Demand Media: Books They Read, Business Model, and Why You Should Care
Ever since Demand Media was profiled in a recent article in Wired Magazine titled “The Answer Factory” (if you have not read this article then set aside 10 minutes and READ IT NOW – then come back here and finish reading this post of course 
) I have been extremely interested in learning as much as I can about them because to a certain degree the Demand Media business model mimics my thinking in running Domain Superstar LLC with John and also my other company 360 Quote LLC.
There is no real need for me to rehash the Wired article because you can just click on the link above and read it yourself but I would challenge all of the domainer/developers reading this post to see how you can take some of the ingredients for success from the Demand Media business model and apply it to your domains.
I would even go so far as to say that if you are a premium domain name holder or even a very strong niche domain name holder then you can take their business model a step further than even they can because certainly content is king but having the best domain in a given niche (i.e. a category killer domain name) coupled with great content can propel you to even greater success than your competitors who may need to work that much harder with a lesser quality domain.
I realize that what I am saying is nothing new and certainly nothing revolutionary but as with anything the only real success comes with not just a great idea but great execution. Rob Monster and Epik are attempting something similar in that they want to couple great content with great domains and truly leverage the power of a great domain. I am unsure about the soundness of their interlinking strategy from an SEO standpoint but it will be interesting to see how well they can execute on such a large scale as they already have a number of great domains.
Demand Media understands the power of domains as platforms for great content to some degree as they own a number of highly trafficked web properties as well as 50 or so niche web properties (and let’s not forget that they own eNom as well). However, there is one thing that Demand Media certainly understands about success on the web and that is the power of content.
While some may argue that the loads of content that the Demand Studio writers churn out every day is inferior in quality to many other sources of content it is important to remember that much of the content that they churn out is extremely long tail in nature and even if one agrees with the assumption that their content’s quality is lacking is still meets a need in the market because there is so little competition out there already for many long tail keyword terms. This of course is where I would like to say that their business model differs from mine in that I am a firm believer in attempting to publish only high quality content but then again I am sure that they would say the same thing
Demand Media certainly does a lot of things exactly right on the content side and if you are someone who wants to see some of the principles that they adhere to generate such success then look no further then the books that they draw inspiration from on the content side of things. Their most recent post highlights these books: “How Big Thinkers Help Us “Go Big” In Content”
What do YOU think of the Demand Media business model? In what ways can the Demand Media business model and content strategy help YOU develop your domains?
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And is what you wrote above an example of your “high quality content?”
I do believe that the writers at Demand have nothing to worry about if it comes down to who does good content.
What a joke.
LOL No, this is what is referred to by most web users as just an informal blog post. One example of high quality content would be something like our article with 25 rules for learning how to choose a domain name: http://www.domainsuperstar.com/how-to-guides/how-to-choose-a-domain-name
Also, you will note that I am not personally accusing Demand Media of not publishing quality content but many people are if you bother to read any of the comments on the articles I linked to above. As I mentioned above almost all of Demand Media’s content serves a purpose and fits a market need because when they publish a very long tail article then their article might very well be one of just a couple other pieces of content that fit that search query intent exactly.
So how is it working for Demand Media anyway?
Thanks for your post Joel. I recently summarized my understanding of Demand Media’s model on my blog (see http://www.kikabink.com/news/anatomy-of-demand-media-the-1-billion-information-marketing-company/). My sense is that Demand Media has artfully – or should I say scientifically – combined domaining with niche online marketing and done it on a huge scale. I definitely agree that they are worth watching and if all the statistics about their valuation, sales and traffic are correct… then I’d say their approach is working very well for them!
Hi Anna,
I agree. Their model is definitely working so far. Thanks for the link to your article!