advice Proper and Improper Spelling of Domain Names

[ulterios]

Some people who are starting their own website or blog site don't realize the impact that the spelling of the domain name is very important. This article outlines a couple of reasons why the spelling of the domain that you choose to use for your site shouldn't be taken lightly!

The domain name that you choose to use for your website or blog is the name that you will be known by as far as your website visitors and potential website visitors. So, put some thought as to what you want your site to be known as. You don’t want something that looks or sounds strange, but something that has a good ring to it that people will easily remember and be able to spell correctly.

Many people that will tell others about your site won’t actually spell it out but just say it to the person that they are telling about your site. Then that person who was told about your site will go and just type the name in how it sounds or how it is normally spelled thus causing you to loose that potential site visitor

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Here on NamePros we see domains every day that are misspellings form the usual/proper spelling, hacks and other ways of spelling a name or word being used for domain names. Sometimes this really won't matter, but other times it matters more than many people think it does.

When registering a domain name that will not be using a traditional spelling, make sure to think about it from a point of view of other people and your potential site visitors.

 

[brandnow]

The most common thing we see is non-native English speakers adding either unnecessary "s" at the end of the word or confusing "z"

 

[ulterios]

The most common thing we see is non-native English speakers adding either unnecessary "s" at the end of the word or confusing "z"

Lately I have seen some domains with a "ZS" at the end in place of an "S". I even got one in a small portfolio I bought a while back. I have no idea what the person was thinking when it was reg'd. It came with the rest, but I haven't done anything with it.

 

[redesignunit]

The most common thing we see is non-native English speakers adding either unnecessary "s" at the end of the word or confusing "z"

Agree with you. if we understand this writing mistake logic then we can get more traffic with any domain.

 

[GBA]

I think this is reasonable, when the misspelled name is registered by the original (correct) name owner, to protect it/avoid traffic leak. Other forms of typosquatting are an abuse, imo.

 

[ulterios]

I think this is reasonable, when the misspelled name is registered by the original (correct) name owner, to protect it/avoid traffic leak. Other forms of typosquatting are an abuse, imo.

Yeah, that's definitely a good point. I have reg'd some typos for some of my better developed sites, and just redirect them to the main site just to cover anything that might get typed in by accident. On my better sites I reg typos and any other possible misspellings to be safe and make sure I get all the traffic going to the intended site.

As far as registering typos of other sites, I have never got into that myself, just for my own sites.

 

[NameOmnia]

I think it varies from case to case.

Sometimes misspelling something or adding the ( in? ) famous Z instead of S can turn the name into a brandable ( see bagz f.e. that sold for a gazillion on Flippa and many others ) in other cases it is just a big plain mistake imo.

I would discourage ANY domainer to register typos of other sites ( especially if TMd ) or hacks which, beside not being in my book of "the favourite domains to own " are also very hardly digested by visitors and end users. The most striking example is delicious who started out as delicio.us and had to buy the .com because no one could really get it...

 

[ulterios]

I think it varies from case to case.

Sometimes misspelling something or adding the ( in? ) famous Z instead of S can turn the name into a brandable ( see bagz f.e. that sold for a gazillion on Flippa and many others ) in other cases it is just a big plain mistake imo.

That is true, it can be used/seen as a brandable in many cases. Most will loose some traffic though to the properly spelled name when someone says hey go to Bagz.com and doesn't mention that it's using a "Z" instead of an "S" at the end. Through links and search results it really doesn't make much difference how it's spelled, just when someone tells someone about it verbally and forgets to mention the unusual spelling.

I would discourage ANY domainer to register typos of other sites ( especially if TMd ) or hacks which, beside not being in my book of "the favourite domains to own " are also very hardly digested by visitors and end users. The most striking example is delicious who started out as delicio.us and had to buy the .com because no one could really get it...

I hadn't seen that story, I bet having to buy the .com cost them a nice chunk of change. They probably didn't think it would matter by using a hack or not but found out that sometimes it does work against you. People by default will type .com at the end of names, especially those that don't know about the other less common extensions.

 

[NameOmnia]

says hey go to Bagz.com and doesn't mention that it's using a "Z" instead of an "S" at the end.

I guess that when a company is serious about branding a name they invest so much money into making the name stick in their customers' mind that the brainwashing machine compensates!!!!!!!!!

 

[ulterios]

I guess that when a company is serious about branding a name they invest so much money into making the name stick in their customers' mind that the brainwashing machine compensates!!!!!!!!!

WAIT!!!! There's a brainwashing machine?

I haven't seen those on Amazon or eBay, where do I order one?

 

[ashikhossain]

every domain name should need to be correctly spelled. Because a domain name is the identity of you, your organization, your business.

 

[ulterios]

every domain name should need to be correctly spelled. Because a domain name is the identity of you, your organization, your business.

I agree that in most/many cases, that is true.

However, using improperly spelled words in a domain can be useful and unique, especially when branding. Take Fiverr.com or Tumblr.com, one has an extra "R" and one is missing an "E". Both are big well know sites so in their case the correct spelling didn't matter.

 

[Coldtrigger]

every domain name should need to be correctly spelled. Because a domain name is the identity of you, your organization, your business.

every domain name should need to be correctly spelt. Because a domain name is the identity of you, your organisation, your business.

UK and American spelling can be different. In this sense, both can be correct while seemingly being wrongly spelt to some. I know 'spelt' is a different word altogether - different words are sometimes used too that aren't used in your part of the world, as well as different spellings.

So a website may sometimes look like a misspelling but can be correct depending on where you are from.

 

[ulterios]

So a website may sometimes look like a misspelling but can be correct depending on where you are from.

That's another good point.

Just like some of the words used in one place might mean something else completely different or not the same in another.

 

[Willox Perez]

It really just depends how you are using it and for what purpose, if you are trying to get the incorrect spelling of a well known company etc will be wrongfully used. Getting the wrong spelling of a popular word could be worthless.

But if you are attempting to create some type of brandability then it is a different story. Being creative with the spelling and still making it memorable is a tactic that makes the most sense to me when it comes to misspells.

- Will

 

[ulterios]

It really just depends how you are using it and for what purpose, if you are trying to get the incorrect spelling of a well known company etc will be wrongfully used.

That would be considered "Bad Faith" in registering and DEFINITELY not good.

But if you are attempting to create some type of brandability then it is a different story. Being creative with the spelling and still making it memorable is a tactic that makes the most sense to me when it comes to misspells.

This is something that I have done on a few occasions. Some worked out well and others not as good as hoped.

Good or Bad, I like to be creative and different!