TiaWood.com

Branding is about building recognition and generating feelings toward that particular venture. Customers build a relation with a certain brand via experiences, marketing, design and referrals.

Branding domains is similar to the brick and mortar version of business branding. You want visitors to think of your website for a particular topic. When I think of online videos, I think of Newgrounds.com. When I think of funny online videos, the first thing that pops in my mind is eBaumsWorld.com. Even though the domain name Newgrounds.com and eBaumsWorld.com mention nothing about online videos, I still recognize these two websites for those particular topics.

It’s just like when I think of search engines: Google.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com. None of these websites mention the term “search engines” or “search” in their domain name. They have influenced my feelings about their brands by word of mouth, promotion and brand value. Unless your domain name is a misspell or a type-in, the chances of visitors reaching a brandable domain is slim. Brandable domains are best with fully developed websites.

Reasons for Branding

Brandable domain names can be rewarding in the long run but can be difficult and expensive to produce. Think about the reasons you want to brand a particular domain name:

1. Is it a unique idea?

2. Can it be branded at all?

3. Is there a major competitor in the industry?

4. Can a new idea, service or product be introduced into the market?

5. Do you have the resources, connections, time, revenue and abilities to brand this domain?

6. Will it be worth it in the long run?

If you have answered “no” to any of these questions and “yes” to number three, reconsider your reasons for wanting to brand your domain name.

In short, you should buy brandable domain names to compliment an already existing idea or service you have. Not the other way around.

Studying the Market

Thanks to the internet, researching a particular topic is easier, faster and more cost efficient. Use the internet to gather information about potential site visitors, competitors and costs associated with the development of the website.

The first thing to do is find a niche market. Who will your website service and why? You need to give visitors a reason to search for the topic on your website and you need to give visitors a reason to go to your website.

If I had the domain name: XpertSolutions.com; I could provide a service for professionals to answer questions posted by the general public. But this isn’t niche enough. If I provided a service for web design professionals to answer questions posted by business owners, I’ve just found my niche market.

To find your niche, find the answers to the following questions. Use search engines such as Google.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com to research topics.

Site Visitors

- Who are your site visitors? (Moms, Dads, doctors, lawyers, etc)

- What topics are visitors interested in?

- What current problems are visitors facing related to the topic?

- Will your website provide a solution?

Competitors

- Who are the major competitors related to your topic?

- What are their strengths?

- What are their weaknesses?

- Do they address or attempt to address the current problems visitors are having?

- What could they do to better serve visitors/customers?

Site Development

- What programming languages will the project involve?

- About how many designers and developers are required?

- Are you able to do any of these tasks yourself?

- What are the upfront costs?

- Will the estimated revenue outweigh the total costs?

Can It Be Branded?

Can your idea/product be branded at all? If Stephanie decided to provide web hosting to everyone in general, it would be difficult to brand her domain and product. Competition would eat her alive.

The solution is not to reinvent the wheel but to find areas that lack supply.

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