Article on SEO + generic v's branded domains

Shane · #1 31-08-11, 08:08 AM

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/inter...-with-seo.html

The main article is really about SEO, but there's some interesting discussion below regarding domains.

DavidL · #2 31-08-11, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by one

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/inter...-with-seo.html

The main article is really about SEO, but there's some interesting discussion below regarding domains.

Which Rob McIntosh has got quite right and the others have got wrong IMO

Vroomvroomvroom.com.au does well in search despite the domain name not because of it.

Quote:

When we introduced Vroom Vroom Vroom (yes a bit long) but it worked in search engines (coz it was noticeable and memorable)

The only thing a catchy name like that could help is in CTR - maybe people would be more likely to click on it than htfsdf.com.au. However I think CTR of CarHire.com.au would be even better!

FirstPageResults · #3 31-08-11, 10:44 AM

Another part of the argument is that they are operating in the UK, NZ, US and CA makets.. would've been hard/costly to get a premium generic name for all of those markets.

CarHire.com.au is clearly a category killer though, no argument there.

snoopy · #4 31-08-11, 11:20 AM

"You look at a URL like “carhire.com.au”, but it doesn’t get as much traffic because it doesn’t have a memorable brand."

Somehow I don't think the domain is the difference between the two companies. vroomvroomvroom.com.au is pretty hard to remember in my view. It is kind of "cool" but I really doubt I will be able to remember it an hour from now.

Half agree with the comment about carhire.com.au, it does not really function as a brand at all. I think it is quite memorable though. Best choice from a small player entering the market in my view with all the other benefits they'll gain.

DavidL · #5 31-08-11, 11:33 AM

The thing is they only get 40% of their traffic from search. Vroomvroomvroom.com.au may well be a better name for their other types of marketing.

the other thing that is quite wrong is:

Quote:

wotif, seek, ebay, amazon, google, apple etc...

not...

hotels, jobs, auctions, books, search, mp3 etc...

None of the former used their brand to get a foothold. Every one of these companies became successful due to innovation, expertise and quality fo their products.

In fact out of the sites that came later - less innovative but trying to carve a slice of the market - many of they did/do benefit from the very same generic domain names which are dismissed in the the above comment- like jobs.com.au, hotels.com

zhenjie · #6 31-08-11, 01:57 PM

Even though I'm a domainer, I also believe in branding before a 'category killer' domain name, this is more true in specific industries then others.

Honan · #7 31-08-11, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopy

"You look at a URL like “carhire.com.au”, but it doesn’t get as much traffic because it doesn’t have a memorable brand."

Somehow I don't think the domain is the difference between the two companies. vroomvroomvroom.com.au is pretty hard to remember in my view. It is kind of "cool" but I really doubt I will be able to remember it an hour from now.

Half agree with the comment about carhire.com.au, it does not really function as a brand at all. I think it is quite memorable though. Best choice from a small player entering the market in my view with all the other benefits they'll gain.

Maybe so.
Possibly off topic: FYI carhire.com.au is a bloody brilliant service
I have used them heaps
Only last week I used them to get a car for 24 hours in Tassie
The rate was nearly 50% off the rate going direct to the car hire company

snoopy · #8 31-08-11, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zhenjie

Even though I'm a domainer, I also believe in branding before a 'category killer' domain name, this is more true in specific industries then others.

I think it does vary a lot from industry to industry, especially the industries dominated by large companies. Then again for small-medium sized business there is a lot of competitive advantage in a keyword domain in my view. Personally I don't believe keyword style domains ever really form strong "brands" when the domain directly describes the business, it is about the opposite to that...generic.

What I find most interesting though is this business has tried both, one of the most valuable domains for his industry versus a worthless brand domain, and found the brand name better. Then again he is using both names and carhire.com.au seems to be ranking on the first page of "car hire", "car rental" etc so it must be driving a reasonable amount of business.

Also interesting is that carrental.com.au (presumably the main competitor in terms of comparisons sites) seem to be pretty high in the paid section, up there with the "big 5" so I'm assuming they have a pretty effective mousetrap to be able to compete. Vroom vroom seems to be generally lower in the paid section, my guess would be they aren't as effective in terms of monetizing eyeballs. I think the non generic would cost them in terms of CTR which will put up their advertising costs straight away. Then again maybe they have tried both domains for PPC.

Drop.com.au · #9 31-08-11, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zhenjie

Even though I'm a domainer, I also believe in branding before a 'category killer' domain name, this is more true in specific industries then others.

+1

Reminded of the old Candy.com argument.

Question: "Why don't Hershey's buy Candy.com? They are so short sighted."

Answer: Because they don't sell candy. They sell Hershey's.

Works for any category killer domain and famous brand (with a few exceptions) ...

Andrew

snoopy · #10 31-08-11, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honan

I have used them heaps
Only last week I used them to get a car for 24 hours in Tassie
The rate was nearly 50% off the rate going direct to the car hire company

Cheers Joe,

Will be using this type of service next time I hire one.

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