What are the bad letters and why?

[Kenny]

Hello Mods & Mems,
Good letters, Bad letters....

What makes up the reasoning or criteria of a bad
letter. Obviously vowels would be better suited to
accually spell something, and "Q" is just not used
without the "U" often, but why is "J" a bad letter,
or "G"? Is "L" good or bad? What about "K" or "F"?

What would be cool, and I'm guessing I'm not the
only soldier wondering about this, would be a chart
or list of the Top 10 & the Flop 10 in rank order with
some insight as to why.

Please, no Masters of the Obvious... lets have some
thoughtful, educational, and !! YIP-YEA !! inspirational dialog.

Thanks,
~ Cyberian ~

Edit: Sorry about the huge font size before,
it didnt look like that when I closed it...lol

 

[Epic]

According to 3character.com the lesser quality letters are: J, K, U, V, W and the low quality letters are: Q, X, Y, Z

The reason that they're bad is because they just aren't used as much.

Hope that helps!

 

[equity78]

I agree with you Kenny I was never sure how J and K fell into the bad camp but since I have been into domaining that's what I hear J and K are bad I understand qxzand y to a certain extent in the English language that's why letters are even more important in an ext like .us for LLL IMO
17 good
9 Bad

A C S N M E I being the best IMO
X even though I like It Z and Q probably the worst IMO

 

[wot]

I agree with you Kenny I was never sure how J and K fell into the bad camp but since I have been into domaining that's what I hear J and K are bad I understand qxzand y to a certain extent in the English language that's why letters are even more important in an ext like .us for LLL IMO
17 good
9 Bad

A C S N M E I being the best IMO
X even though I like It Z and Q probably the worst IMO

X is good for Xtreme, Xample, Xrated, and quite a few others, Z - huge limitations.

Q - one stand out use is Quality - can't go too far wrong if that fits

 

[equity78]

I agree WOT and I like the letter x, the thing about the unfavorable letters is htey don't work in all three positions (for LLL acronyms) . X can work 1 and 3 sucks in 2 sucks Q can work well 1 and decent 3 especially Quarterly SDQ for example San Diego Quarterly. Z stinks J stinks in Second and third position, K not good for Middle position same for V,W and Y.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Bad letters aren't always bad just for being there. If part of a word or acronym, they have no negative whatsowever. Having two or more together can make acronyms almost impossible. Here's my take:

X - Can be one of the least used letters in the english language. Hard to make acronyms with. One domain with three in a row is very valuable (XXX). Also can be used as a roman numeral XIV = 14. Other languages use x more commonly, but some ccTLD's (.us) would be negatively effected by the default language.

Z - Another rarely used letter in English. I avoid them in TLA's (Three Letter Acronyms) unless acronymfinder.com has an active listing using it.

Q - I will pick up Q's if the Q is first or last in a TLA. There are good words that start with Q such as Quality, Quick, Quiet, Quest, Question, Quebec, that can make reasonable acronyms. Paired with another lesser letter and things can get difficult.

K - A letter that is used a lot, but not frequently at the start of a word, making it less useful for acronyms. Not many business use words start with it.

Y - Similar to K, in that not many useful business words start with it. In position 1 of a TLA, it can be Your, Youth, or Young.

Most TLA's with one of the lesser letters can be made into something. It's when you have two or even three that they become almost unusable, such as QZX, XQY, YZP, etc. These are the ones you usually see dropping or available. Sometimes you can still be creative and make up a use for them and market it that way.

Just as some of these make a TLA less desirable, others can be Very desirable in the right position. I, C, and A in the last position make it useful for Inc, Company/Corporation, and Association

 

[sjaguar13]

X is good for Xtreme, Xample, Xrated, and quite a few others..

It's still not the greatest letter because all those (well, not X-Rated but more than likely that won't fit anyway) are spelled wrong. If you have Xtreme Something Something, XSS.com, you will have people typing in ESS.com because of Extreme. I say it's best to avoid it rather than mispell something to make it fit.

 

[rome2ng]

yea, dun forget numbers like 2 = to and everything.

they does work wonders.

but we are banking on those peeps that misspell. so i dun really place big bet on these words

 

[CrazyTech]

It comes down to the use of the names. Adoptable pretty much outlined all of the points (and more) that I could in his post. The usage of the so called "bad letters" is much lower than that of more common letters such as a,b,c,s,t,m, and so on.

It's still not the greatest letter because all those (well, not X-Rated but more than likely that won't fit anyway) are spelled wrong. If you have Xtreme Something Something, XSS.com, you will have people typing in ESS.com because of Extreme. I say it's best to avoid it rather than mispell something to make it fit.

I think that's a valid point but with the right branding you might do fine. I would tend to stay away from the letter X as in Xtreme, personally.

 

[wot]

It comes down to the use of the names. Adoptable pretty much outlined all of the points (and more) that I could in his post. The usage of the so called "bad letters" is much lower than that of more common letters such as a,b,c,s,t,m, and so on.



I think that's a valid point but with the right branding you might do fine. I would tend to stay away from the letter X as in Xtreme, personally.

I most definitely disagree with the last statement :hi:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=xtreme&btnG=Google+Search 8million +

Searches done in October 2005
Count Search Term
16724 xtreme
2544 alive beach dead volleyball xtreme
2009 4x4 xtreme
1788 paintball xtreme
1492 curve xtreme

Xtreme.in

 

[CrazyTech]

Check the overture for "extreme" - you're going to lose at least a few to "extreme" if you don't have the that name. This is something you want to consider if you're running a website - I wasn't saying that the "xtreme" version won't get traffic.

 

[Kenny]

OK.... this is what I had in mind when I started this thread.
Something we can all take home to ponder with better understanding.

What about dbbl Letters... good or bad?
Are there numbers (single digits)that are better than others?

According to 3character.com the lesser quality letters are: J, K, U, V, W and the low quality letters are: Q, X, Y, Z
The reason that they're bad is because they just aren't used as much.
Hope that helps!

Oh yea, and Zesty knows about 3 ??? in all extentions and so much more, but more input is always better if only to help grasp the bottom line reasons why.
Like if there was a calculation we(the un-informed) could refer to or like Adoptable has a good start on a poster-like chart going ... letters w/explaination...

I cant be the only member that this will clear up some tricky questions and I really appreciate the "Big Shooters" lending your views on this simple but really confusing issue.

So basically it's about finding the Acro to match your letters, and some will match up much easier than others.

Mark, thanks for building that table... a lot of us are visual
and grasp concepts better if we can see them written out as
apposed to writing about it.

More thoughts please.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Really, when looking at acronym domains, first check acronymfinder.com. If there are lots of acronyms, it's probably pretty safe to register. If there are one or two, probably still okay, if not too far off the wall. If none, all is still not lost, as someone somewhere probably has those as initials, but the price may not be as high. If you couldn't think of a quick name to place on the acronym, probably no one else could either, and take a pass on it. Most will have use someday, but it depends whether you need to sell in 1 month, 1 year, or one century. :D Usually people have a name they need an acronym domain for, but sometimes they will find a domain and create a name to use it, particularly in .com.

Don't worry, if you're patient and wait around long enough, someone will eventually need a domain for Quality Zoo X-rays and buy QZX.tld from you. Common sense usually prevails if you think and research before hitting the checkout button at your registrar.

 

[Michelle]

There is good and bad in everything just depends imo when and where it is at the time :hehe:

 

[theSun]

Nothing is bad letters. QXJKXY are all frequent letters in pingyin of mandarin.

 

[zestydomains*com]

Hello All,

On 3 letter combos, it really can be all relative on the premium, lesser high quality and low quality letters.

Common understanding places q, x, y, z in the low quality segment, but there are quite a few examples of strong sales in the last couple of years of 3 letter domains that contain one or more of these letters. Further, sales data/trends suggests that a 3 letter .com domain composed of only low quality letters (q, x, y, z) is still selling at the $1450 minimum.

As many have noted, "bad letters" can be relative. What might be a bad letter for you could be a perfectly usable or preferred acronym letter in another language. For example, in China (which continues to have a very strong growth in internet users), these "bad letters" are very common, as tekz999 has aptly pointed out.

Often what this boils down to is what makes any acronym name valuable on the end-user side (which I think is getting at the focus of the question in this thread). Two important factor's emerge (perhaps among others):

1. How useful the letter combo is for their business/personal/other use?
2. How valuable can the acronym be in building traffic, awareness and marketability?

Let's just say...a company existed called Von Zensenburg Quilts. If they suddenly decided to take their quilting business global, it might benefit them to consider buying their acronym (which might thus be much easier to market and brand). This said, the owner of VZQ.com or VZQ.otherTLD is likely going to command a premium for the domain, but even so it may be a very small price to pay for the company to get the acronym that works for their business plan.

All these things said, on the reseller side, premium letters are hard to beat, and it's really a matter of the odds of an end-user sale. There are likely many more end-user possibilities for the acronym RCI than there would be for XQY, for example, and thus far better odds of someday making a stronger end-user sale.

Finally, if the question comes down to whether to buy 2 or 3 letter acronyms in the top extensions...I think history has warmly favored those who have, regardless of letter quality. I wouldn't now at all hesitate to buy more 3 letter domains with bad letters...so long as the price is right. End-user sales happen (allbeit at a slow rate) for big $ and in the meantime reseller (wholesale) prices continue to trend higher. It's really hard to lose either way, no matter what the letters.

Fun Stuff!
zesty

 

[Kenny]

Nothing is bad letters. QXJKXY are all frequent letters in pingyin of mandarin.

And there you have it folks, there are no bad letters, only poor marketing strategy.
tekz999 has reminded us our market is the world , with all our different languages
and cultures the end user is there, waiting.... needing ZQX.whateverhecanafford
to start his business off right.

Often what this boils down to is what makes any acronym name valuable on the end-user side (which I think is getting at the focus of the question in this thread). Two important factor's emerge (perhaps among others):

1. How useful the letter combo is for their business/personal/other use?
2. How valuable can the acronym be in building traffic, awareness and marketability?
Let's just say...a company existed called Von Zensenburg Quilts

Yes!!! You are right on target. This was my intent of the focus for this thread, to get the combined opinions of, and the answers clearly explained by some members that really know , from a marketing standpoint what letters work best in each position, and why.

In the example of Mr. Von Zensenburg the "bad" letters are the only letters that work for him, so now they have become perfect right?
Oh.. not that many Von Z's making Quilts... right... but there are homes out there.
This has really helped me see things from a better perspective and I want to personally thank everyone who posted in this thread for donating their knowledge and time.
There are still mountians worth of tiny molehills of information that will help us understand and learn to be better domainers. But today, I am clear on this subject. More so than yesterday, for sure.

Name Pros Rox!!!!!​

Peace,
~ Cyberian ~

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Nothing is bad letters. QXJKXY are all frequent letters in pingyin of mandarin.

Which shows that the same letters in different TLD's could have different values. The above would be good in gTLD's, Great in .cn, but not as good in .us or other primarily English Country codes. There are no rules without exceptions.

 

[Breakpoint]

great information

but i would think q,w,z,y

 

[Grrilla]

Describing the name genre that accounts for most of my more recent registrations as, "different", would be an understatement. I hesitate to go public w/ the category and the related, yet, multi-faceted subcategories that fall under it's umbrella w/o, first, laying the conceptual foundation and the market research, (which, when revealed, will show, among other things, a dramatic spike in registrations over the past 6 mos, which, in turn, has led to a level of competition that would define the category as "hot"), There are clues in my signature, but I'm getting ahead of myself, so back to the topic of, "good" and "bad" letters.

I agree with most of what everyone has said. For instance, *most* of of the countries in the west with Indo-Europeon based languages, (ie English, Spanish, German, French), have lexicons w/ a sparce supply of words that are composed with or that begin with x,q,and z. The lower the number of words to draw from the pool, the fewer the alternatives to compose acronyms from. Hence, the demand for acronyms w/ x, q, and z is low in the .us, co.uk, .de, .fr, and .sp cctld's, for example, and their "values" are correspondingly lower. With random 3 letter combinations with no apparent acronym value, given the choice, I've leaned towards those beginning w/ X , because, historically, letter combos beginning w/ X have had a degree of popularity in product branding. Jaguar XQE, Windows XP, Xbox, and Xacto immediately come to mind. Additionally, as mentioned, X is an operative for extreme and, also, stands in for "extra", as in extra large or XXL, and, of course, who could forget XXX. Additionally, X can be used to denote "by" (4x4), "Stop" or "Cross out", (XSpam), and "cross" (RRXing) (NB: "Using "Xing", for the English word "crossing" get's trumpted by another language. In pinyin Chinese, "xing", is very popular and one of it's several possible meanings, translates, roughly into, "good fortune". X is commonly used to replace letter groups w/ similar sounds, (phoentic imitation), as in "ects", (Fx), "icks", (clix, kix are for kids), and "ics" (pix). X can also imply generic (BrandX)

Take X a step further, and we move a step farther away from the literal and begin to segue into the representational world of symbols, shapes and visual imagery- the area that my signature alludes to and that I have been spending time in. A visual landscape where X's V's Z's and Q's are not only at home, but world where they are the building blocks, the centerpieces, the stars and, yes, also the letters with the highest value.

x0v0x: "hey! psst... Grrilla. It's me. Ya think they're gonna like me?"

"Hmm... At this point I don't know what the reception is going to be like, little fella. Better scoot back down, for now."

x0v0x: "OK, Grrilla. C ya' l8r allig8tr"

xeyex:Hey, Grilla. It's me. Just passed x0v0x on the way up and got the scoop. I'll take a look 'round to see wazzup and if the coast is clear, I'll pop down and pull x0v0x back up with me. OK?"

"Works for me, xeyex Let's bring out a couple of your cousins and see what they think."

xeyex: "OK, Grrilla."

xqpx: "Hi guys. Wazzup? Sure hope I didn't miss nuthin."

x8v8x: W0w! Lotsa c00l letters around in this thread, d00ds. Think it's OK with them if we throw a couple numbers in with the mix, too?

"OK, x8v8x. What the heck. We've gone this far, haven't we?. Might as well bring a couple of your cousins out to show them off as well. Oh boy! I think we all better get ready and hold onto our hats. Could get ugly, guys."

0ono0!!!

BrXnd.com Targxt.com Br4nding.com Bin8o.com 4ree.com Luc8y.com Sxience.com SLzzzP.com​