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Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

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Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#171

Post by greenspot »

vtlynch wrote: post #3

>I immediately gravitate towards the keyword descriptive dotCOM. It instantly exudes trust & authority Strongly disagree. As a result of this type of thinking, I find that the majority of "keyword descriptive dotCOM" domains are usually click-bait or shady content marketing. Sites like "VacuumReviews.com" are almost always full of content focused on SEO not quality, and questionable financial motivations. But I guess…

I agree.

Google and that concentrating on SEO brought us to a state where the Internet is full of content with descriptive domains/business names filled with content created for Google but not for the actual user. If you choose a more creative business and domain name and write good content for reals human it would still perform SEO-wise because of low bounce-rates and long duration times but experienced SEO content marketers will outperform you every time.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#172

Post by kapitalx »

adventured wrote: post #23
logfromblammo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The general public no longer types domain names. They type what they want into the search box of Google or Bing. Domain names now only matter to the extent that search result ranking algorithms prioritize hits in the domain name. As for myself, I am automatically wary of domain names that do not include a known trademark, and have no plausible reason to exist (and pay its own operating expenses) aside from advertisin…

> The general public no longer types domain names. I partially disagree. My opinion is that the general public has learned to type the first letter/s of a site they've previously visited, into their browser url bar. The median Pinterest user on the Web is not going to Google to get to Pinterest.com, even if a small percentage of users do so. Typing those first letters into the browser has become radically more common…

You missed the general point. The discussion is about unknown domains. If I was looking for vacuum reviews, I wouldn't type vacuumreviews.com but rather search for vacuum reviews. If was was looking for football scores, I wouldn't type footballscores.com but rather search for football scores. The former used to be a common way to browse before the advent of search engines.

That's not to say that there is no SEO value for footballscores.com; there is.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#173

Post by bildung »

diego_moita wrote: post #159
xapata wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hypothesis is difficult to falsify and therefore difficult to believe. Can you give an example company that can serve as a proxy for the counterfactual National Biscuit Company that never changed its name?

> Can you give an example company that can serve as a proxy for the counterfactual National Biscuit Company that never changed its name? If I could then it would be an evidence that the thesis is false. Look around, among most successful sites and companies in the world which one as a clearly generic name?

Minnesota Mining and Manifacturing (3M)?

Industrial Business Machines (IBM)?

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#174

Post by kriro »

dmoney wrote: post #75

I like the idea of using expiring domain names to generate business ideas (especially domain names that are fetching a good price). But what if, instead of buying the domain name, you... didn't buy it? What if, instead of dropping $5K on an exact match, you spent $10 on a B+ domain name, where you can set up a landing page to see if there's interest in the business idea you've generated? That way, if you are getting…

You could use this idea as a MVP quick lab framework of sorts.

1) Get inspired by a soon to be expiring domain name

2) Buy something similar, set up MVP, set target metric and number you want to get to before the domain from 1 expires

3) If you get there, buy domain from 1 and proceed, else redo with another domain name

Forces you to produce something in a short time span and make a decision (10 days?)

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#175

Post by ThomPete »

eightturn wrote: post #110
ThomPete wrote: post #69

Great domain names are not going to save most. It's going to save one depending on how great the domain name is. But figuring out what is great is as hard as figuring out what products are great.

>But figuring out what is great is as hard as figuring out what products are great. I gotta introduce you to the Google Keyword Planner..

I know about that it doesent really change things imo.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#176

Post by 77yy77yy »

I own over 50,000 domains, mostly generics or short 3-6 letter .com. Sales revenues last year was few millions US$ and we had over 20M in offers, offers which we decided to wait on. Good .Com domains aren't cheap, anything decent is over 10K and anything good is over 50K. You can always start with .Junk (that's what they really are) but when you make it, in all likelihood you'll end up upgrading to a good .Com. I know because I see it every single day.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#177

Post by thewavelength »

cblock811 wrote: post #123
sukilot wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, you say that people are more interested in "web content about Facebook" than "web content about weather", and they aren't typing in "facebook" to get to facebook.com, and going through google (likely unintentionally)? https://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=weather,facebook

I actually watched a friend google Facebook and go to the website through the results... It seemed so strange to me. Maybe some people have become trained to do that? I've only seen it once but it stuck with me as odd.

Lucky you. Even informatics students go further:

1. Type google.com into the address bar. They don't know that modern browsers can directly redirect search input to your favorite search engine. 2. Type the domain (including extension) to the google search input. 3. Click on the first link.

I honestly fear the future.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#178

Post by xapata »

bildung wrote: post #173
diego_moita wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can you give an example company that can serve as a proxy for the counterfactual National Biscuit Company that never changed its name? If I could then it would be an evidence that the thesis is false. Look around, among most successful sites and companies in the world which one as a clearly generic name?

Minnesota Mining and Manifacturing (3M)? Industrial Business Machines (IBM)?

No, the other way. A company that kept the long name and thereby failed. Specifically because of the bad brand and not for other reasons.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#179

Post by xapata »

diego_moita wrote: post #159
xapata wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hypothesis is difficult to falsify and therefore difficult to believe. Can you give an example company that can serve as a proxy for the counterfactual National Biscuit Company that never changed its name?

> Can you give an example company that can serve as a proxy for the counterfactual National Biscuit Company that never changed its name? If I could then it would be an evidence that the thesis is false. Look around, among most successful sites and companies in the world which one as a clearly generic name?

Name one that kept the generic name and failed because if it.

An alternative explanation is that large companies like to copy each other, not because it's a good idea, but simply because they're afraid to be different. Most people like to conform.

Re: Want to Build a Side Business? Just Buy Great Domain Name

#180

Post by funnyfacts365 »

conductr wrote: post #47
adventured wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The general public no longer types domain names. I partially disagree. My opinion is that the general public has learned to type the first letter/s of a site they've previously visited, into their browser url bar. The median Pinterest user on the Web is not going to Google to get to Pinterest.com, even if a small percentage of users do so. Typing those first letters into the browser has become radically more common…

I tend to agree with your view, or am biased because it reflects my pattern. However I would add, browsers (Chrome at least) have a bit of a dark pattern that pushes people towards a search making searches very common although not always needed/intended. For example, when I type the first 4 letters of my bank's URL, the omnibox has 3 suggestions prior to the direct bank URL even though it's a site I frequently visit…

You shouldn't use Chrome
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