Who buys category defining domains like - ElectricCars.com

As most of you do, before buying any domain I usually try to identify who the potential end user would be.

Although it might look obvious at first glance, I am finding it hard to decide who the perfect end user would be for category defining domains such as ComputerScreens.com / TeaCups.com / CargoShipping.com (just examples I made up. Not mine).

Would these domains be used by a brand as part of a campaign to sell specific products / services?

If not, why would a company call themselves a generic name rather than a brand name?

 

Hi

here's an example of your example, in use for branding
TEACUPS™

but generic traffic can be considered targeted traffic, in that one who searches that term or phase, is obviously looking for that product or service.

and generics speak for themselves, you don't have to guess what the name means

imo...

 

Some companies may use them for promotion or lead generation.

Others like to own them to help establish themselves as the authoritative brand for a certain product or service.

If the names generate organic traffic, the value there is pretty clear.

 

I thought that it’s been established that EMDs don’t have an advantage in generating traffic through google?

I agree about the authoritative aspect but I’m struggling to understand why a brand would fork big $$ to buy a generic name as opposed to a Brandable

 

I'm not a developer or SEO person myself, but I've read many things in the past that suggest EMDs can still give existing sites a bit of a boost in searches. Of course that doesn't eliminate the need for great content, quality backlinks, and all the other stuff...

The price of the EMD often depends on the scope, demand, and cost of what it references. If a company is going to brand themselves on the name, it has to be specific enough to convey the desired authority, but broad enough in scope so as to not severely limit their growth potential.

All EMD sales I've made have been to existing companies whose businesses are built primarily around the product or service that is showcased in the name I'm offering. Their online presence has also been an important factor in their success. In a couple cases, larger companies have bought a name from me in order to build a site to promote a specific new product they're launching.

 

I work in SEO, it all depends on the competition. I recently bought an EMD for concrete cutting [city] built a site on it, did all the proper onsite, citations, good quality links. Its #1 on Google for the main keywords, around 600 searches/month. I know rent that site out to a concrete cutting company for $1500/month. Theyre getting about 50-60 calls a month.

So yeah EMD'S can still help in rankings if the competition is low, obviously something like "plumber new york" and EMD might not work, but if the city is say under 500k, it can work really well

 

EMD's still hold value in search as previously stated. One thing not suggested is the potential for such names to be acquired for defensive reasons. For example an established brand that sells makeup, for example may want Makeup.com to minimize the potential for competition in their respective namespace.

This list by DomainSherpa.com should give you a good idea of what I mean:

https://www.domainsherpa.com/large-companies-that-own-generic-domain-names/

 

yeah thats a really good point, just like when a company buys every single TLD they can of their domain so no one else has it

 

All undeveloped petrolCars hydrogencar and electriccars and it all wont matter unless someone develops them. Some valuable names have faded away due to trends dying.

 

Brand defense is a really good point. Maybe to capitalise on type in traffic.

I am still not convinced that there's a strong case for SEO anymore.

 

Thank you for sharing. Just to clarify, did this domain have any existing backlinks, domain authority prior to your SEO work? Could it be the reason for better ranking rather than the fact that it's an EMD? I'm asking because I read that Google doesn't give any boost to EMDs anymore

 

I think the truth is that no one truly knows except Google (heck, maybe they don't even know).

I've read opinions and studies going both ways, but the general consensus seems to be that EMDs can give you a bit of a boost if they're used properly. Now, I have no idea what that means... All I know as a domainer is that EMDs do sell if you buy the right ones and market them to the right people.

 

Many of the EMD's are trademarked. What are the consequences if they are bought post trademarked and used for redirects or branding.
Thanks.

 

Letting a search engine define a name's viability is like letting the blockchain define the value of physical assets. Brandables work great in certain scenarios, but for the most part it can take years to reach the holy grail: "Genericized Trademark" status.. a la Google, Coca-Cola, Frisbee, Jacuzzi etc.

Not that every brandable domain needs to reach the holy grail, a general association with the brandable to the business is good.

Generic terms already have something going for them- natural universality. The value in generic terms, particularly short ones, is that they can be the brand. For example Leap. Uber. When you start getting into longer stuff, CargoShipping, ComputerScreens it gets a bit tricker. Things tend to start getting boring but the value lies in you know what you are getting, there's really no guesswork.

 

Trademarks are meant to protect brands, not to stop other companies from using generic words and terms. They also apply to specific product or service offerings (i.e. "Apple" for computers and cell phones).

Companies cannot trademark a generic word or term based on its true meaning. So although Northwestern owns LifeInsurance.com, they can't TM the term to stop others from referring to their own life insurance products/services.

This stuff isn't set in stone of course... Every situation is different, and ultimately a legal expert should be consulted in any situation that feels like a grey area. But generally speaking, if your name is a truly generic EMD, then TMs should not be a concern for you.

 

There is zero benefits for EMD's in relation to SEO - Google have said this time and time again......people who say otherwise are just not reading it or have their own agenda when it comes to selling them to end users.....

 

I've read those same comments from Google, but I'm not sure it's that cut-and-dry. I've also read a lot of different articles where data was presented to show that, all SEO things being equal, EMDs could have a slight advantage over non EMDs for matching (or near matching) search terms.

Maybe it's a chicken and egg situation? I.e. people see a url that matches their search and are more likely to click it, which improves trust/authority with Google and increases ranking.

 

For people to see that URL (EMD or otherwise) a whole lot of SEO work would of had to go into getting that site on the first page.....once it is there I think people's inclination would be to click on the EMD over another URL, which might help the EMD push on up to the top 3 positions and even number 1.....as long they continue push on with their SEO efforts (around 70%+ of people don't look past page 1)

Before that happens the EMD will have no bearing on SEO as it is statistically near on impossible for 2 sites to have the same SEO metrics.....Imagine...

2 sites in the exact same niche went live at roughly same time, wrote the exact same quality content (not literally but quality wise), built out the exact same quality backlink profile, structured their website the perfect way and then kept updating perfectly to match Google's Algorithm changes, plus all the other metrics that Google puts into ranking, some of which are unknown........and they both continued to do this year after year after year......

I mean the amount of companies that got caught out when mobile rankings came in was huge, you now have Google images, voice, video SEO etc etc - no 2 company's will be doing the exact same SEO across all formats.....

The above is near on impossible to replicate so the EMD will have no bearing on SEO and has not since around 2015

EMD's will convey more trust, brand recognition etc etc which as I said might help when on the 1st page but from an SEO perspective it is a mute point.....

 

Cars.com, generic name. Now tell me that's not worth to use this name for selling cars, and better use whatevermadeupname.com or whatever brand name to sell cars.
I clearly see the difference. You have a total category defining domain for selling your products.
If you sell a car model, use your own brand. If you sell cars, go to the generic Cars.com.
Same with Hotels.com, Booking.com, and yes, ElectricCars.com

 

Thanks Nick. That's a really good explanation. It clarifies these couple paragraphs from an article I had read previously:

https://seoresellerscanada.ca/heres-what-you-should-know-about-exact-match-domains/

 

CTR.

 

Organic or Paid?

If your website is on page 4, 10, 12, 48, 192 etc etc etc who is going to click on it?.......not many people

As I posted above over 70% + of people do not look past the first page.......it boils down to good SEO practices rather than the domain URL to get into a position where CTR could play a part

If your talking about paid ad's then that is not SEO.........

 

I agree. If you must do generic, go short. Most short generics can actually pass for decent brand names

 

I think it has more to do with people's perception than the algorithm which is why Google reiterates that EMD doesn't matter in SEO.

Having said that, if I searched for 'spoon' and I saw davuci.com as the first result on the first page and spoon.com as the third result on the same page, I am likely to click on spoon.com based on my perception. Doesn't mean that Google's algorithm made it so.

 

You stated "There is zero benefits for EMD's in relation to SEO". I stated that a benefit was higher CTR, which is in fact true and proves your wrong. Regardless of SEO techniques and strategy deployment an EMD's effect on CTR is organic i.e. it's only natural for people to click on something that is exactly what they are looking for.