Brandable and Generic Domain Names - What To Look For

Those new to domain name investing will inevitably come to ask which is more profitable – brandable domain names or generic terms? If you were to look over the recorded sales for domain names for the past few years you will see that generic domain names hold more value, but there has also been many large purchases of brandable domain names. Problem is, all generic domain names have long been registered by others. With that in mind, finding and registering brandable domains can be profitable if done right.


Let's throw some light on these two types of domain categories.


Brandable Domain Names

Brandable domain names are often available to register in many different domain name extensions including .com and .ca. However brandable domain names can be profitable only if you are able to find an end user to buy it if your aim is resale. Some of the common things that can make a domain brandable are listed below:


  • a) online (sportsonline, shoponline etc.)
  • b) portal (healthportal, bikesportal etc.)
  • c) world (medicalworld, chatworld etc.)
  • d) central (loancentral, escortcentral etc.)
  • e) 101 (sports101, travel101 etc.) – 101 can also be replaced by 247, 360, 365 or 411
  • f) corner (debtcorner, shoescorner etc.)
  • g) plaza (booksplaza, domainsplaza etc.)
  • h) planet (moneyplanet, girlsplanet etc.)
  • i) i or e – (iname, edomain etc.)
  • j) easy to pronounce and remember made up words (zornk, zup etc.)
  • k) the extension itself - .me, .in, .tv etc have meaning by themselves

Remember, while the previous examples may make for a brandable domain name - they don't necessarily make it a desirable domain name to someone else!


There are many online tools that can help you to find brandable domains based on the popular word suffixes/ prefixes. However you need to make sure the domain name is simple, short and not confusing. For example let us assume that you are registering two word brandable domains. If the last letter of the first word and first letter of the second word are the same, it may be confusing and end users may mistype the domain address while typing it in the address bar of their browser. An example of such confusing domain names are “Fishingguide”, “Passservice” or “Photoonline”.


As well ask yourself if the domain name is easy to tell someone over the phone. Will they get it right away or do you have spell it out for them? Will they likely remember it the next day? This is why it's good to avoid using numbers in place of letters in your domain name. Domainnames4u over the phone would sound like Domainnamesforyou unless you spell it out.

Generic Domain Names

Generic domains refer to domains that consist of common English words (aka. dictionary domains) or keywords. Examples of generic domains are sex.com, loans.com, cameras.com, computer.com, shopping.com etc. Generic domains are often high value domains and it is a fact that all of the best generic domains are already registered in all extensions except the very obscure or obscenely high-cost domain extensions.


Generic domains in popular tlds like .com or .net receive high traffic (direct type-in traffic). Many companies around the world have realized this truth and acquire generic domain names related to their business. For instance: Citibank owns “Finance.com” and Bank of America owns “Loans.com”. These types of domains are also easy to advertise and market as they are much more likely to be remembered by consumers.


So if all the best generic domains are already registered and finding great brandable domains is difficult, where does that leave room for acquiring and investing in valuable domain names for those who don't want to search hard? Two words – the aftermarket. Whether you happen to buy brandable domains or generic domains from the aftermarket, you need to carefully analyze the following factors:


  1. a) Make sure the domain doesn’t have any copyright/ trademark issues
  2. b) Look at the history of the domain – was it ever used for spamming or other illegal things?
  3. c) The domain is not overpriced
  4. d) The specific domain extension and niche have high demand in the market
  5. e) The transaction can be completed thru secured environment (escrow service etc.)
  6. f) If you are buying high-value domain names, move them to a secure registrar like Namespro.ca for .ca domains and Fabulous.com for .com, .net etc.
  7. g)If you are buying a high traffic generic domain – request to see proof of the traffic from the seller – they should be detailed and for at least 6 months.

You can learn more about all these topics and much more about domain names and domain name investing from the dedicated websites and forums on the topic. Canadians can get started at FYO.ca