domains There's No Money In Brandable Domaining

RU said:

Show attachment 16583

Click to expand...

* keyword rich domain

I meant to say "do NOT need"

Nice writeup @Keith DeBoer , I like brandables as well.

Don't disagree about brandables. Just disagree about emds.
Imo, the truth in most cases is that "do NOT need" really means "can Not Afford".

Weber said:

Don't disagree about brandables. Just disagree about emds.
Imo, the truth in most cases is that "do NOT need" really means "can Not Afford".

Click to expand...

I do agree that the fact that affordability has a lot to do with the rising popularity of brandables. As a business you can secure a great brand name in the .com extension for under $5k while a EMD can coat a small fortune.

But let me ask you this. What if Google started out as SearchEngine.com instead of Google. And later ventured out into email, maps, cloud storage etc?

Or Amazon started as Books.com or Expedia as FlightTickets.com?

I choose a brand name over a EMD any day when I launch a new business.

dv82 said:

Only Bing and Yahoo search still favor EMDs but their market share is neglectable.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that a 30%+ market share is neglectable.. Source: http://bgr.com/2015/04/16/bing-vs-google-vs-yahoo-market-share/

But yeah, I am all for brandables as well and some of my biggest purchases are one or two word brandables.

Premium quality EMDs will continue to be the bread and butter of our industry and they will continue to sell at high levels. The point of my article was that brandables are also a viable investment for domainers when they are properly selected and marketed.

BTW I'm really enjoying this intelligent and lively conversation. Lot's of good points being bantered about. Thanks to everyone for the 'likes' and the great comments!!

Makes sense...

Brandable domains do sell and companies do want them. Which is why businesses like Brandbucket, Namerific exist. But what I have an issue with is finding the fine line between junk and an actual good brandable. I guess it takes skill and patience to find the gems.

For me, a .com that describes exactly what something is, is where I put my focus though.

But yes, brandables do sell.

Thanks for the blog post!

-Omar

dv82 said:

Imagine if all cereal brands would be called: Best cereal, Every day cereal, Super tasty cereal. You think those names are memorable, easy to brand and remember for consumers. You think kids would love them?

Click to expand...

Yes, of course they would. Children could not care less about names. That's like saying a child wouldn't love Snickers if it was called TheBestCandyBarOnEarth. Of course they would love it, all the same. Their faces would still light up after that first bite, regardless.

To your point, they wouldn't make good brand names, but it wouldn't matter.

dv82 said:

there's absolutely zero benefit from an SEO perspective these days to have a EMD

Click to expand...

This is false, even on Google. Plenty of studies have shown it is still playing a role, albeit, much less on Google these days.

EMD do extremely well on Bing and Yahoo, which despite being dwarfed by Google, still command hundreds of millions of unique visitors collectively. They matter.

dv82 said:

In fact, brands outperform EMDs these days for almost any search.

Click to expand...

That is due to the brands' success, not the domain names involved. If there were two equally successful companies whereby the only difference between them was the domain name, the EMD will perform better in the search rankings. That's basic SEO fundamentals.

* I do not support, register, or recommend EMD's. I simply felt it necessary to correct inaccuracies.

brandbucket.com is a keyword rich domain.
brandroot.com - keyword rich domain.
That's scandal!

Namerific.com

dv82 said:

Imagine if all cereal brands would be called: Best cereal, Every day cereal, Super tasty cereal. You think those names are memorable, easy to brand and remember for consumers. You think kids would love them?

Click to expand...

I would disagree with this point.

Do you think the Kellogg's brand resonates with children? How about General Mills? Definitely not.

I'm guessing what you meant was that the offerings by these brands need to be catchy and easy to remember. And I would agree with that statement.

domainivate said:

Nice post keith, thanks.

Some of the most successful sites are brandables, zoopla (property), shpock (classifieds) zavvi (movies and games). Names that mean nothing but with the right development have become mega sites and known globally.

Click to expand...

Pure made up brandables are chosen by the companies with big ambitions, imo, when business is creating the name and not otherwise. But these seem to have a shorter longevity in terms of domaining, limited by TM, when EMD are recyclable.

RU said:

brandbucket.com is a keyword rich domain.
brandroot.com - keyword rich domain.
That's scandal!

Click to expand...

These aren't EMDs mate, these are brandables all day long

loredan said:

These aren't EMDs mate, these are brandables all day long

Click to expand...

ah okay.
brandbucket.com - Partial Match Domain (PMD): some keyword in domain.
brandroot.com - Partial Match Domain (PMD): some keyword in domain.
namerific.com - Partial Match Domain (PMD): some keyword in domain.

Brandable Domain: No keyword/s in domain name

Here are some brandable domain examples (one-word, no keywords):

• Amazon.com
• Google.com
• Yahoo.com
• Ebay.com
• Fiverr.com
• Uber

Best,
RU

There is dictionary descr

RU said:

ah okay.
brandbucket.com - Partial Match Domain (PMD): some keyword in domain.
brandroot.com - Partial Match Domain (PMD): some keyword in domain.
namerific.com - Partial Match Domain (PMD): some keyword in domain.

Brandable Domain: No keyword/s in domain name

Here are some brandable domain examples (one-word, no keywords):

• Amazon.com
• Google.com
• Yahoo.com
• Ebay.com
• Fiverr.com
• Uber

Best,
RU

Click to expand...

There isn't a dictionary description for what exactly a brandable domain name is but I (and many others) personally divide them into two categories, invented names (Ambior, Obria, Bando etc) and keyword based brandables such as DeliveryHero, HelloFesh, Statly or FoodPanda.

Amazon and Uber are dictionary words by the way and Fiverr is based on the word Five.

dv82 said:

There is dictionary descr


There isn't a dictionary description for what exactly a brandable domain name is but I (and many others) personally divide them into two categories, invented names (Ambior, Obria, Bando etc) and keyword based brandables such as DeliveryHero, HelloFesh, Statly or FoodPanda.

Amazon and Uber are dictionary words by the way and Fiverr is based on the word Five.

Click to expand...

A dictionary word can be a good long term strategy.
e.g. igloo.com - brand, dictionary word

RU said:

A dictionary word can be a good long term strategy.
e.g. igloo.com - brand, dictionary word

Click to expand...

I thought igloo made coolers.

Weber said:

I thought igloo made coolers.

Click to expand...

DomainAdvisors.com -> igloo.com

http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2013/dailyposts/20130522.htm

RU said:

Brandable Domain: No keyword/s in domain name

Best,
RU

Click to expand...

haha.. really? facebook?

domainerfella said:

You are right - "they do sell"

Click to expand...

May we ask how many have you sold? re "They do sell" you said-thank you.

Yeah it's fascinating. Keith thanks for the blog.

I can remember around the time of the dot-com crash, the brandables took such a hammering in the forums. If you dig deep enough, you will find lots and lots of appraisals threads like this:

SuchAndSuchTrafficName.com - 50 typeins a day - good - $2,000
SuchAndSuchBrandable.com - cute name - ZERO

I mean it was all day, every day! That was just a sign of those times, but it's mad looking back. Someone could dig up some of these, what a blog post that would be..

The thing about the traffic names, with a few exceptions, it could never be a startup. I mean of heard stories of startup apps and websites with literally thousands and thousands of users and great reviews: shelved, just not enough traction.

Not enough traction!

The only one thing I would say about the typeins...hmmm it's still great, just can't think why. It's good we have the Google updates getting rid of the confusion, at least we're down to the real typeins now.

Great Post Keith, Catchy brandable names can expect good bucks and it will sell quick

Great post, Keith (and fantastic discussion - how often do these threads degenerate into namecalling? No pun unintended LOL).

Domain names are marketing tools. Tools to help gain, convert and retain customers. The value lies in its ability to do so (and the value of those customers).

Some do it with EMD, some with brandables, some even do it with numbers. I think as long as the tool works then it's not surprising that the market would attach value.

Oops, why did I call you 'Michael', Keith? (...but it's so brandable! LOL)