Article on SEO + generic v's branded domains - Page 2

DavidL · #11 31-08-11, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drop.com.au

+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

Difference is we're not talking famous brands - we're talking about marketing for SME's really aren't we (like Vro....oom.com.au).

That's where a generic domain will beat a branded domain every time in SEO and SEM.

Quote:

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.

They didn't try both on a level playing field - they have a quick lash at SEO-ing carhire.com.au years after pushing vroo..om.com.au.

SEO is always hard to compare but if they started with 2 identical websites, using each domain and pushed the SEO and SEM I have no doubt whatsoever the generic would perform better.

I've posted these before but worth doing so again:

http://www.memorabledomains.co.uk/ppcanalysis.pdf

http://www.memorabledomains.co.uk/bingyahoogoogle.pdf

Generic domains all the way... (who picked netfleet.com.au?!)

James · #12 31-08-11, 06:30 PM

Pretty silly argument, this is an old argument too..

Look at Realestate.com.au for example category killer.

These guys are just trying to make a name for them selves, I bet they have heaps of typo traffic too with the o's in that domain.

Furthermore I noticed they are doing heaps of article syndication lets see how that one places out LOL..

But really Smart Company need to get articles form big players in SEO, too many SME's and people like RESEO writing stuff on this blog it is most of the time not the best content yet I guess it is their target market???

Drop.com.au · #13 31-08-11, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidL

Difference is we're not talking famous brands - we're talking about marketing for SME's really aren't we (like Vro....oom.com.au).

Actually I don't disagree with you. I was more commenting on zhenjie's post.

Generic's (or "category killers", how I hate that term) cry out to be developed as aggregators/lead generators (and not replacements for existing brands).

...although as aggregators/lead generators wotif.com, seek.com, catchoftheday.com.au, groupon.com, livingsocial.co, oo.com.au etc haven't done too badly pursuing the non generic/category killer route.

Maybe you should buy buydomains.com.au David? It would be better for SEO and SEM than Netfleet

Andrew

Drop.com.au · #14 31-08-11, 07:24 PM

Oh, and by the way branding.com.au is for sale also...

snoopy · #15 31-08-11, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidL

They didn't try both on a level playing field - they have a quick lash at SEO-ing carhire.com.au years after pushing vroo..om.com.au.

I don't think he has said anything like that, (below)

Quote:

we bought carhire.com.au in 2001 for $2k, setup a discount site and it did ok.

When we introduced Vroom Vroom Vroom (yes a bit long) but it worked in search engines (coz it was noticeable and memorable) and in particular because Richard was a guru at drastically improving the position in Google.

now that Vroom is number one in the category, it has really strong word of mouth helped by a brand name that can be protected by a trademark and not be confused with the hundreds of sites with car, hire, rentals, web etc in their names.

btw Vroom still owns and runs carhire.com.au but it is not the site that get the traffic and wom. go figure!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidL

SEO is always hard to compare but if they started with 2 identical websites, using each domain and pushed the SEO and SEM I have no doubt whatsoever the generic would perform better.

I think there is a fair bit more to this business than just SEO given he talks about word of mouth as a major driver and 40% of people searching for his brand.

Jonathan · #16 01-09-11, 09:46 AM

If you're entering a competitive (i.e. lucrative) niche and you don't have *serious* money to spend on branding, marketing, SEO, etc., I think a generic domain wins hands down.

Even if I did have significant financial backing and was planning on launching a brand, I would do everything I could to secure the relevant generic domain(s) first. Aside from being an important defensive purchase, a 'carhire.com.au' would be a fantastic base to launch a 'vroomvroomvroom.com.au' from.

joe · #17 01-09-11, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopy

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidL

They didn't try both on a level playing field - they have a quick lash at SEO-ing carhire.com.au years after pushing vroo..om.com.au.

I don't think he has said anything like that, (below)

It's not mentioned in the article but I'm pretty sure that's how it happened. I remember getting hit up for links to carhire.com.au in 2007.

DavidL · #18 01-09-11, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drop.com.au

Maybe you should buy buydomains.com.au David? It would be better for SEO and SEM than Netfleet

Andrew

Do you think I didn't try? You know who owns it right? If you do, you can imagine the conversation!

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopy

I don't think he has said anything like that, (below)

You're quite right - misread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopy

I think there is a fair bit more to this business than just SEO given he talks about word of mouth as a major driver and 40% of people searching for his brand.

Yes that's what I said before - vroo...oom.com.au *may* well have been a better name to build their biz on overall because their main focus wasn't SEO. Just from an SEO perspective it really isn't - contrary to what they say Google doesn't care for the 'brandability' of a domain.,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan

If you're entering a competitive (i.e. lucrative) niche and you don't have *serious* money to spend on branding, marketing, SEO, etc., I think a generic domain wins hands down.

Even if I did have significant financial backing and was planning on launching a brand, I would do everything I could to secure the relevant generic domain(s) first. Aside from being an important defensive purchase, a 'carhire.com.au' would be a fantastic base to launch a 'vroomvroomvroom.com.au' from.

Maybe the best idea is start with a generic (or several generic domains) and build a steady market through SEO. Then when you've got your millions to spend, switch the focus to the brand.

Just for interest, here's the historic backlink analysis of the two domains for the last couple of years:

https://www.majesticseo.com/reports/...exDataSource=H

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