Have to choose between two domains...

[Duende]

One domain has a keyword in it relating to the content I want to cover, the other does not. The one that has that keyword is 9-letters long. The one WITHOUT that keyword in the domain is 7-letters long. But I feel both are marketable and applicable to the niche, it's just the one without the keyword isn't immediately recognizable as having something to do with the area, though it's close enough. I do feel the shorter one could be a bit more marketable, it's just not having that keyword in the domain is bothering me.

The keyword, according to Google Trends, is rated at 25.6. The shorter domain does have a keyword in it, though it's rated at 1.4 in that same chart. That's about the extent of my know-how as to investigating words with Google...

Is the domain THAT important that I should choose to purchase the one with the keyword, or will the other shorter domain name be just as effective, with all the same content and focused on the same niche?

 

[nielsencl]

Google Trends may be useful, but you should also use the Google Keyword Tool. It will show you other keywords and phrases that you may find interesting. And you can get an idea of the advertiser competition and bid prices they are using.

But it's hard to give you an answer without knowing what the domain will be used for. Parking, selling, long-term investing, or building a site may all have different answers.

The one more commonly used and easily recognized should be better in general and especially for parking, selling, and investing. But for development, the other may be more "brandable" and distinctive.

 

[lexisdomains]

Are you going for brand or generic?

One domain has a keyword in it relating to the content I want to cover, the other does not. The one that has that keyword is 9-letters long. The one WITHOUT that keyword in the domain is 7-letters long. But I feel both are marketable and applicable to the niche, it's just the one without the keyword isn't immediately recognizable as having something to do with the area, though it's close enough. I do feel the shorter one could be a bit more marketable, it's just not having that keyword in the domain is bothering me.

The keyword, according to Google Trends, is rated at 25.6. The shorter domain does have a keyword in it, though it's rated at 1.4 in that same chart. That's about the extent of my know-how as to investigating words with Google...

Is the domain THAT important that I should choose to purchase the one with the keyword, or will the other shorter domain name be just as effective, with all the same content and focused on the same niche?

Hello Duende. It's easy to get caught in dilemmas such as this, but it really depends on your marketing intent.

1) If you are building a social company brand, I would go with the 7 letter domain which will help in creating stronger brand identity. (Digg, Google, Delicious, Reddit, etc.)

2) However, if you're web site will be simply providing social-content for a secondary platform ( business and or product ), then having a generic domain would serve as a better marketing tool in creating top 'search engine visibility' for your site.

I hope this helps,

Lexis Domains

 

[Duende]

I just decided to get them both, BuzzNup.com and SportsLP.com

I'm just playing around a bit, I've been bitten by the bug of this place... But I'm 30, Army's paying for me to go to school, and I got free time, so why not a few startups...

Thanks so much for your informative reply with the limited info I gave you!

 

[cache]

If you really are doing startups and spending real time on it, those names may still not good enough.

 

[Duende]

Oh I'm sure they're not, but a little time and effort making them into little sites is a fun learning experience, and I ain't got nothin' else goin' on, haha.

 

[nielsencl]

The first expired domain I bought was Bizprolink-Internet.com. - Like I said, it was my first one and I didn't know how bad it was when I bought it.

At some point I decided to make a site out of it so I started adding content to it. Now, many years later, it is one of my two best sites for AdSense income with about 80k uniques a month.

Domains are great and we all like good name, but when you consider the power of a good web site, the domain may not mean all that much and may not keep any good site from doing really well.