2012 Will be the year of 3 and 4 word domains
POSTED BY Rick Latona IN Featured, Web Sites

I don't normally make predictions, publicly. Ok, maybe I have a couple of times. This one is a bit more bold, though.

Perhaps it's because I work with so many search engine guys at our website broker service that's helping me form this opinion.

Or maybe it's the press releases from companies like Bankrate where they paid 7.5 million for carinsurancequotes.com.

More likely, it's because there is real and substantial value in exact match search terms that have volume and high click prices.

At the TRAFFIC auction in October my brokerage company has submitted for clients names like NoCreditLoan.com and CertifiedUsedCars.com. Personally, I see real and significant value in those properties.

You can't drive past a car dealership without seeing certified used cars on the sign. The dealerships want to sell the cars that way so they can charge a higher price for them and have a higher margin. Surely, the dealerships would thus pay a higher price per lead.

That's just one example, though. There are endless others. If you were to go to SemRush.com and start entering keywords you can quickly see that 3 and 4 word combinations often get more traffic than single words. In fact, they usually do.

Enter the keyword "Free" and you'll see that the highest terms in order are:

free porn - 6 million searches
free online games - 1 million searches
free movies online - 823,000 searches
watch free movies online - 673,000 searches
project free tv - 550,000 searches

Play around with the concept and you'll start to see my logic. "Cool Math Games" and "Free Online Games" both 1 million + monthly searches.

Who wouldn't want to own those keywords?

As more and more domainers move away from parking and into development, we will all see a surge in prices on 3 and 4 word exact matches. You can't get into development without paying attention to where the search traffic is coming from. As a domainer developing, your habits will change.

That's my prediction. Importantly, it's coming soon.

2012 will be the year of 3 and 4 word domains.

  • Michael

    wrong... sorry but it's just the truth. there probably won't be more than 100 four word domaons in the history of the world that will ever be worth much.

  • Anonymous

    @Michael - We'll see

  • James

    I have to say I'm with Rick on this one. Here is a list of hundreds of three and four word domains that have sold recently for thousands if not tens of thousands. They seem to be worth quite a bit to a lot of people...
    http://fatcityproperties.com/top-3-word-domains-sold-in-2010

  • http://twitter.com/EmergingDomains Emerging Domains

    Interesting and bold, esp. in view of Rob Hall's advice, via Dot Nxt conference, via theDomains:
    “If I was an owner of a large amount of two, three and four word .com’s I would dump them as new gTLD generic terms will be worth more than the .com equivalent in the future.”

    Also, Frank Schilling's advice to "sell more of everything NOW and save it," in view of an uncertain economy and Verisign's price increase, also via theDomains.

    Supposed to be, domains ten L and less sell better than long domans, but it makes sense since you are brokering developed properties, that exact match keyword longtails are actually EARNING, esp. when the longtail has better searches than a single word.

    For instance, "dual screen laptop" is a more popular search than just, "dual screen." The more specific term has more value, in my view. Disclaimer, I have DualScreenLaptop.org, crawling up the SERPs on page 6.

    From the perspective of an investor, I want the domain to be 10 L or fewer, but fom a developer, I'd rather focus on a specific product or service than have a vague identity for the domain name/brand.

  • http://www.dotsauce.com Mark Fulton

    I jumped the gun on predicting the rise of 3 word domains in a post last year. After learning that 55% of all search queries are more than three words, it's fair to say that businesses are going to capitalize on the long tail and individuals will carve out their niche. Slowly but surely, I believe you're spot on.

    http://www.dotsauce.com/2010/10/04/google-55-of-search-queries-are-3-words-70-have-no-exact-match/

  • BullS

    Of course, just take a look at "BullS"...worth more than Facebook/google

  • Braden

    Rick - I agree 100%.
    Descriptive = Targeted.

  • Rob

    Also people are forced to 3 and 4 word .coms, when the one and two word .coms are unavailable and too expensive. But I also agree there are tons of popular search terms that are more than two words, and they might get the owners more targetted leads.

  • Mike Law

    3 or 4 word domains or .COMS? I would agree if we are talking specifically about .com here. Other extensions, probably not.

  • Mike Law

    3 or 4 word domains or .COMS? I would agree if we are talking specifically about .com here. Other extensions, probably not.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001165235221 James Wester

    “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin.

    The upper hand in the future of domaining lies within the seo community that pays attention to trends and understands the relevance of adjective methodology.

  • http://epicdomainbroker.com Kev

    I do not have say you are right in your presupposition as I know you are. In part, here is my 10 cents worth, people have learned to type. Yes, getting back to the basics, we once used typewriters to learn how to type and now we have computer keyboards. Thus, in the 90's the number of typists were somewhat low specifically for the male factor. Of course, I am generalizing but if my theory holds true you can see why phrases and or 3/4 domain names are and will become the mainstream. For those who are unbelievers well, sorry but my suggestion is you learn to like it as it does hold true. I invested in the "Streaming" domains as well and yes most are 2 words but the letters to be typed are disingenuous but that does not mean they are not valuable. The internet is going all streaming from everything to food, loans, cars, images, video and information.
    Why? This is mainly because of personal blogs and cellular phone usage with smartphones being able to stream. So then, streaming will become a household name. Netflix is one who boasts streaming and has a 32% profit margin increase from using the term "streaming" in their ad program. Additionally, by using 3/4 words such as LiveMusicStreams.com is very, very palatable to companies who stream music for instance. The domain is word specific and tells the consumer exactly what is being offered. Or, perhaps LiveGameStreams...same concept. Consumers do not want to play hide the ball. It is not all about the domain name in theory it is about what the consumer wants. How would I know? Well, if you successfully sell domains as I then you would be a firm believer...Kev

  • http://twitter.com/EmergingDomains Emerging Domains

    Another example is, "future cell phone" - 320 170 $6.52 exact searches and CPC. But, "future cell phone technology" - 1,000 1,000 $9.20 exact searches and CPC.
    I'd rather have the four-word longtail dot com. In fact, I do. It's page 4 of Google, but the .net got registered this month and is ahead of me, so I have to slap him down.

  • Anonymous

    There's always been a difference between what people within the domain industry are doing and what end users are doing. Sales of 3 and 4 word domains have always happened. I have sold them for well over a decade for up to mid 5 figures to end users in .com. Lately, we've been routinely selling them for 4 figures in .org. Nothing new. Nothing to predict.

    Incidentally, the first domain I sold - which moved me from being a domain collector/entrepreneur to an actual domain investor/reseller - was a 3 word .com in 99 for mid 5 figures.

  • http://twitter.com/EmergingDomains Emerging Domains

    I did it. After I added an article, FutureCellPhoneTechnology.com is top extension on page 8. The next extension is dot info on page 12. Whew! dot net nowhere in the top 200. Too bad there aren't more of me.

  • http://www.DomainNamesTraffic.com Karl Jackson

    I have 38 One word domains left Plus 2 High Exact Traffic (22,200 Exact Searches) domains for sale. I will let go all 38 of the one word domains for just $15K or Each for $1k

    Aboarded.com
    Adduces.com
    Airfreighted.com
    Alphabeted.com
    Carapo.com
    Circumnavigated.com
    Consensually.com
    Cornrowed.com
    Counteracted.com
    Credibilities.com
    Elaborateness.com
    Facilely.com
    Flaged.com
    Glossily.com
    Grewia.com
    Heterogeneously.com
    Jasiah.com
    Jojobas.com
    Mapach.com
    Masqueraded.com
    Medevacked.com
    Motionlessly.com
    Noahic.com
    Odinic.com
    Outrebound.com
    Outpunch.com
    Overdyed.com
    Oversimplifies.com
    Panbroil.com
    Permuting.com
    Prenticed.com
    Preventably.com
    Relationally.com
    Resoak.com
    Resultantly.com
    Tashiroshima.com
    Unknit.com
    Workered.com

  • Korey

    I'm with you also on this one rick. LaptopWithWebcam.com CouponsForFreeFood.com

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