- Impact
- 1
Last year Wells Fargo launched a mobile version of its website on WF.com. This launch set a powerful precedent for the value of using shorter domain names for websites which will be accessed through a mobile device. WF.com is a separate mobile site from WellsFargo.com and scores a 4/5 on Ready.mobi.
No other company that I’m aware of has launched a separate mobile site using a 2-letter .com domain name. Many companies won’t be able to duplicate this exact strategy because most 2-letter .com domain names are owned by some of the largest companies in the world. Most of these companies like Deutsche Bank (DB.com), are using their 2-letter .com’s for content rich websites and not “slimmed” down mobile sites.
Since most 2-letter .com’s can’t be purchased, the next best alternative is to use a 2-letter .mobi.
At this stage, 2-letter .mobi’s are one of the most undervalued niches. What many people don’t realize is that in order to register a .mobi domain, a minimum of 3 characters is required which means that the only way to have a 2-letter .mobi is to place a hyphen between the letters.
There are multiple uses for short domain names. 2-letter, 3-letter, and 4-letter .com’s have been rising steadily in value over the last couple years. These names are valued because of their limited numbers and not because they generate significant amounts of revenue. With more and more people accessing the web through a mobile device, the demand for short domain names will continue to rise. For example, if someone wanted to access the German site: http://www.Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe.de/ would they want to type this name into their phones? A better solution for customers would be to type in S-F.mobi. Only 1 company can own S-F.mobi (I don't own this name). If you go to Google and type in “SF”, there are millions of results. These results are only a fraction of the companies that can use this 2-letter combination. The German company listed above doesn’t even show up under the “SF” search.
Number of Combinations:
2-letter: 676
3-letter: 17,576
4-letter: 456,976
Several well known companies that own L-L mobi's:
1. D-B.mobi - Deutsche Bank AG
2. H-M.mobi - H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB
3. H-P.mobi – Hewlett Packard
4. J-J.mobi - Johnson & Johnson
5. K-Y.mobi - Johnson & Johnson
6. O-B.mobi - Johnson & Johnson
7. L-M.mobi - Philip Morris Products
8. P-G.mobi - Proctor and Gamble
9. R-D.mobi – Rakuten
10. R-T.mobi – Rakuten
11. N-N.mobi – ING Groep N.V.
12. P-I.mobi – The Hearst Corporation
13. U-T.mobi – San Diego Union-Tribune
14. X-E.mobi - XE.com - Large Currency Site
15. L-V.mobi - Liverpool Victoria
As domain name investors, the goal is to figure out the highest and best use of a name. In most situations, development usually unlocks the most potential from a name. Entire businesses can be built around strong generic keywords.
A different approach is needed to extract the maximum value from short .mobi domain names. Even though development can increase the value of a short domain name, end users with established customer bases are the BEST fits for these types of names.
Bank of America is a great example. Their main website is BankofAmerica.com. When they launched their mobile site, they chose the domain name BofA.mobi. Like Wells Fargo, they recognized the value of using a shorter domain name for their mobile site. With a little promotion, over 500,000 Bank of America customers are now aware of BofA.mobi and more importantly, the .mobi extension.
If a domain investor had owned BofA.mobi or Zagat.mobi and decided to develop the name, it would have been quite a challenge to build the user base to a similar level.
This approach creates a win-win situation for everyone involved. As traffic from mobile devices continues to grow, most large companies will build some type of mobile site. Customers benefit from using shorter domain names to access these mobile sites. Both Bank of America and Wells Fargo recognized that using shorter domains for their mobile sites would benefit their customers without diluting their brands. The .mobi extension wins when large companies launch mobile sites using a .mobi domain name. Short domain name investors win because end users are usually willing to pay significantly more than other domain investors.
No other company that I’m aware of has launched a separate mobile site using a 2-letter .com domain name. Many companies won’t be able to duplicate this exact strategy because most 2-letter .com domain names are owned by some of the largest companies in the world. Most of these companies like Deutsche Bank (DB.com), are using their 2-letter .com’s for content rich websites and not “slimmed” down mobile sites.
Since most 2-letter .com’s can’t be purchased, the next best alternative is to use a 2-letter .mobi.
At this stage, 2-letter .mobi’s are one of the most undervalued niches. What many people don’t realize is that in order to register a .mobi domain, a minimum of 3 characters is required which means that the only way to have a 2-letter .mobi is to place a hyphen between the letters.
There are multiple uses for short domain names. 2-letter, 3-letter, and 4-letter .com’s have been rising steadily in value over the last couple years. These names are valued because of their limited numbers and not because they generate significant amounts of revenue. With more and more people accessing the web through a mobile device, the demand for short domain names will continue to rise. For example, if someone wanted to access the German site: http://www.Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe.de/ would they want to type this name into their phones? A better solution for customers would be to type in S-F.mobi. Only 1 company can own S-F.mobi (I don't own this name). If you go to Google and type in “SF”, there are millions of results. These results are only a fraction of the companies that can use this 2-letter combination. The German company listed above doesn’t even show up under the “SF” search.
Number of Combinations:
2-letter: 676
3-letter: 17,576
4-letter: 456,976
Several well known companies that own L-L mobi's:
1. D-B.mobi - Deutsche Bank AG
2. H-M.mobi - H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB
3. H-P.mobi – Hewlett Packard
4. J-J.mobi - Johnson & Johnson
5. K-Y.mobi - Johnson & Johnson
6. O-B.mobi - Johnson & Johnson
7. L-M.mobi - Philip Morris Products
8. P-G.mobi - Proctor and Gamble
9. R-D.mobi – Rakuten
10. R-T.mobi – Rakuten
11. N-N.mobi – ING Groep N.V.
12. P-I.mobi – The Hearst Corporation
13. U-T.mobi – San Diego Union-Tribune
14. X-E.mobi - XE.com - Large Currency Site
15. L-V.mobi - Liverpool Victoria
As domain name investors, the goal is to figure out the highest and best use of a name. In most situations, development usually unlocks the most potential from a name. Entire businesses can be built around strong generic keywords.
A different approach is needed to extract the maximum value from short .mobi domain names. Even though development can increase the value of a short domain name, end users with established customer bases are the BEST fits for these types of names.
Bank of America is a great example. Their main website is BankofAmerica.com. When they launched their mobile site, they chose the domain name BofA.mobi. Like Wells Fargo, they recognized the value of using a shorter domain name for their mobile site. With a little promotion, over 500,000 Bank of America customers are now aware of BofA.mobi and more importantly, the .mobi extension.
If a domain investor had owned BofA.mobi or Zagat.mobi and decided to develop the name, it would have been quite a challenge to build the user base to a similar level.
This approach creates a win-win situation for everyone involved. As traffic from mobile devices continues to grow, most large companies will build some type of mobile site. Customers benefit from using shorter domain names to access these mobile sites. Both Bank of America and Wells Fargo recognized that using shorter domains for their mobile sites would benefit their customers without diluting their brands. The .mobi extension wins when large companies launch mobile sites using a .mobi domain name. Short domain name investors win because end users are usually willing to pay significantly more than other domain investors.
