Brand-able Domain Names or Branding Domain Names Do not help SEO fundamentally.
The definition of a branded domain name is the use of domain name words that quote, describe, or in some rational way of thinking, identify a brand of a company, individual, organization, any user of a website and domain name for their use. Strictly brand-able domain names typically do not have product descriptions or categories. Those are considered keyword domain names, the typical alternative choice to the types of domain names.
The most recognized branded domain names on the internet have nothing to do with the product, Yahoo, Bing, Craigslist, and Ebay are the webs best examples, and have even resulted in redefining words in the dictionary as a result. I don’t have to add the dot com, because you know what these words mean, or simply put, what these branded domain names are. These are a few of the most successful examples of branded domain names. A branded domain name can become extremely valuable if the core offering will be something that will take off, or gets that deserved audience and as a result, website traffic. These are top 10 websites on the web. Bing is rapidly climbing the ranks if it is not there yet. MSN only branded Bing recently at the time of this writing, (and in the general age of these sites), and converted all their MSN search traffic to Bing to boost it significantly. Their search engine product will now determine if it takes the lead of the future if search engines market share. In the scope of website age, Bing is extremely young, yet a very successfully branded domain name due to the built in traffic it’s parent has. Bing had the support of the traffic from related companies and websites. Bing’s MSN website is also a branded name, a company’s initials. With the use of Microsoft Windows in our computers, MSN was catapulted to a high position on the web in the early stages. From there, the quality of the product determines the best position in the industry.
What does it take to successfully brand a domain name? Traffic, exposure, advertising, customer base, traffic base, or something that generates the traffic to the site helps tremendously. Branding a domain is much more assured as successful if you have one of the following things going for you, or you have the ability to create them.
- You can brand a domain name with built in Company Customer Base, such as GE. The company structure alone is enough to successfully launch and perpetuate traffic and success. They have factories, sales forces, distributors, brand names, and the list goes on and on. They could probably launch anything they want.
- You can build a branded domain name with advertising, including but not limited to a Search Engine Marketing plan including pay per click campaigns, Television advertising, radio advertising, Newspaper advertising, blogging, linking, and all the things to generate traffic. These are risky at best, unless you have that hot product. I can’t remember any of the branding website attempts that were made on Super Bowl commercials, so that once high impact might be a once high loss.
- You can earn a branded domain name through built in web traffic such as any successful product that already has a market through other channels, such as a high end clothes product brand name site, high traffic website with built in advertising for the brand name domain name, other examples I am sure could be listed.
- You can create a branded domain name with built in social media traffic, such as a following an individual on Twitter, Facebook as well as other social media sites. Yes, it is possible to brand a name with a high count of followers in the social media environment. People brand themselves all the time such as writers, comedians, social groups, and more.
- Traffic comes easy to a branded domain name created with high interest levels in mind such as a movie actor, athlete, event, movie, subject or conversation that has a high level of traffic. Another example is the word “green” and now being synonymous with protecting the environment. The word green has gone from a brand-able word to a key word, unless you were talking about color previous to the green movement.
- Branding a Domain Name can be successful if it is earned, the old fashioned way. We can’t forget, you can brand a domain name with a quality level of SEO. Websites with core SEO, originally designed in folder names, page names, photograph descriptions, keywords, titles, meta tags, and content, along with things like site maps, feeds, regular updates, and generally received well enough to tell a friend, all can develop a branded domain name, build with organic content of the subject matter or products. Quality organic content in a website will always prevail, because you attract what you convey, topic specific content and information at the search engine users easy access and quality in your products, satisfying in your subject, convenience in your system, or best price, value, or availability. The point to make here is the branded domain name is not helping in the manner of search, rather hard earned recognition to what the name means and with it’s relationship to your products or target audience.
Common uses of branded domain names include, but are not limited to:
- A company name, company initials, company product name, company product slogan, or anything that relates to the product, typically again not including product descriptions. There are many names that come to mind, that have successfully branded domain names. The following are dot com examples that do not describe the product: North Face for apparel, Teva sandals has TEVA, Wavesport is a kayak manufacturer, but has nothing to do with the products. These have branding, and thus branded domain names to go with them, thus successful related name websites. These are all multimillion dollar companies and also have organic content that includes their specific category or products. Almost every area of interest, hobby, or products has examples successful branding. Chevrolet does not mean car.
- An individual might use a branded domain name with a personal name site, catch phrase or nickname, used for anything from a hobby, group of interest, subject of interest, yet again the domain name of the site does not relate to the core discussion or traffic subject. You might have a website on weaving, yet it would be named SallyJoeAndFamilyCorner.com. Sally however might be a leader in her information on weaving, might sell big weaving machines with a large business. She might however be a website beginner and not be found because of the lack of SEO in the domain name, the primary disadvantage of choosing a branded domain name. It is definitely advised to implement some SEO, for new visitors to be able to find her. Inbound links however will help her generate traffic. We will wish Sally Joe the best.
- Branding or Branded Domain Names can also be created with catch phrases, reputations, slogans, or type in sayings. These typically are starting to lean towards a subject. LifesABeach as a Domain Name might be great for a swimsuit company, but get a lot of traffic because that is the catch phrase they have adopted, and for whatever reason people look for it and type it in. GoDaddy had to start somewhere, not sure where, but caught on to be the largest Domain Name Registrar in the nation. GoDaddy’s product was diverse from registration to hosting, browser web building software, and reseller platform for the ability to resell domain names to make money. Simply put, GoDaddy had a good product when you visited the website. They also had low registration prices and promotions. GoDaddy also had a Superbowl commercial if I recall, but by then, many of us knew who they were. They have taken it to the masses with a lot of television and the product was in place.
Branding versus Keyword Domains, that is the question. Branding Domains can be fun, and if it catches on, and can be extremely successful. I don’t want to discourage that. For new companies, think of what you name your company, and consider keywords in your name, even if it is WhyNotBuyMyKayaks. Why Not and My won’t help I am sure, but Buy Kayaks sure will! If people respect the product and you are talked about a lot among that web internet audience, then go for it! I approach it more from an SEO stanpoint. I like having domain names that describe what you do, and your company has that name. A top domain name is never a bad idea when it comes to a keyword domain name. Many people name their company and start the domain name search first!
Branded domain names are hard earned, you must work for organic traffic or recognizably until everyone knows, or you are still explaining who you are and what you do. Picking a branded domain name versus a keyword domain can make the difference of you teaching who you are for many years to come, to dropping in the mainstream of traffic with what you do, then people see that you are the one when they visit the site. Disney has earned branding long before the internet, but they have Movies dot com…
Lastly, when you name your company, we suggest you make it easy to spell, remember, and short if you can. If you are going to brand your company, make it a Bing, and you can Yahoo for the rest of your website life..
SEODomainNames.com
Feature writing: Branding Domain Names, Branded Domain Names, Brand-able Domain Names
