The reason domain names are important has changed over time.
A few readers have sent me an article published in The Atlantic this week titled “The Web Became a Strip Mall” with the subhead “Domain names once gave the internet a sense of place. Now they are meaningless.”
Ian Bogost wrote about how domain names aren’t as important as they used to be. He cites a few main reasons.
First, people use Google now rather than going directly to a domain name.
Second, social media and content platforms have supplanted many individual sites, such as personal blogs.
Finally, he argues that today, the “value lies in the ability to link, not the name of the place linked.”
My initial reaction to his article was that Bogost was just plain wrong. But after thinking about it more, I believe he’s mostly right; he just draws the wrong conclusion.
Google has absolutely changed how people navigate the web. In the old days, if you were looking for a mortgage, you might type in mortgage.com. Now, you’re likely to Google the term mortgage. (Heck, even if you want to go to mortgage.com, you might type the domain in the Google search box!)
So, “direct search” type-in traffic is less common than it once was.
And indeed, social media platforms help people reach audiences more easily.
However, both Google and social media platforms prove that domain names are more important than ever.
You don’t want to rely on your rankings for people to find your site; you need them to remember your domain and come back to it later.
We’ve all learned lessons about relying on social media platforms to reach our audience. Facebook encouraged businesses to have customers like their pages, only to later charge them to get in front of those customers. Twitter/X is trying to keep people on its platform rather than clicking out by changing link previews.
Having a website is the only way to control the experience. A good domain name is critical: it can lend credibility, and it can be easy to remember.
And one thing that hasn’t changed since the early days when Bogost argues domain names were important is a reliance on email using domain names.
Domain names are as important as ever, just for different reasons than 25 years ago.
Gene says
Very well said, Andrew.
My day job for the past 16 years has been to head-up IT sourcing for a large FS company.
And I can tell you, first-hand, that when a firm responds to an RFx with the category-defining domain name, they’re taken very seriously.
That doesn’t mean that they will, necessarily, win the competitive event, but, all things being equal, they are assigned instant credibility.
So, domain names from a branding perspective matter more than ever.
Tony Babell says
Hi Gene for sure that is why BigDickJohnny.com is taken very seriously
Squarely says
What he did not mention is what happens if you are banned from Facebook or the social media. You are at the mercy at their A#sses
He shows the lack of knowledge on the power of domains control.
Tony Babell says
I got banned from Facebook was calling Rob Monster fake christian and he is satan
Squarely says
I got banned for calling Facebook x truth social Myspace
Mark Thorpe says
Google.com is domain name
Facebook.com is a domain name
Twitter.com is a domain name
Amazon.com is a domain name
Instagram.com is a domain name
These Companies built their business on a domain name.
Enough said!
Snoopy says
Yes, that is the domain name those companies use. But most people access Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via an app, not the domain. I don’t think it is true that they built their business on a domain name.
Mark Thorpe says
They all started their business with a domain. Have to start somewhere.
Snoopy says
I think he is mostly right also. Only hardened domainers will disagree.
Not sure how you can also conclude that “prove that domain names are more important than ever.” though. He is arguing the opposite of that. They are not more important than ever, they are less important that in the past. Domains now have competition.
Mark Thorpe says
I selling domains for more money now than I have in the past. $2k is now $5k, $5k is now $10k, $10k is now $15k and so on.
Andrew Allemann says
I know he is arguing the opposite of that, I just disagree with him. I still think they are very important. Perhaps ‘more important than ever’ was a stretch, though.
Maria says
I agree with Snoopy.
Domain names are important, but its getting less and less relevant to have “the name” or the .com like before. As we all know Typing in a name, is something that maybe only our grandmas do.
So unfortunately for Domainers, the way seach tools (Google) work, changed everything.
It is still relevant to have a catchy company name, but if the company´s domain name is linked to exactly the same keyword or keyword combination, is mostly irrelevant as anyways, nobody will type it or write it ever…
Google the business you are looking for an it is almost 100% likely you will find it. Is Google not working? Use facebook, X, tiktok.
NR says
No, …‘more important than ever’… is not a stretch.
Too many are lamenting the good old dot whatevers; “Com is King”, and any 6 letters ending in “-ie” is worth a million.
This is generation Alpha folks! They are not sold by scraping keywords. They go with what they know.
How is that done?
You sell the sense of it in other ways: adverts, placement and peddlers …more important than ever… .
Forget about seo’s and back end’s. You got a keyword name? Look up “Brand Marketing”.
( Upvote to Gene April 11, 2024 at 2:44 pm)