Has the importance of a good domain name become irrelevant?
 

I mean with basically every site we visit being either bookmarked or linked from somewhere else, is a good, short, memorable domain name even relevant anymore?

There was a time when it was the most important thing. I can't remember the last time I typed a URL out in the browser.

Thoughts?

I mostly type domains in my browser or at least part of them. Then typically my history or whatever the autofill is will drop down and I can quickly select it.

The question in the thread title should be taken out and shot.

SEO - Yes

short urls are easier to remember and they are good for branding

I would say a good domain is important.

Answer: No.

Ofcourse it's important, but I'd say content & marketing = king.

The point being, not necissarily "IS" it important, but how important is it really? I'm thinking not as much as it used to be.

For marketing and branding - yes.

You're looking at it backwards. Once someone has the site bookmarked. The domain name no longer matters. So you can't base it off bookmarkers.

It's the stages to get a person bookmarked. In which is when having a good unique domain name makes it easier.

I may start a new site called dgdjfhd-33dd-sd7.info and an identical one with a memorable domain name to test the theory. What do you think?

it is how you define "a good domain name" that is the difference


if Google sees a domain name as being 10 years old with lots of relevance then that makes it a "good domain name" and we should be all over it :2 cents:

brandability is just another factor, but as we have seen by names like yahoo and google in the past, that is still something that can be achieved by less obvious starting points

i'll go with the memorable domain

Your brand name is always relevent.

On the internet the brand name is the domain name.

Do type-ins get the same traffic as the old days?
No.
But building the brand does.

When you reach your exit strategy which do you think would be easier or worth more to sell?

PS more people are seeing watermarks and typing in a domain now adays due to lack of a link.

True true. The watermark thing is a big factor I can see that.

You can not go wrong testing ideas.

Some of the web 2.0 domain names are ridiculous. I don't necessarily bookmark a site the first time I see it, then later I'm having trouble remembering its "this is not even a real word" domain.

cuil.com is a good example. WTF?