Rebranding Website - Round 2

[Name Trader]

I still haven't finally decided on my rebranding of DNStore.com. I'm not afraid of rebranding (maybe I should be). Because I'll just point DNStore.com to whatever I choose to rebrand to. Let's start with why I want to rebrand. Several domainers have told me that end-users haven't a clue what DN stands for, and I should probably choose a domain with "domain" in the name and with a 2nd word which suggest selling domains. This sounds all well and good, except there are really none available to register, or are priced too expensively. I've kinda shortlisted 4 domains, which don't actually follow all suggestions which have been made. These are STUB.ORG, STUUB.COM, STUBWEB.COM, NAMETRADER.COM. So let's discuss these 4 domains.

STUB.ORG. I recently purchased this from a very top domainer. It wasn't cheap. How much does it matter that it's not the .COM, which is in use in the entertainment ticketing business? The .NET is for sale for about $25k. I'd like to hear the pros and cons of using STUB.ORG as my domains for sale website, replacing DNStore.com? Pros: It's my name on NP's and an abbreviation of my real name. It's short and to the point. It doesn't address the problem of not including Domain & Sales in the domain name, which started all this searching for a new name. How much does that matter? I think it's very brandable.

STUUB.COM. I purchased this from another domainer about 4 years ago. A true brandable with the same qualities as STUB.ORG, except it is a .COM. If that is important. Does that make it a better choice than STUB.ORG?

STUBWEB.COM. I purchased this in the drops about 4 years ago also. A 2 word brandable, with my keyword+WEB. Several top domainers are using "Domain(s)+Web".com (which obviously are not available). This only partially links the domain to selling domains on the WEB. It's a COM also.

NAMETRADER.COM - I purchased this domain some 15+years ago. This definitely fits the bill of clearly identifying what to expect from the domain. Although it uses the considerably lower form of "NAME" replacing the word "DOMAIN" according to one top domainer, I spoke with. I couldn't find any available domain which implied selling domains with the use of "NAME" available for registration or purchase at a reasonable cost. Not a brandable.

I would stress this is a shortlist. I have several .COM domains with 1 or 2 letters in front of or behind STUB. I have domains like STUBDOMAINS.COM, which might be a good fit/compromise. But I kinda preferred something shorter, and brandable. I have several NGTLDs with the word "DOMAIN(S).+NGTLD. Reasonably good NGTLD's. But I didn't consider them viable, because of thinking about .COM being almost a must. I'm not really sure how many end-users who would know of these NGTLDs, yet. I have and considered several DOMAINSALESxxxx.com but I figured you could die before the completing the domain in your browser

My personal preference is in the order they are listed. But it is a tight decision between all of them. I'd like to here your comments about each of these names and the one you would choose. And why.

rgds
stu

 

[maya-zir]

I think we envision ads in different ways. If you do not upsell on your business site then you are losing money. If you park your domains to earn PPC then your domain landers will look very spammy. If you redirect your domains to a mainstream marketplace then you are sending them free traffic and free business. What is your best case scenario?

When it comes to domain landers, you get 3 types of visitors: the curious, the serious, and those that land who are looking for a specific service or product but not interested in buying the domain.

If I place ads on my business site it means only 1 thing - I am in a bad financial situation and count on every cent.
I have websites with ads and I sell space for ads on some of my sites..
But on my site where I introduce myself and offer my services, I never add any ads.
It looks cheap to put ads on a business sites..

 

[DN Playbook]

If I place ads on my business site it means only 1 thing - I am in a bad financial situation and count on every cent.
I have websites with ads and I sell space for ads on some of my sites..
But on my site where I introduce myself and offer my services, I never add any ads.
It looks cheap to put ads on a business sites..

I think this depends on the business. Do you think that GoDaddy is in a bad financial situation? Or Sedo? Etc.

 

[maya-zir]

I think this depends on the business. Do you think that GoDaddy is in a bad financial situation? Or Sedo? Etc.

they have a name, they don't need to appear wealthy

 

[DN Playbook]

they have a name, they don't need to appear wealthy

Bingo. That's why you need a good brand. Everyone starts somewhere. They didn't get where they are because they were afraid of upselling or displaying sponsored links. Most end user buyers are first time visitors. A domain sales site is unlike other business sites that sell services. Even Amazon.com has sponsored placements on their site. I think you are missing the big picture. But there is the right way and the wrong way to do it.

 

[maya-zir]

Bingo. That's why you need a good brand. Everyone starts somewhere. They didn't get where they are because they were afraid of upselling or displaying sponsored links. Most end user buyers are first time visitors. A domain sales site is unlike other business sites that sell services. Even Amazon.com has sponsored placements on their site. I think you are missing the big picture. But there is the right way and the wrong way to do it.

the brand is not just a name or domain.
you also need offices, personals etc etc etc...
btw... where is any valuable keyword in "goddady" ?

 

[maya-zir]

That kind of thinking will make you quit before you get anywhere.

in this image he is nobody..

 

[Name Trader]

@Name Trader, the fact that this thread has so many views and gone for so many pages, shows that you have a decent name. But looking at your site, you still have a long way to go. The name is a good start. Lose the space in all your handles.

I know I have a long way to go with the website. I've got a whole bunch of mostly tinkering to fix. But these are not going to do too much for the look and feel to the website. I actually need a developer rather than a programmer. Where can I get a good developer from?

 

[DN Playbook]

I know I have a long way to go with the website. I've got a whole bunch of mostly tinkering to fix. But these are not going to do too much for the look and feel to the website. I actually need a developer rather than a programmer. Where can I get a good developer from?

A Web developer by definition would also be skilled in back-end development, or coding. What you need is a Web designer to create a professional front-end design and a Web developer to integrate the backend code to the design. Many Web developers are also designers. Or they started out as such.

One option is for you to find a design you like on sites like ThemeForest.net. Then hire a developer to integrate the backend you currently are using. One place to find a developer is on Freelancer.com. But I cannot vouch for any particular developer.

 

[branding]

Where can I get a good developer from?

Someone called my name? ...

 

[branding]

@Name Trader

Seriously though, if you want me to take a look and see where and how to improve, get in touch.

And yes... change you username to nametrader without the spacing asap, if possible

 

[branding]

haha, i am not him, i just from that thread..
that guy is offline now..
i just was trying to fix this issue on my site and saw your message

Good to see the issue is fixed, like I said, usually it's just a simple thing overlooked or added by mistake

 

[maya-zir]

thanks anyway

 

[branding]

thanks anyway

You're welcome. Keep on digging. Just think of the learning curve, next time you'll nail it 100%!

 

[Name Trader]

@jexi - I have got a lot to think about in your penultimate post here. I know about most of these shortcomings. But I don't see the problem with the search page. People can just type in their keyword and search. Just like everywhere else. What I do have a problem with the search page is how old fashioned it looks. Maybe have a clearer definition between the straight search and the search parameters might help? I think it's actually it has more search parameters than any other search I have ever seen anywhere. In the smallest space also, if they choose to use it.

The website is already using bootstrap. My biggest problem is that my coder is only a programmer. He sees it as his job to program what I tell him to write. Which I don't have the skills (or patience) to explain to him what I want concisely. I know what I like when I see it, but he is not good at translation that into actual code. I need a developer to put some dreams into action. Actually, I'm talking to a developer right now, to update my front-end. We are still discussing.

 

[maya-zir]

@jexi - I have got a lot to think about in your penultimate post here. I know about most of these shortcomings. But I don't see the problem with the search page. People can just type in their keyword and search. Just like everywhere else. What I do have a problem with the search page is how old fashioned it looks. Maybe have a clearer definition between the straight search and the search parameters might help? I think it's actually it has more search parameters than any other search I have ever seen anywhere. In the smallest space also, if they choose to use it.

The website is already using bootstrap. My biggest problem is that my coder is only a programmer. He sees it as his job to program what I tell him to write. Which I don't have the skills (or patience) to explain to him what I want concisely. I know what I like when I see it, but he is not good at translation that into actual code. I need a developer to put some dreams into action. Actually, I'm talking to a developer right now, to update my front-end. We are still discussing.

your actual site doesnt inspire any trust to buy there.
if you can't explain to your coder how you want to see the final result, just check all domaining platforms and not domaining also, chose a few stiles, even mix them and show them to your programmer

 

[maya-zir]

nd remove "This domain is not for sale."
you confuse visitors they don't understand what do you mean

 

[maya-zir]

at least remove these weird colors and use color palette to combine right colors

 

[F.E.]

Okay, I am not sure how you've managed to setup your search, but keyworsd advertising doesn't return any domains to me. Same goes for marketing, which means categories are not indexed in search, just added as filtering feature.

Second, there's no index of your domains, eg preview. So user has to go through search to find specific domain with specific keywors (hopefully he won't use category as keyword) in order to get results. You're walling your most precious content - your domains, behind search function.

 

[F.E.]

No worries, questions are to be answered

Brandpa.com, Brandbucket.com, Squadhelp.com

they all utilize categories to show search results

type in any category: eg marketing, advertising etc

 

[DomainJourney.com]

DomainJourney.com sounds nice for a marketplace

fits your requirement to have 'domain' word in it. 'Journey' is for end user to envision their domain investment journey with you.

 

[redemo]

I think the overall reach is not going to be much different between NT or DNS.

Disagree: Name Trader is a better brand name that DN Store. It's more professional, more memorable, less confusing and can be used for a much wider audience.

Because we are all looking at this from a domainer perspective rather than from an end user perspective.

Disagree: I'm looking at this from all perspectives. With Name Trader it can be used by any end user who sells names. This includes domain names, business brand names and trademarked names, car registration plate names, social networking account names, star names, product names and patent names.

 

[maurixius]

NT is a better choice from the domains you have listed. If you looking for other potential names before you commit; maybe the below will be of interest to you.

B/o/o/s/t/e/r/N/a/m/e/s/./c/o/m
B/o/o/s/t/e/r/N/a/m/e/./c/o/m
B/o/o/s/t/e/r/D/o/m/a/i/n/./c/o/m
B/o/o/s/t/e/r/./d/o/m/a/i/n/s

 

[DN Playbook]

I agree that essentially no one outside the domaining world will understand the "DN" in DNStore.

I think an end-user when seeking out a domain name will quickly learn that DN is short for Domain Name.

Since a decision has already been made, and I think it is a good one, this is a side point.

If someone doesn't know what a DN is then likely they won't understand the difference between a domain and a website. Neither should they have any business buying aftermarket domains. They need to be educated. Anyone that knows the value of domains will know what DN stands for. Having said that, companies use abbreviations all the time that many people don't know what they stand for.