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]

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

in this image he is nobody..

 

[Name Trader]

DNStore.com is good. NameTrader.com is good. Either one works.

I am not sure I would expect either to lead to more sales than the other. It is kind of like a lateral move IMO.

With that said, I would lean towards NameTrader.com if I had to choose.

Brad

That's what I chose to do. Appreciate the confirmation. Initial move completed. Now first job is to make the improvements I had planned for DNStore.com.

 

[DN Playbook]

@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.

 

[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?

 

[maya-zir]

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?

The name is not so important as the website design and functionality.
You better invest in creating some kind of serious placemarket-style website.

Ok, Afternic and a lot of other platforms also don't look like 1-million worth websites, but they spend a lot on advertising, and their sites appear first in search. And their names (brands) are mentioned in all domaining-related forums and societies.

You can't compete with them for sure, there is a lot of money in this game and they have it enough and they always will be before you.

So, their design can be poor, not responsive, not user-friendly even, etc.. But your site must look like 1-million worth website inspiring trust, because you are no one in this game, and they are big marketplaces.

Every brandable name could be ok, even the name without any domain-related keyword, but the site must look professional.
The domain is important only if you don't plan to spend a lot on advertising and then the domain name does help. But if you have enough to pay for adverts, then you can name yourself as you wish and soon this name will associate with domains.

 

[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

 

[maya-zir]

@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

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

 

[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%!

 

[F.E.]

Okay, so after I've gone throughout the thread, I believe I could give you some late feedback, and understand that my point of view will be from a marketing perspective.

Brand name decision
Between NameTrader and DNStore, my preference goes to the first one, but from a marketing perspective, none of those are appealing to end-user:

- DNStore - you already explained in your initial post, but there's additional questioning: store vs shop. Although both terms are being widely adopted, studies have shown that store is being used to reference bigger establishments that own smaller subsidiaries (shops). Even if we disregard store/shop usage, both keywords are ranked identical at search rankings: eg looking for a shop, getting to a store, and vice versa, so if anyone decides to build DNShop (or if it already exists), you both just started confusing each other: market pollution.

- On the other hand, NameTrader has additional problems, on top of the same that DNStore had:
-- NameTrader is painting a picture of an individual domain trader, not a business itself while being marketed as a business. If you'd like to appeal to anyone coming to your website, start building a personal brand around that name, rather than a business brand. Add about-me page, give visitors real insight on that NameTrader. Build trust, and then pursue with Call to Action - check my domain portfolio. DomainKing would be a reference for your branding path on this name (he does it on a larger scale though).
-- Once you built a personal brand, it's time to use your USP (unique selling point) which is in your name - Trader. Instead of just selling domain names, start buying them (ask to list you). You will most likely end up getting a ridiculous amount of trash names, but there's a gold mine there: someone might offer you a gold mine domain name in exchange for one or several of yours. You trade.


My preference and suggestion if I've seen this thread earlier would be finding a unique name rather than keyword combination, using existing names for traffic redirection, and voila, but you can still get most of NameTrader if you listen to a bit of what I wrote about it above.



I'll post you more about design and SEO tomorrow, 1:22 am here

 

[Name Trader]

@jexi - I also own DNShop.com for brand protection. Maybe I could sell them both together

I actually wanted a brand name, stub.org. It was #1 in my original list. Or stuub.com. Or one of hundreds of others. But nobody really pushed it. Even me. And the groundswell of opinion was all for NameTrader. Which is not surprising on forum dedicated to domains/domaining.

I look forward to your design and SEO section tomorrow

 

[F.E.]

I'm back for round two

That's not a rocket science - domainers are looking at the keywords (mostly) and prefer one over other, but keywords you have in both domain names are lacking of relationship. Who will search Google for dn store/shop or name trader? But you haven't made a mistake taking Nametrader over DNstore/shop (I gave you few pointers on how to move forward with branding it). If I came here sooner to this thread, I would've pushed you towards building a brand, it is a bit harder, but eventually you would've made it.

As for dnstore/dnshop: sell them both, at least now you know that a lot of domainers have interest in those names and could price it higher

If you didn't know what's going on at Squadhelp.com, what would've been your first guess? Or Porkbun.com? Exactly.

Design

Okay, let me be completely honest, current website sucks: eye-hurting colors, just a simple search and find directory, no information what so ever. If I was a buyer, I would've questioned you through e-mails back and forth before making any purchase directly, and would highly lean towards paying you on other marketplaces (Dan, Afternic or through Escrow).

What you need to do during redesign phase:

- responsiveness: your marketplace needs to be responsive on every single device people use in 21st century.
- first impression: people are keen to leave website in first 3 seconds if they don't find solution to their search. Make sure they see hero message (headline, description + call to action) on first visit. Call to action is a button that leads them directly to what your hero headline and description is selling: domain names search tool/list.
Second, your search directory is far too complicated. Once they come to the search/domain directory you need to present them your best offer: show them list of X (20) most valuable domains in your inventory. You will either lure them in search loophole or get an instant click between domain and buyer who will pick a name from suggested list and inquiry/purchase it.

Don't hide list under search tool. Your list is your value proposition, and you're making me do extra step to find what I am looking for. Index all domains into simple directory and let them go through pages.

Why would I buy from you? As a potential customer, you've shown me zero reason why I would click Buy now button: not a single compsny/personal information, experience. Build about page, showoff your domaining experience, even add your name to it. Stewart B, known as Nametrader, extensive experience in domaining and branding etc etc. Sold over 200 domains worth more than $50M. Showcase some brands built on your sold domains. Thus way, you're building credibility for your whole page and potential buyer bas a lot easier decision to make, he doesn't need to question you.

Unique selling point (USP) - Which domains you're selling? Brandable or keyword? Market is saturated with domain sellers, so you need to find unique selling point. Why would someone buy that exact domain? Keyword domain: show them stats for those keywords. Brandable? What that brand is all about, even if you can, go to Canva and build a simple logo for the presentation. Describe domains as much as possible.

Categorize them: people tend to use search button to look for the broad terms like industry. Categorize those domains and if someone is looking adult, show him porn domains, if marketing, show him all for those, etc.

Domain landers - build for each domain landing page (nothing to cocky) and describe that name. Offer for some buy now option. Integrate payment method: Stripe is offering now payment links, so you could easily add Buy now button to your site for people to buy directly from you, and Stripe could hold all neccessary information for you to proceed after purchase has been made (name, email and which domain he paid for). Make complicated process even easier. Once you established trust, people will go for quick solution: buy and start transfer asap. And result? Increased revenue by decreasing fees, less time spent in your inbox and quicker transactions.

Blog. SEO is all about quality content. Blog about your journey, give some insights on how to properly pick name, and so on. Use some keyword research tool to find mostly used keywords for people who are looking to buy names. That way, you're also building brand from yourself. Perfect example here from Namepros: @AbdulBasit.com. He even used his full name (I suppose) to build personal brand and gain credibility. You can use your "art" name NameTrader, and let people get to know you as a domainer. Let people have reason to refer you: 'oh boy, if you ever need a domain name, go to nametrader.com, this guy guru in picking names'.

I'll add you some links once I gather them to give you even better and more direct advices.

 

[F.E.]

And the biggest thing of all: you need either designer OR developer who could use advantage of pre-built elements (like Tailwind CSS or bootstrap) to build you eye-catching and simplistic design.

 

[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.

 

[Name Trader]

@jexi, I understand that the categories are not index in the (web?) search. They are not. I wouldn't even know where to begin with that. Isn't that the way most searches are conducted on Domain Sales Websites (GoDaddy, Afternic, Dan, After et al.) Perhaps you can show me a couple of examples of what you mean by these criticisms. I'm not kicking back at you. I'm sincerely interested.

 

[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