect for a specific use. IMO

 

[urlurl]

I would think most small start ups would have a budget in the Low to Mid $x,xxx, so pricing brandables in that range would give you the most success.

 

[oldtimer]

I would think most small start ups would have a budget in the Low to Mid $x,xxx, so pricing brandables in that range would give you the most success.

That's a good point,

By the way how did you sell some of the brandable domains that you had mentioned earlier, was it through one of the sales venues or did you deal with the buyers directly.

 

[baldonius]

Names that roll off the tongue and are obviously to do with the site's category, e.g. Zipsurance.com

 

[opalxx]

I have a couple of "brand name" coms

ebrandable
smartbrandable
brandum

What i reckon is my best brandable (scupo) is on brandbucket. Must be good for a coupon site etc.

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

If you are looking at a long list of "brandables" and one jumps out at you, it deserves a second look. That first impression is often correct, especially once you become more experienced at this.

My "creative" names have sold better than my so-called good names...not sure why.

I like short brandables best, 5 or 6 letters. For 5 letters, the best place is auction, especially Go Daddy, where nice cheapie BIN names can be acquired. One has to navigate long lists of pure crap, but patience often pays off.

Decent/pronounceable 6 letters can often be hand regged.

Once you start getting past 7 letters, it becomes more of a challenge, requiring a marriage of two generic words because longer non-words tend to be forgettable.

Always exceptions, of course, and others have made good money selling longer brandables, but, for me, the shorties work best.

*

 

[equity78]

Let's also look at other brandables like using two words with a color/animal color/keyword keyword/animal. Many types fall into the "brandable" category.

 

[urlurl]

two word brandable work, but you don't want them to be too generic and also keep them very memorable.

example;

R e d R o c k e t - brandable

B u y R o c k e t s - not brandable (but a good key search phrase)

---------- Post added at 10:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:40 PM ----------

That's a good point,

By the way how did you sell some of the brandable domains that you had mentioned earlier, was it through one of the sales venues or did you deal with the buyers directly.

Various venues, Forums, BrandBucket, Enduser, Godaddy, etc.

---------- Post added at 10:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 PM ----------

 

[urlurl]

S h o p s t e r , com just sold on GD auction for $25,000

 

[GiftedDomains]

One thing i would like to add to urlurl's good post on first page is that there is always some advantage and disadvantage if your brandable names includes a real word.
For instance i sold (.com) Jobzer for low x.xxx Includes the word "Job", advantage: perfectly suits a job/employment website/project. Disadvantage: limited usage, not usable for other fields, and therefore limited number of potential customers. Now the question is if the advantage outweighs the disadvantage or not. I would say it depends, if somebody is looking for a brandable name for a job related site, this customer would probably prefer my domain over something like Eloba or something like that. So there is also some luck involved to have the right customer at the right time. Then again, my experience with brandable names at sites like BrandBucket, Namerific, etc. is that they prefer names which are suitable for a wider audience, but nonetheless they have a lot of names which includes real words and/or are clearly suggesting usage for a specific product/servive.

For instance i have names like Sindera.com , which (in my opinion) is more a multi-purpose name and can be used by anyone for anything. But i also have names like Jobdia.com or PosterBucket.com, etc. which are only suitable for employment related sites (respectively poster/prints site, etc.).

I guess agood mix in the portfolio doesn't hurt.

---------- Post added at 08:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 AM ----------

Again, it's really a personal preference based on experience.

True. But lets be honest, its also a personal preference based on where one's money is already invested in.

I have never heard any positive comment about brandable names from serious Investors in keyword domains with huge portfolios and this is not only taste or experience, but simply a tactical move trying to contribute their part to keep the high prices of keyword domains high, tell everyone that they should buy keyword domains and no brandables and "protect" their own interests. Even though i bet many of them "secretly" added this niche to their activity, buy and sell brandable names and observe this market closely.

Its not a bad thing and its totally understandable, but all "recommandations", blog posts PRO or CONTRA something in the domain business should always be taken with a grain of salt, since its nearly impossible to find an independent and unbiassed source. Of course this "preposession" also extends to those who only invest in brandable names and tell everyone that all keyword domains are overpriced fossils waiting for stupid buyers, etc.

 

[urlurl]

That is true. its always good to have a variety of brandables with and without key words. I would also suggest if you are selecting words with key words to use niche's that are broad or strong.

ie use pet - instead of cat, dog, etc.

also some words could have more than one meaning too.

ie Fish - could be used as the animal or also a call to action for developing business.

 

[oldtimer]

A lot of good points so far,

I just want to add that there are still a lot of good opportunities in 5L to 8L domains, one of my higher priced domains that got accepted at BrandBucket was a pronounceable 8L domain, although you still have to make sure that your domain sounds and looks good and that it rolls of the tongue easily. IMO

 

[urlurl]

I figure the longer it is the better quality you need in order to sell

 

[oldtimer]

I figure the longer it is the better quality you need in order to sell

That's right, people shouldn't go crazy registering any long domain, as I mentioned before the domain should still meet all the criterias that have been discussed here so far and more importantly it should be unique and catchy enough to get accepted at a place like BrandBucket. IMO

 

[biggie]

I'd rather save the $2k and use it for advertising than spend it on a confusing domain name
IMO, part of the fun of creating a brand is actually creating the brand from scratch.

:talk:
so true E.

and most probably missed the point of "creating" a brand, versus buying a brandable name for the concept

As an end user, or a new company looking at web start up. Would (or could you assuming you had capital)

Spend Millions for - W e b s i t e .com

Spend a couple thousand on nice brandable like - W e b s i t e y .com

or reg some long tail crap WeBuildWebsitesForYou . com

:talk:

our company recently launched:

youbenatural.com

sometimes the length of the domain is irrelevant, when/where it also helps translate the concept behind the brand.... and that concept, can sometimes make a brand stand out among similar brands in the same market.

now here's something very coincidental

years ago, long before they conceived that product, i registered..."yoube.nl"


go figure




but on subject of brandables

i think you guys are beating the brandable drums too much


$2 with a gd coupon code, soon it will be $$$ total by end of this thread

 

[oldtimer]

Hi biggie, have you sold any brandable domains to any startups, if so what type of domains do you think they are more interested in, a multi keyword brandable or a single made up word brandable.

 

[urlurl]

the main point of the brandable appeal is they are short and easy to remember. Yes there are always other variations to any name and niche. but I want users to come back to my site - and if they can still remember the site name after weeks, months, years...then "we are winning" lol

3 things about users;

1 - They have bad memories - so KISS (keep it short & simple)

2 - They aren't always the best spellers (alternate spelling and multiple words could be problematic and forces you to register multiple variations to secure and protect your brand identity)

3 - They are lazy - they don't want to type in long-tail names to come to a site on a regular basis

 

[DEFLECTED]

There are many different views of what makes a brandable domain but I think a good measuring stick is to look at what is listed on brandable marketplaces like LOVELOGO , NAMERIFIC & BRANDBUCKET