OnlineDomain.com Domain Name News & Opinions
Sorry to say this but most companies don’t know what to do with domain names. I am not exaggerating. They simply don’t know what they can do with them.
I am not only talking about the low-balling companies or the companies that don’t even know what domain names are. And I will not even get to individuals or startups. I will only talk about existing companies that ‘surely’ must now about the internet and its opportunities and of course about business in general.
I am especially talking about companies that buy domains and instead of using them to grow their company, they simply do nothing with them. They don’t even do simple things like a website and email.
I got an inquiry from a company using a 3-word .com for their website. The domain name is the owner’s last name plus 2 words. It is something like “JonesLawGroup.com”. (not the real company)
I own the last name .com. They think that $15,000 for a last name .com is too much money. And they are a company of 50 people. (also see here for a company of 3,500 and its $500 budget)
Guess what their building has written all over it:
It has the owner’s last name on it. It says Jones, not Jones Law Group. (not the real name)
Their first response was:
No thank you. The price is cost prohibitive for us.
When I told them that this is very cheap for what it is Bob (Executive Director) came back with a reply that I found simply amazing:
We have 2 domain names that point to our home page and this would be a third, so it isn’t something we need to have. We just thought it would be nice to have the owners name directed towards the company site.
No, Bob. You don’t buy the best 1-word domain name for your business only to have it redirect to a 3-word .com.
You change your company site to this new shorter and easier to remember domain name. You change your email addresses, you change your business cards, your tv ads, you change everything.
And then you have the 3-word .com redirect to the 1-word last name domain name.
This is truly disappointing from the Executive Director of a big company in the year 2016.
BTW, Bob you have your company name spelled wrong on your LinkedIn profile.
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Rightly said. Most companies have no idea what to do with domain names. Even those people who own top quality names without actually knowing their real value!
Epic… End users really aren’t getting it, but you can’t expect that they will all be knowledgeable about digital marketing. What I’m thinking here is that they are overall lacking good advice from their ‘webmaster’ guys.
A lot of webmasters are to blame too. They claim that they can “make it work” with a $10 domain when in fact they will never replicate the effect of a premium domain.
But of course a lot of time no one cares what the webmaster says.
Sadly if you look at the domain names for smaller advertising agencies, digital marketing firms and website development companies you will find similar cases of companies branding on inferior-quality names even though their business offers expertise in branding / online marketing.
The problem is that companies don’t understand the return on the money. Consider the case of the Dallas Cowboys. They wouldn’t pay $250k for Cowboys.com but they pay $400k for a player who is a third stringer, will sit on the bench, and will be there for only 1 year. Which is more valuable, which will provide a better return, which is more important to the brand, which will they have forever versus which they will only have for 1 year.
Same thing with regular companies. They pay $25-30k a year for a customer service rep for one year but they won’t spend the same for their exact match domain. Which one will actually help their business more.
Is it the older person in charge of the decision making, the issue? Or do all ages screw it up?
Everyone…
The older ones don’t get it and the younger ones refuse to pay.
I have dealt this problem for 20 years. My brother and I were trying to sell advertising for Palm Springs.com in the summer of 1997 when was 115°. I’ve spoken to the CEO of Gaylord over the name Nashville.com and even today will be speaking to the marketing director of an adoption company for the purchase or lease of Adopt.com. There is one thing in common; most don’t understand the power of a brand and its ability move traffic, independent of search engines, and what that equates to in real marketing dollars saved. Maybe 10% understand it once you effectively explain it to them. You have to keep reaching out in order to find that10%.
If everyone knew the marketing facts, your one word brand .com really should sell itself. It’s a process and we have to engage the marketing sector effectively with the indisputable facts. Then, you have to be effective in closing at a price that is respectable to what you have.
Micheal
“If everyone knew the marketing facts, your one word brand .com really should sell itself”.
Heres my take
Recent Google changes to get more mobile search activity are an indication that search is not as strong on mobile as it was on the desktop
If content was king in the search world then short powerful relevant brands that can be easily remembered and shared on countless social media platforms are the growing kings.
I’d recommend spending more time pushing the relevance awareness memory and share factor to any company whose paying as much as before (maybe more) for PPC but not receiving the quantity or quality of traffic they might have.
Great to hear from you BTW
Best regards
SBA
“most don’t understand the power of a brand and its ability move traffic, independent of search engines, and what that equates to in real marketing dollars saved. ”
Well said, totally agree with Michael, I’ve noticed the same while negotiating on category-defining names … and teaching them every time is very time-consuming 🙂
The people that don’t get it or don’t want to get it will only realize what they missed if the domain is sold to a competitor.
Then it is too late.
“Then, you have to be effective in closing at a price that is respectable to what you have.”
That is a whole different problem on its own!
Very true … which in part is why I’ve been further inclined to pitch said domains to thier competitors in response to them “not getting it”… in hopes of not only landing a sale but also furthering the collective progression of “getting it”as a whole –
Adopt.org would make a lot more sense.
Amazing indeed sad also. reminds me of the old cigarette commercial with the guy with the black eye who claimed “I would rather fight than switch” in this case companies are in a comfort zone and could care less (to their detriment) about learning and applying brand domain strategies that could catapult their sales and profits. and even more important protect their business and brand from falling into competitors hands (do you recall all the politicians taking their competitors domain names?)
I have long said that the world missed a huge opportunity by not educating the masses to the proper use and true benefits of the Internet. All of us domain investors and internet marketing or brand consultants are the worse for it.
I recently introduced an automated in your face call-to-action lead gen ad technology and can’t give it away to SMBs who have no call to action request on their home page other than a contact us link and wonder why nobody is contacting them
Sooner or later they will either come to their senses or join the ranks of business owners who have a tale to tell about the one that got away. 🙁
BTW my LinkedIn profile is correct 🙂
It seems to me that many Internet companies in China get it and understand the power of a short and meaningful domain name. Shown by the cost-saving story in upgrade to JD.com and the celebrity status of LE.com, it’s becoming a “fashion” to go short and go .com in China.
Kostas,
I think you should reply to Bob using the same exact words you mentioned here.
And then adding “BTW, Bob you have your company name spelled wrong on your LinkedIn profile.”, attaching a photoshopped picture of his company building with your CompanyName.com on it … LOL! 😀
lol That would be funny.
It would be even funnier if I copied the email to his boss that shares the same last name as my .com. 🙂
“Bob you have your company name spelled wrong on your LinkedIn profile” – nice finish.
In 2016, this is the situation. sad.
Looks like an Honda dealership. Car dealerships always have a terrible domain name
Saying you’re going to use the best domain as a redirect could very well be kicking the tires. If someone tells you that they are going to rebrand their online presence with your 15k domain maybe you’ll want 25k. It is much better to say “oh well, it seemed like something to blow petty cash on but we’re gonna get a margarita mixer instead.”