Generic Keyword Domains? Or Branding?? Which is Better?!
When building a business online, it's often hard to know which direction to go when setting up a domain. Do you create a "superstar" word that is uniquely yours (like Google), or do you go with a generic keyword (like search-engine.com)? Which is better and which will help you be found online? If you were to research this, you would get many, many contradictory opinions, because there is not one "true" answer that will work all the time. In fact, just while writing this article, the tide of which method to use may switch yet again. How to choose the right method? And which one will work for you?
Building an online presence today is very wise considering how many people shop online. And if your business, or domain/web site, is not being found, you have the potential to lose out on a lot of profits. Being found online is the top priority for any business owner...but how do you get found? There are many marketing experts who agree that branding your business is the way to go. But in 2000, the dot-com landscape was filled with failed domains who had "trendy" brand names. The problem was that no one really knew who they were and what they did. The marketing fell short of educating people about what their brand was and what they could do with the products or services. Of course, there were a few brands that remained, and are very well known now. eBay...everyone today knows what that means--it's an online auction. When someone wants to search for something online, the term "Google it" comes to mind. Of course, these companies had to work at promoting their brand long and hard before it caught on.
If you have that kind of money, time and manpower to build your online brand, then that is the better road to go. But if you are just starting out with building a business or an online presence, you probably do not have the manpower, time or money to effectively build a brand--yet. Fortunately, there is a way to get found online without having to build a brand. Generic keyword domains often do the trick quite nicely, and will help you get found more quickly than if you were to start out with a brand name that no one knows.
What are generic keyword domains? These are domain names built on ordinary keywords, such as rum.com or blankets.com. These are great for being found online, because many people will type keywords into their address bar instead of their search bar or in the search engine. Some will even play around at this just to see where they end up. This is great, because if they happen to land at your site, you get free traffic and possible sales.
Building an online business on generic keyword domains allows you to lock out potential competitors by owning the keyword. If you use a certain keyword in your domain, your competitors will have to use inferior keyword domains, such as buy-blankets-online.com or something like that. If you own the keyword domain, you own the keyword. This helps you to pretty much take over a certain niche, and get ranked on page 1 or 2 in the search results, which gives you a huge advantage over your competitors. When you can get traffic because someone stumbled across your site as a result of your keyword domain, that can translate into the difference between failing and succeeding in your online business.
So, how does one go about setting up an online business using a great generic keyword domain? It starts with finding as many keywords as possible for your business. A keyword research tool will work nicely for this. Once you have a good-sized list with about 100 keywords, look for the keywords that are short and to the point. Long keyword tails are not appropriate for a domain, because they are harder to memorize and type in the address bar. Short keywords, or keyword tails, have a tendency to be remembered more often, and it can help to summarize your business a bit better. Make a list of about 10 keywords you would like to use. Then...start researching domain names.
Betterwhois.com is a great place to research domain names. As you research your generic keyword domain names, take note of the possible suggestions it gives you. Write these down, as you may need them, should you run out of keywords. When you find an available domain with your desired keyword, buy it, because it may go faster than you think. Then, build your business around this domain, and other keyword domains like it.
Building a business on generic keywords can be very powerful, and once you are well-established, you can brand your online business. But be sure to get found online first!
