Domains & Agencies

[humble pie]

Maybe a *web developer/company* can answer this. But has any other domainer (ahem.. domain investor) ever noticed over the years that often if you talked about an interesting domain (you may or may not own even) e.g. some category killer like sofas.co.uk or something funky like cool.com to a web dev/agency, web.guru type, they don't seem to get it now, or seem that bothered or excited even about its potential and value.

I was talking to a digital agency guy only the other day about a project, its like they don't really understand the path to monetization how to make it become reality, which really surprises me since they work 'in the internet' every day, part of me not being snobby wants to put it down to only a superficial understanding of how to make something succeed online - I expect them to have a more avant garde entrepreneurial spirit, I'm sure more established agencies would have a more thoughtful view. Again times have changed it seems, a new breed, would web agency would have got it 10 years ago, perhaps its a generational thing.. .io?

If I told a builder/property developer I had an empty shop on Oxford Street you'd hope they get that, bad analogy perhaps.

(I don't think the above only applies to .uk extension by the way)

 

[Retired_member41]

If I told a builder/property developer I had an empty shop on Oxford Street you'd hope they get that, bad analogy

Add retailer and low rent to that analogy and it's probably the best one I've ever seen.

 

[scottmccloud]

I think domainers, because they're naturally very close to domains and deal with them every single day probably attach too much value to their usefulness.

There is so much more to a business than a domain, so much so that yes it's nice to have a fantastic domain name, but it's far from the be-all an end-all.

 

[humble pie]

I take your point, but starting an online ecommerce/website the domain is the nexus. Perhaps the quality of the domain required by someone has a correlation to the magnitude and overall cost of the project involved?

I think domainers, because they're naturally very close to domains and deal with them every single day probably attach too much value to their usefulness.

There is so much more to a business than a domain, so much so that yes it's nice to have a fantastic domain name, but it's far from the be-all an end-all.

 

[scottmccloud]

Domainers tend to think of building a business around a great domain name. It should be the other way round really.

 

[ian]

I see what you are getting at, and in some ways you are right. I've approached companies with domains that would be more perfect to their brand than what they currently own, but they just don't see value, even when not asking for large sums of money. Why anyone would pick example.ltd.com or exampleltd.co.uk or example.uk.com over example.co.uk (for example) is beyond me, especially when in the "internet" sector.

On the other hand, isn't this a reason why we sometimes see such good domains dropping, because owners don't see or understand the value in them, so maybe it works both ways for us.

I did however sell a few domains recently where associated companies clearly saw value in them, one of which almost snapped my arm off for it, as they could see the benefit (still not using it as a web presence though lol)

 

[ian]

Domainers tend to think of building a business around a great domain name. It should be the other way round really.

I think it helps with stimulating a bit of imagination as to what a business could be (I like this approach), and certainly beats the alternative of businesses not able to own a suitable name so decide to start including "4" instead of "for" and in the case of a business local to me, "aktive" instead of "active" urgh!

 

[bonusmedia]

Again times have changed it seems, a new breed, would web agency would have got it 10 years ago, perhaps its a generational thing.. .io?

If I told a builder/property developer I had an empty shop on Oxford Street you'd hope they get that, bad analogy perhaps.

I can 100% guarantee that the generation which grew up with the internet 'gets' it' better than their elders.

Your empty shop on Oxford St guarantees massive footfall, a domain might get some type in traffic but hardly enough to care about. Yes, there is some prestige and authority to a great EMD or brandable, but nothing like that same scarcity value.

I would always want to start with a strong domain because it cuts out some of the work in building a brand, it helps with SEO etc. If you're a startup with very limited cash, it isn't a priority, you can get one for reg fee and achieve the same results with a bit more work.

You asked basically this question before. Of course things change - especially on the internet which is built around rapid iteration and developing tech.

Values of domains will rise and fall depending on how relevant/useful they are, there is no sense in getting attached to them.

 

[websaway]

To a large extent it's a mentality thing.

Through the ages people have approached business
with different mental attitudes.

One guy will go to work in pressed trousers another
would not mind if his trousers look like they've been
slept in.

One guy will make sure his van is clean and thoughtfully wrapped with all his tools in order, while another goes around in a banged up dirty van with his
tools just chucked in the back.

One company will insist on offices that are prestigious in looks
and feel, it's staff are meticulously turned out and provide a second to none service, and yet another business would work from back street offices with staff that do their work but no more than is required.

The best domains satisfy prestige and display a high degree of business acumen.

 

[cc976a]

I once tried to sell webdesigncounty.co.uk (replacing county with the actual county).

There were 18 web design agencies in that town all with the exact phrase in their title tag, and all bidding on that phrase on Adwords (at around £2 a click).

This was only 5 years ago and not one of those 18 companies were interested. To them they had a domain and brand, why would they need another! (...and I'm not that bad a salesman).

Some domains can be a stepping stone - but they just are not as essential as they used to be....and even when they were, the wider world didn't know!

It's why top domains will continue to command a price but the dividing line between worth-lots and worthless is adding many more names to the worthless pile than ever before.

 

[sdsinc]

Web agencies generally don't get 'it', because they don't understand branding. Even if they do, that still doesn't translate into domain-aware thinking...

Good domain names are important for branding and advertising, but the web agencies are usually very focused on SEO, they have blinders on, which limits their vision of the Internet

And yet good domain names have SEO benefits too.

It's not a even a question of being stingy, some companies will gladly burn huge sums of money on offline/online advertising, but they wouldn't invest a small portion of their advertising budget in a solid domain names.
It beats me.

In 2015 still few people truly understand the value of domain names. Domainers are ahead of their times.