Brandable vs. Keyword Domains: .CLUB CMO Jeff Sass at NamesCon Europe 2018

At the NamesCon Europe conference (formerly Domaining Europe) in Valencia, Spain, I had the chance to give a keynote presentation focusing on the differences between so-called “brandable” domains, and more SEO friendly “keyword” domains. I stressed that in the current environment, with so many new domain extensions, many with inherent meaning and relevance, it does not make good sense for a startup to “make shit up” just to get an available domain name.

To help make the point I played host to a short “game show” where the audience members were challenged to match startup domain names with the business of the startup. With misspelled and made-up words as domains, this was no small task, and in that regard, the game did not produce any clear winners. It’s a fun exercise to help demonstrate the benefits of a domain name that leverages keywords on one or both sides of the dot.

In addition to domain name “match game,” I introduce the benefits of our premium name marketplace, Names.club, where great keyword domains with many extensions (.CLUB, .Shop, .Work, .Miami, .Boston, .Fitness, .Yoga and more) are available with 60-month no-interest Easy Payments, to help make such memorable and meaningful premium domains more accessible to startups and entrepreneurs. Names.club also offers a generous broker/affiliate program which presents customer discounts and a healthy commission payout. You can learn more and apply to be a broker or affiliate at www.NamesBroker.club.

Finally, I talk about our motivation for all we do at .CLUB, which really boils down to the fact that “we love startups!” With that in mind, my presentation concludes with a sneak preview of the upcoming incubator, co-working space, and TV docu-series, all branded “Startups.club.”

I hope you enjoy watching the video of my keynote embedded above and welcome your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.