Does Seattle suck? A group of city locals seem to think so, and have even created a podcast to voice their sociopolitical opinions: “Seattle Sucks—A podcast about hating the city we love”. With more than 240 episodes available to date, Seattle Sucks averages 4.5 stars out of 5 on Apple Podcasts and is the number one result when searching all variations of “Seattle sucks podcast.”
On the podcast, they talk business, politics and culture, with subjects ranging from Amazon to activism, business to Jeff Bezos, composting to internet megacorps—okay, they talk a lot about Amazon, but let’s face it, Amazon.Sucks sometimes!
Up until recently, the podcast utilized the domain www.SeattleSucks.com, but the team behind the podcast recently shook things up by moving to a .SUCKS domain.
The Challenge: Stand Out From The Crowd
While the content of this podcast is entertaining and well presented, the original domain was…shall we say…a little blasé. A .com can be fine if you’re okay with blending in, but the Seattle Sucks team clearly isn’t. We like to think that they understood a .com wouldn’t do their product justice the way a .SUCKS could.
The Solution: Create a Memorable Domain
The colloquial term “sucks” is so relatable nowadays that it shows up everywhere—a playful joke, a legitimate critique, an important part of mastication (that’s chewing, get your mind out of the gutter!). When they registered their .SUCKS domain, the Seattle Sucks team were hitting on the reality that customers prefer being wooed by something edgy than bored by the status quo. The domain is also incredibly easy to remember, which cannot be understated amidst the billions of websites all vying for audience attention online.
The issue some people have with embracing an ngTLD for their brand is the fear that it will hurt their search engine ranking, but Google themselves have emphasized that this isn’t a valid concern. Using an ngTLD like .SUCKS won’t affect your SEO ranking either positively or negatively. That means you can suck proudly, knowing that your SERP spot is safe.
The Results: .SUCKS Resonates With Listeners
We’re not the only ones applauding the podcast on its use of a .SUCKS domain. As one enthusiastic Reddit user notes: “I love that you can have a .sucks website!” A .SUCKS domain used in this instance is creative, eye-catching and poignant, is indicative of passion and adds a dramatic flair. Podcast hosts and other creatives will find that a .SUCKS domain makes them stand out in a sea of digital products and standard .coms.
As podcasts become more popular among listeners and advertisers alike, Seattle Sucks honed in on a unique and creative way to market itself. A .SUCKS domain certainly packs a punch when your brand name already includes the word “sucks”, but it can be just as effective if you are offering a solution to a sucky problem or are giving your customers a platform for constructive criticism.
The Takeaway
Whether you want to jump on the Seattle Sucks bandwagon or start a site of your own, the internet is a magical hodgepodge of ideas, creativity and communication. We should all be inspired by Seattle Sucks’ drive to stand out and broadcast the messages that matter most to us.
If you think DullMarketing.Sucks, then it may be time to grab a .SUCKS domain for yourself and unleash a campaign that actually stands apart.
Photo Credits: Shutterstock / ESB Professional, Shutterstock / Dene’ Miles, Shutterstock / Sergey Nivens
Updated: May 2021
