Something funny occurred last night while I was watching a TV show on cable. Three commercials came on consecutively that were businesses built around domains starting with ‘e’. The first commercial was for EBATES.com a website that I am not very familiar with. This coupon, cash back and promotions website looks like a combination of Amazon and Groupon, an interesting concept. Next, the ESURANCE.com needs little explanation as it has been around for a while selling car insurance. The very next commercial was yet another business based solely around its ‘e’ domain: EHARMONY.com – if you don’t know what the concept for this site is than you must have been locked in a room with no TV or Internet for the last ten years.
Obviously, it was a coincidence that these commercials came on one after another during a single commercial break. What’s a little more interesting is the domains of choice. These companies that may be the most prevalent in their respective industries chose to brand with the ‘e’ domain instead of the actual word or a different two word .com. Rebates.com, Insurance.com and Harmony.com would be the best domain choices for a business to brand right? Maybe it doesn’t matter.
Mass advertising with a strong memorable but not generic word domain seems to be a more and more common play with upstarts. After big TV and radio campaigns and time of establishment the three of the ‘e’ domains I have been talking in this article generate waaay more than the generic word .com they emulate. So, does this mean I think e+word domains are better than generic word domains? No, but I feel that as long as it’s pronounceable, memorable and promoted the right way they may be just as good.
For branding I think they are alright and everyone knows those brands well. The e domains work well with 1 word domains but I really think it depends on the domain because some don’t work well.
@Brian – Yeah words that start with a vowel won’t work good starting with e or i.