To "The" or not to "The"

[Joey Havlock]

Hi folks,

I just wondered if you might give your takes on using the word "The" in front of a domain name.

To me it sounds more natural sometimes, such as if you compare DrugStore.com or TheDrugStore.com.

In natural language it is often felt it is better to have "The" something as opposed to just something so I just wonder how you feel this translates to domain names.

Also if someone had a domain name you wanted such as BigFish.com and you wanted it, would you settle for, or maybe even prefer, TheBigFish.com

Appreciate your thoughts.
Joey

 

[Gene]

if someone had a domain name you wanted such as BigFish.com and you wanted it, would you settle for, or maybe even prefer, TheBigFish.com

Settle for, maybe. But 'BigFish' would be far more valuable. In my opinion, putting the word 'the' before a domain is usually suicide. You'll lose a ton of traffic to the non-'the' domain.

 

[RJ]

It's hard to market "the" names because of the high fallover traffic to the non-"the" name. Just ask the owner of smokinggun.com how much traffic he gets misdirected to his site-- literally millions of visitors.

I can't think of any situation, other than movie or book titles containing it, where I would want to purposely use a "the" prefix.

 

[Matrix1976]

Settle for, maybe. But 'BigFish' would be far more valuable. In my opinion, putting the word 'the' before a domain is usually suicide. You'll lose a ton of traffic to the non-'the' domain.

i agree, people will not type in 'the' naturally nearly as much as without the 'the' in almost all cases...my guess is that a domain with 'the' in front is worth generally maybe 1% to 10% of the domain alone...

 

[barefoottech]

I had pondered on this when I registered
My company name and Domains
Should I have "the Bare foot tech" or "BareFoottech"
asked various People and a marketing consultant friend.
Answer is in my company name and Nickname
Almost 90% of the hundred asked said lose "the"
and just go with BareFootTech

 

[Gene]

I can't think of any situation, other than movie or book titles containing it, where I would want to purposely use a "the" prefix.

Or music groups or retail establishments who have the word 'the' in their name...

 

[sibaong]

Or music groups or retail establishments who have the word 'the' in their name...

Yup "the" will be good only for movie and music groups i think.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

In many cases "the" actually sounds better. You would usually want the non-the version as well if you can.

Example:
The Home Depot (has both thehomedepot.com and homedepot.com)

 

[vimkar]

the domain without "the " is better , but i agree that you should take also the domain with "the"

 

[EbookLover]

While it is natural in the course of convorsation to say or think "The drug store" when speaking of drug stores in general, when talking about domains and websites, "THE" is not so natural to the average surfer. It's more like Drugstore.com is a biz name or a brand rather than just a noun.

Thinking "Thedrugstore.com" in this case is like thinking "The Sears". Most no one says, "I'm going to THE sears" unless they say, "I'm going to the sears on the south side" (as opposed to the one on the north side of the city). Even then many will not use "THE".

I'm sure maybe there is a scenario or 2 where "THE" would be better or not a bad choice, but 99% of the time, for get the "THE" when regging/developing domains.

Also, I would not reg both unless you have big plans or you think the "THE" domain will get snatched up by someone else soon. No need for the added expense if not needed desparately.

 

[floatingworld]

I suppose for rock group The The, you would register TheTheThe.com....

 

[Raz0rBlade_uk]

So we're agreed. 'the' is a no no.

 

[floatingworld]

...not always eg The Magnificent Seven da...da-da-dah

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Sometimes it does give a different meaning.

beatles.com - a site about bugs
thebeatles.com - a site about a band

coasters.org - a site for roller coasters?
thecoasters.org - another site about a band?

4thofJuly.us - a date
The4thOfJuly.us - a US holiday and common phrase (I actually have this domain)

I actually have sold the4thofjuly.com twice in the past. Sold once, picked up on drop and sold again. I've also never had the version without "the".




"the" is not always useless when it can define a particular use of a keyword such as a place, person, or thing.

 

[jeter4982]

I think it depends on the situation, but in a lot of cases the "the" is implied. It is 3 extra characters, and people are likely to get confused. I think if your sole plans are reselling the domain, definitely don't get the "the" if you have the option. However, if you plan on developing the site, you may want to look into getting both, and redirecting one of them.

Tom