Micro Article: Brandable or General Domains?
Okay, so this is my first micro article, and I want everyone to think and respond to my question:
What’s better, general or brandable domains?
It’s a hard question because brandable domains/websites generally require more advertising to really make the domain a known brand, but general domains tend to cost much more. I can’t wait to see your responses!
There is so much to talk about … and my time is limited.
Just a sample.
Recently we renamed ClassyDomains.com to Mocus.com
Reason:
Classy domains describes fairly the site content but it’s a term that has a low popularity. Almost nobody search “classy domains” so the type-in was null, a good seo on the term will not bring any significant traffic. It’s also difficult to remember as it’s not the common way people call this type of domain names.
Probably if we had succeeded to acquire CatchyDomains.com we will have keep the name.
In the other name Mocus.com is a short readable that has his own personality, so it’s better to design ad creatives for advertise the site.
We own PremiumDomains.com, keep the name for the current site has sense, idem for domaining.com.
My feeling is it only has sense to keep the generic when it’s the killer term for the vertical.
Brandable: Google, Yahoo!, Meebo…
It’s all about getting someone to remember your site. Because if it’s something Generic like CoolGames.com , a normal consumer may forget the site and type in NiceGames.com , probably another games site. Brandable sites like the ones listed above really stick in your mind and can’t get confused.
Also, when trying to buy a domain like CoolGames.com , it is probably a lot harder than buying something like Umandu.com . (Random Word I made up.) They both can serve the same site with different price tags on each.
If your a domainer, you can probably hoard a Generic domain longer and make a ton more money than a Brandable one.
The following questions will answer your question for most domains.
Think Pizza Hut and their recent rebranding efforts.
Which would you rather own ?
SearchEngine.com or Google.com
Books.com or Amazon.com ?
Burger King or McDonalds ?