Folks, I am in situation where I have a very key domain name but there is already a site out there that has established itself on the basis of functionality and branding. The question is not that would I launch my site or not but rather how to go about it. Going back to the post title, if you had funnyvideos.com how would you position yourself against youtube? How would you start marketing your site? Is it fair to say that yes, funnyvideos (used here as an example, I don't own it) does have an advantage because of its domain name or has web 2.0 really made good domain names obsolete? All you need is content and domain name could be gibberish?
A certain percentage of consumers always direct type their destination into their browser, and another types the site name into their search engine instead of their browser. To these types of surfers, on spot domain names DO mean something. Look at photography.com, which owns over 1 million domain names with "photography" in them, which ALL redirect to photography.com Plus, keyword traffic resulting from a search on funnyvideos may result in better search ranking for "funny videos" than even youtube.
I would. You'd probably get a lot of search engine traffic. Even if you don't beat YouTube, a few thousand uniques per day wouldn't hurt specially since you don't have to pay for them.
well if I had funnyvideos.com I wouldn't try to compete against YouTube anyway because the domain itself suggests specifically comedy videos... youtube would always still be the best all rounder video site. But the only way you could compete realistically is if you had millions to plow into more unique features than youtube as well as absolute huge marketing.
I thought redirects like that pull down your site in the SERPS? No? Must be a way to do it that works right I suppose.
what about other funnyvideos.tld? if funnyvideos.com are important cos of "funnyvideos" than, the other funnyvideos.tld will do the same (or close)
As 'jon2k6' said, I wouldn't set my sights on tackling youtube, i'd focus on the niche of actual funny videos and take on break.com etc. The strength of funnyvideos.com is its type-in and SEO potential... if someone types "funnyvideos" into their browser, or searches for it on Google, they generally don't want to land on a site that is just a mix of general videos ranging from gardening tips to music vids. Providing those visitors what they want will go a lot way towards ensuring repeat traffic.
I would use YouTube to promote yourself. Upload your funny videos to YouTube, and let YouTube promote you!
ofcourse I would...no doubt youtube is a popular website and its we who have made it popular...cater to popular demands and include crowd pulling lucrative special features which would give youtube a tough competition and there you are...you have already defeated youtube.
I know a lot including myself like to watch funny videos. So when I'm in the mood to watch funny videos I usually just google it. Your domain has an excellent potential to thrive if you promote it right. I think you should do it anyways. What do you have to loose?
I wouldnt look at it like you vs youtube. There are many websites out there who go for a smaller niche (like funny videos) knowing they will never fully dominate that smaller niche, but still get a small percentage of it making a substantial profit.
The domain is easy to remember but so is youtube. It's all really about quality, links, and marketing. Any site can compete with any other site as long as it's done right.