Wellderly and illderly	1.7/5.0 (3 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
Barry Goggin September 01, 2008

I discussed in my last post the trend towards increased lifespan and the associated consequences including elderly health.

I was interested then to see that the Aug 6th issue of Nature had a article entitled “Genetic fact-check for ageing story“. (subscription required)

This discusses “A genetic study of healthy elderly people aims to uncover the secret of living to a ripe old age — intact.” They go on to describe this “Wellderly Study” (well elderly). Welderly.com - a site for healthy elderly living - hmm?

Of course someone has already snapped up Wellderly.com and parked it. The article goes on to talk about the opposite population: ill elderly or “illderly” As of the time of writing, illderly.com is available.

Investing in Wellderly or Illderly?

So would I invest in “illderly”? The short answer is no whereas I would be more likely to invest in “wellderly”. Why? I hear you cry. OK, well the question at least crossed your mind.

Positive spin domain names

“Illderly”, though cute, has a negative connotation. Ill elderly people are seeking information to help them get healthier or to better manage their chronic illnesses. So in effect they are seeking to become one of the “wellderly”.

Those who are healthy but of advanced age also want to remain part of the “wellderly”. It is this positive spin that sways me quite often when making choices such as this. Always ask yourself what your target population / visitors are seeking and invest in names that reflect that goal.

Evaluating catchy domain names

Other criteria that are important when investing in these clever names include readability, language penetration, catchiness, brandability.

Readability

Wellderly is about middle of the road for readability. Without being put in context, it could be mistaken for a surname for instance. In context especially when spoken, it works quite well. This is a subjective measure of how understandable the name is. In this example, the truncation and fusion of the words work fairly well.

Language penetration

A name that you have coined and is not used in the written or spoken word has low language penetration. A name that is used extensively as slang for instance would score better because of its instant recognition. “Wellderly” has a low language penetration and relies on recognition of the words fused together.

Catchiness and Brandability

These are related to each other. Catchiness relates to how memorable the name is. Again this is a subjective determination but we all come across names that stick in our head from time to time. Often catchy names amuse us, are considered clever and have a certain “ring” or sound. Branding with a catchy term is easier since it requires less repetition with the target population to become recognized.

Brandability includes catchiness but also “A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols and sound which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality. The key objective is to create a relationship of trust.” Some names immediately bring a certain idea to mind. GorillaNation immediately brings to mind a picture of a gorilla and is brandable. Monster.com is another good example even when the domain name is not related to the content. Google.com is on the low end of the scale and required much more resources and money to become the household known brand it is today.

Justify your selling price

So these are things i think about when buying domain names but they are also things I express when selling a domain name. Why keep these ideas to yourself? Use your domain name strengths to support your valuation. Teach your potential buyer about the good characteristics of the domain name you are selling and do so in an objective and rational manner.

If you are negotiating with a particular potential buyer, understand what they are looking for and tell them how the characteristics of your domain name will help address their needs. If you don’t exaggerate or over-sell, these points can result in higher returns for you in your domain name sales.

So would you invest in “wellderly” or “illderly”?

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