The actual number is growing, but estimates tell us there are more than 1.8 billion websites. That is a lot of domain names and even more pages. Question is are strong domains (premium domains or aftermarket domains) more desirable than others?
What is a strong domain and why should you want it?
Search engines have adapted to this enormous amount of websites. Now they are smarter and read your website content (images, text… etc.), and they collect a large amount of data about your website.
With this data, they know that your website is about, what is your target audience and relevance, hence search engine will give you a relevance factor and an adequate spot on the search results.
Knowing this, one would ask himself, why would anyone want a strong or premium domain, is it not enough to just focus on website content and it would lead to success?
The strength of a domain name is now in the eye of a human beholder.
Branding and human perception
Today, a modern “strong domain” or “premium domain” is a part of a branding and/or marketing scheme, aimed purely at the user which is browsing your website.
There are huge advantages to owning a high-quality domain name which should be easily remembered and/or recognized by your audience.
Using a high-value, strong domain for your website and your company’s email address helps establish authority, credibility and professionalism, both online and offline.
Owning a memorable premium domain ensures your customers will notice that you are an established, legitimate business and as a result, they will trust you more easily.
Now, not everyone can afford to buy a premium domain, and this case escalates into a new scenario that involves spending huge amounts of time and also some money into marketing and developing a mediocre domain name into a strong domain.
Can you develop a domain name into a strong domain?
So, the question is not “do you want a strong domain name” but rather, are you willing to develop your website domain name into a strong (authoritative) domain name that is recognized amongst its audience.
Now, this is a whole new ballgame. Here you need to work hard and invest both time and effort, continually over a few years, and develop a website with high domain authority.
Remember that top search results are websites which have been authoritative in their business niche for more than three years, those that are on the bottom of the first page are websites with at least two years of consistency.
Another thing you should know is that a strong domain that provides traffic for its website will lose its DA (domain authority) in a matter of few weeks or a month if it is suddenly used for another website that is not targeting the same audience. That is because search engines hold massive amounts of data about each domain name and its website content.
Conclusion: Should you want a strong domain name?
Yes, because in the end, organic traffic made by human users is the one that will lead your website to success. A short, memorable domain name can make the difference between creating a successful web presence and getting lost in cyberspace.
If a purchase of a well-developed domain name is out of the question, then one option is to work hard and consistent with a generic domain name, and hope everything will turn out right.
Another option is to make a backorder on an expired domain, but as mentioned previously, be sure to target expired domains that were used for the same niche audience so you can actually benefit from its domain authority.