Success Click Dot Com has an article about two companies that have done well with their websites - the company that interests us is the company that uses “BeavertonMotorcycles.com” as their domain even though that isn’t the name of the company. A classic geo-generic dot com domain and it makes for valuable reading.

A few important concepts - any advertising and promotion of the domain is recoverable from a future sale of the company as the domain would be considered an asset even if the company name were to be changed. In the article the motorcycle dealer’s company name is “Bob Lanphere Motorcycles” yet they use the aforementioned domain for their company website. It stands to reason that one day Bob may sell his business to “John Smith” for example and if the company had spent branding dollars on “BobLanphereMotorcycles.com” then that domain name would be valueless should the hypothetical John Smith want to call his company “John Smith Motorcycles”. “BeavertonMotorcycles.com” on the other hand would keep its value no matter the owner or company name.

Read the article, it is well written and the thoughts concerning the actual value of a geo-generic domain are to the point. The domain owner was very forthcoming when asked questions of a candid nature.

…… their stats show almost a fourth (24%) of their web uniques are from typeins on the domain …… the store is being backbranded with a totally different domain name that “secures” their demographic area ….. a killer marketing move ….. domain could sell to another motorcycle dealership in the Portland area for $100,000 and be worth every penny…….. Imagine what BeavertonMotorcycles.com will be worth after seven more years of promotion …