brandable vs. keyword domains

[Jmart]

i got the idea of posting this from another thread and thought it deserved its own thread. this is a very debatable topic and it would be nice to hear your opinions on the subject.

i think keyword domains are great if find a keyword that gets daily searches and are buying domains in mass quantities because the traffic adds up. however i believe that google will eventually catch on to people getting domains just for that reason and will stop giving you top spots if there is nothing of quality on the site and just because you have the .com it won't matter.

i started out buying keyword domains and actually developing them whether it be a blog, seo site, etc. the reasoning is because my goal is to have the surfer check it out and then move on to the sponsor to sign up, therefore they will not have to go back to my site anymore.

i've started to change my views of this and started buying brandable 1 or 2 word domains that get no type in traffic. i've searched for a lot of particular keyword phrases and noticed the top 10 may only have one word of the 3-4 word keyword anyway. so i pick out the phrase i want and optimize the brandable domain for that keyword. My reasoning for this is I will get surfers that can remember the site and whether they sign up the first time or 10th time they come back to my site, I'll still get the sale. They will either type it in the browser or google and if its a unique name, i'll be the first one in google anyway.

discuss

[Antonio.Don]

Could you explain what's the difference between a keyword and a brandable domain? I'm not sure if I get it right

[glowlite]

I think in today's market place you're exactly on target Jmart. I like brandable favicons also, they make you easy to find in a surfers crowded favorites/bookmarks.

[Head Boy]

A keyword domain is something like throat fucks where the domain name contains two or three keywords in a good logical sequence.

A brandable name is one that is short and memorable like Haxy, especially if it has associations with the site's contents.

It starts to get interesting when you brand key words/phrases like "windows".

[msanchez]

I personally like to go with the keyword domains, but if I can't find a suitable keyword combination for something I need I wont hesitate to get a brandable domain.

For me using both types seems to work well.

[Jmart]

another thing I didn't mention that I like about brandable domains is although they have no type-in or search traffic right away, you can build up the traffic yourself and if you decide to sell the domain later on, the value of it would mostly be better then a three word keyword domain. of course not in all cases and it depends of how much traffic its getting, but that's just what I think. type-in traffic is high quality.

Antonio, here are a couple more examples on distinguishing the two:

keyword domain (keywords that people will type into search engines):
hardcorelesbiansex . com
hugeteentits . com
wild-drunk-chicks . com
crazygothsluts . com
hornyasiangirls . com
etc...

brandable domains (easy to remember names that are easy to brand with logos, headers, etc):
teencherry . com
bangbus . com
applebottoms . com
spooger . com
chawl . com

and so on...

[daedal]

I personally prefer keyword domains, especially if your content is relevant to the keywords.

However in the past I have picked up the odd brandable domain and they are also good, just takes a bit more effort with a brandable one, but in the long term it is normally worth more than a keyword domain.

[Head Boy]

Originally Posted by daedal

However in the past I have picked up the odd brandable domain and they are also good, just takes a bit more effort with a brandable one, but in the long term it is normally worth more than a keyword domain.

That's probably the essence of it. It cost more to cash in with a brandable name, and it takes longer to see a return, but it can give a much better income in the end.

Thanks for mentioning Chawl, that's taken a long time to start showing returns, but that could be because I haven't spent sufficient time promoting the concept. "Whale tail" is another example, and that is doing well I gather. My idea wasn't really to brand chawl, but to try to persuade other webmaster to use the word to describe "fat cocks stuffed in a girl's cheek".

Note the use of a Splinky - which is another word that I use for spammed link smilies.

[Jmart]

yeah i remember back when you first came up with that name. it inspired me to make up words for things people have to describe. the domain i'm talking about is also taking a long time to see returns, but like you I haven't really promoted it. but people seem to be remembering it.

[Antonio.Don]

thetoyboy.com is free. I guess that would be a brandable domain

[Toker]

I bought a 4L 1N LLLLN domain last Nov for $7.34 and sold it for $350.00
last week.
Highly brandable tho...

[Toker]

Originally Posted by Jmart

i got the idea of posting this from another thread and thought it deserved its own thread. this is a very debatable topic and it would be nice to hear your opinions on the subject.

i think keyword domains are great if find a keyword that gets daily searches and are buying domains in mass quantities because the traffic adds up. however i believe that google will eventually catch on to people getting domains just for that reason and will stop giving you top spots if there is nothing of quality on the site and just because you have the .com it won't matter.

i started out buying keyword domains and actually developing them whether it be a blog, seo site, etc. the reasoning is because my goal is to have the surfer check it out and then move on to the sponsor to sign up, therefore they will not have to go back to my site anymore.

i've started to change my views of this and started buying brandable 1 or 2 word domains that get no type in traffic. i've searched for a lot of particular keyword phrases and noticed the top 10 may only have one word of the 3-4 word keyword anyway. so i pick out the phrase i want and optimize the brandable domain for that keyword. My reasoning for this is I will get surfers that can remember the site and whether they sign up the first time or 10th time they come back to my site, I'll still get the sale. They will either type it in the browser or google and if its a unique name, i'll be the first one in google anyway.

discuss

Years ago companys paid alot of money for research on what to name
a new product.
Nowdays they find a good Domain that can be pronounced and name
the new product that.
Look at Esurance for insurance for instance, or look at the links for Zap2it.com that a media co started and advertised..

[Baldbastard]

you can brand anything if you have the budget.