Negatives & Positives of Developing a Short Brandable vs Keyword Counterpart

[The Rover]

I have sold hundreds of brandable domain names. These are usually short, quality domains (6-8 letter, compound words) that are not necessarily dictionary words. Most are similar to what you may find on Namerific and BrandBucket. However, I never had the desire to build out a brandable until now. I recently stumbled into a specific brandable domain that is for sale that caught my eye. The name I'm interested in is a very common, short product (5L) domain, something similar to say: Alarmz.com. (that's not the domain) but it's an equally common household item. Now, obviously if you were to say "Hi, I'm with Alarmz.com", you would more than likely have to reiterate the "Z" in replace of the "S" to your potential customers. This doesn't exactly pass the golden radio test. However, that being said, I think that few would argue that such a domain doesn't still hold quite a bit of value. The domain owner who currently has this particular domain with the "S" is not wanting to sell the domain and has a pretty crappy dropship website in which minimal effort has been put into it. Even if he were to sell it, the value would be high five figures to low six figures, which is way over my budget.

Is it worth it to develop the brandable version with a "Z" as long as you put in the effort and market it like crazy? Or will I ultimately suffer and regret that I don't have the normal spelling of the domain? I'm interested in hearing what others have to say.

 

[mhdoc]

How do you expect people to find your site? I think the correct spelling has a lot of value if they will type it in as a results of your advertising. If they will find it with search, not so much.

 

[The Rover]

How do you expect people to find your site? I think the correct spelling has a lot of value if they will type it in as a results of your advertising. If they will find it with search, not so much.

A lot of optimizing. It wouldn't be advertised on the radio, as I know that wouldn't work. Also, if it was a compound word domain, i wouldn't even consider it. It's only the fact that it's a very common household item. 5 letter domain, is the only reason I'm thinking about it. There are some rather successful sites out there that have the z on the end, and others that have failed. I'm just tossing the idea around and I'd be interested to hear of any success stories out there

 

[Name Trader]

I think you will always prefer the domain with the "s". Even if you are successful with you marketing campaign. There will always be the thought "how much more would I be able to sell if have the correct spelling". But I think you could make a very successful business using the "z" domain. I'd wholeheartedly say "go for it".

 

[The Rover]

I agree about wanting the domain with the "s". Man this is not an easy decision. Sigh.

I think you will always prefer the domain with the "s". Even if you are successful with you marketing campaign. There will always be the thought "how much more would I be able to sell if have the correct spelling". But I think you could make a very successful business using the "z" domain. I'd wholeheartedly say "go for it".

 

[alien51]

Your "Z" site will only prosper, for as long as the "S" version remains undeveloped. When your competitor domain goes full blast with a legit site, your "Z" will appear like a bootleg version wannabe.

 

[The Rover]

That's certainly a possibility.. Although there may be a flip side to that coin. I think much of the outcome in terms of competition would be determined by how the Z site is marketed. If it's marketed and branded completely differently in terms of style. service, and even the variety of products etc, then it's possible that the Z site would have a more personable relationship with customers than the generic.

I appreciate the feedback thus far. Keep em' coming!

Your "Z" site will only prosper, for as long as the "S" version remains undeveloped. When your competitor domain goes full blast with a legit site, your "Z" will appear like a bootleg version wannabe.

 

[alien51]

If it's marketed and branded completely differently in terms of style. service, and even the variety of products etc, then it's possible that the Z site would have a more personable relationship with customers than the generic.

That would be a huge marketing effort. An effort probably the size of putting your "Z" brand on a billboard at Times Square, or having David Letterman mention it on his late night show.

But for most instances, people will type the "S" version on Google and has a greater chance of matching the domain of your competitor.

I have experienced a couple of times of people trying to pull off a similar tactic on me, since i own the root keyword .COM domain. What i did was, i immediately sent my domain to full development status. I can attest that you do have some advantage of "exact match" when it comes to people searching you on the various search engines. My competitors were pushed down the search results.

 

[The Rover]

What are you general thoughts in terms of resale value for short brandable "z" product type domains such as:

Alarmz.com
Platez.com
Bottlez.com
Deskz.com
Computerz.com etc?

I have my appraisal metrics, but it would be interesting to see other opinions.

That would be a huge marketing effort. An effort probably the size of putting your "Z" brand on a billboard at Times Square, or having David Letterman mention it on his late night show.

But for most instances, people will type the "S" version on Google and has a greater chance of matching the domain of your competitor.

I have experienced a couple of times of people trying to pull off a similar tactic on me, since i own the root keyword .COM domain. What i did was, i immediately sent my domain to full development status. I can attest that you do have some advantage of "exact match" when it comes to people searching you on the various search engines. My competitors were pushed down the search results.

 

[alien51]

Alarmz.com
Platez.com
Bottlez.com
Deskz.com
Computerz.com etc?

I am not aware of historical sales figures for Z-type domains. What i do know, is that except for single dictionary domains, most domain values are subjective, arbitrary, or otherwise appraised based on existing traffic.

But in terms of end user development, you can examine these domain comparison examples below:

house.com - PARKED BY DOMAINER

houz.com - PARKED BY DOMAINER AT SEDO (FOR SALE)

houzz.com - LEGIT END-USER SITE/MILLION DOLLAR REVENUE BUSINESS

Now for the question:

Why would an End-User build his business on a tweaked domain like hauzz, instead of paying the domainer and purchasing house.com ???

 

[The Rover]

Actually, I'm only talking about dictionary word domains that are spelled correctly with the exception of having a "Z instead of an "S"". The domains you listed are not what I am referring to. So in other words, I am talking about domains like Carz, Gamez, etc which is a huge difference between a domain like "Houz or Houzz". Gamez sold for 77k, so obviously there is resell value in these.

Also, while I can't speak for the million dollar business that was built on Houzz, what I can tell you is that domain is different enough from the word "House", that he really has no risk of ever leaking traffic to "House.com", hence the entire point of whether a business should choose a brandable domain vs a keyword domain, which brings us back to my original question. My original question is what about domains that are only "one letter" off from their keyword counterparts? Also, just to clarify, I am not talking about compound domains, either. Only short, single dictionary words. However, judging from the success of Houzz, perhaps your last post may have answered the question. Perhaps if you're going to go brandable, the rule is to be sure to stick with domains that are modified so much, to the extent that they are not confused with their keyword counterpart.

I'd still be interested in the potential value in names like Gamez, Carz etc.

I am not aware of historical sales figures for Z-type domains. What i do know, is that except for single dictionary domains, most domain values are subjective, arbitrary, or otherwise appraised based on existing traffic.

But in terms of end user development, you can examine these domain comparison examples below:

house.com - PARKED BY DOMAINER

houz.com - PARKED BY DOMAINER AT SEDO (FOR SALE)

houzz.com - LEGIT END-USER SITE/MILLION DOLLAR REVENUE BUSINESS

Now for the question:

Why would an End-User build his business on a tweaked domain like hauzz, instead of paying the domainer and purchasing house.com ???

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Drug companies and tech start ups seem to like names that start with "Z." Some of my "Z" names started life as a drug brand and then was allowed to go dead as TMs. I always disclose such info, so that buyers can decide if they want to build on such names and/or do further research on them. I do a rough search on all my names, starting with USPTO.gov.

For my Brandable sites, I'm going to try adsense because my product is not a natural type-in category.

Right now, I'm just using blogger, but I think I'm going to switch to paid hosting -- too many limitations. My thumbnail page is laughable and odd (I'm not even going to post it here). It's also unstable.

No sales yet, but my Brands Z page is starting to get legs with a better quality of traffic (more Google searches showing up and less crap traffic like Vampire Stat), so people seem to be looking.

I also have one short word ending in "Z" instead of "S."

*

 

[Name Trader]

Not many people search for misspelled names with a z instead of an s, unless they already know the domain exists (when they could just as well do a direct type-in). Presumably you will be SEOing on the word with the s? Then you could use any brandable name. Also, I don't see a whole lot of difference between a domain ending in z and a pure brandable in terms of marketing effort. So why is it you are preferring a domain ending in z. Are you trying to get the advantages of dictionary word in a brandable name?

 

[The Rover]

Not many people search for misspelled names with a z instead of an s, unless they already know the domain exists (when they could just as well do a direct type-in). Presumably you will be SEOing on the word with the s? Then you could use any brandable name.

Agreed, and Yes.

So why is it you are preferring a domain ending in z. Are you trying to get the advantages of dictionary word in a brandable name?

I wouldn't say that I prefer it. Given the choice, I would rather have the correct spelling with the "S". However, the normal spelling of this particular domain (if it was for sale) would be $100K+. I just recently came across a very short product domain that ends with a Z, that would make for a great dropship business. Seeing that the only difference is a Z at the end of the domain instead of the S, then I think it would be extremely brandable and memorable. That said, this is just an idea I am tossing around. Realistically I probably won't actually have the time necessary to invest since I have other development projects. I may buy the domain anyway, though.

 

[Name Trader]

With the letters so close to each other on the keyboard, it could also be considered a typo. If it's regfee or cheap I'd get it.

 

[The Rover]

Good point!

With the letters so close to each other on the keyboard, it could also be considered a typo. If it's regfee or cheap I'd get it.

 

[alien51]

Presumably you will be SEOing on the word with the s? Then you could use any brandable name.

That's what i thought as well. And like i said, if the s domain went full development, your z will be trashed. So you have to pray that the s remains parked or undeveloped.

Also, I don't see a whole lot of difference between a domain ending in z and a pure brandable in terms of marketing effort.

A domain ending in Z will need MORE marketing effort. Because human brains get easily confused. Evenif you tell people it ends in Z, they will still search or type the S. Humans do not have holographic memories, like aliens do.

I believe all this marketing for the Z, will only benefit the owner of the S.

So why is it you are preferring a domain ending in z. Are you trying to get the advantages of dictionary word in a brandable name?

Usually, this is the chance for people to own short single-word domains, without paying galactic fees to the original correct spelling domain owner.

You can argue that "ComputerZ.com" sounds "funky" or "snazzy" or even "stylish". It's a human perception thing, rather than a SEO thing. It's the closest you can get to having a "brandable that makes sense". Example: Twitter doesn't make any sense.

It is also the same reason why people buy "i" or "e" domains, like "iDesk" or "eStore".

Also, instead of Z, people have also substituted "X" for it. For example: "Worx / Workx" or "Sux"

 

[urlurl]

instead of alarmz type names try to find something that is more brandable like alramo, olarm, weAlarm, doAram, iAlarm, eAlarm, MyAlarm, etc. - that way the name looks like it was specifically bought for its brand merit and not as a typo type name.