13 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
13 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Domain Name Question

by RogCat
11 replies
Just been reading through the discussions of .info vs. .com and it is interesting to see the differing POVs.
My question is also about trying to get round the many great domain names already taken by adding in extra words. For example, rideabike.com which no doubt is taken to how2rideabike.com. Does this "how2" or other ways of expressing a question in the name sit well with Google?
It would open up a whole bunch of domain possibilities whilst getting in the burning question word likely typed in the search.


Cheers!
#domain #question
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    It's fine with Google but before you jump in and register howtorideabike, you should probably do the keyword research and see how many people are actually searching for that term.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2333381].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author schabotte
    I think the only time google cares about a domain name is if it is keyword stuffed in a spammy manner.

    The challenge of a domain name really comes about if you think someone will type it into the browser from memory.

    If you think that is true, the person is more likely to think .com than any other extension and more likely to type out a number than put in the numeric value. There are many more issues involved in choosing a type in name of course like the last letter of a word being the same as the first letter of the next word in the domain name.

    But if you think the person will get your website by following links, those issues are not so important. In that case, you want to try to have your main keyword in the domain name - preferably in the beginning as it seems to give a little boost in the rankings (a boost that can unfortunately easily be overcome by a competitor with a good set of backlinks.)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2333398].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author RogCat
      The "ride a bike" was only example. I see many people using
      "now" and "today" at the end of their domain names, which I would guess not many people are typing in when searching. Interesting what you say about have the keyword at the start of the domain name. Is the word "to" given importance in a Google search?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2333495].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author freudianslip27
    When looking at authority sites, how often are they .info's? It's pretty rare that I see them.

    I was surprised and excited when I found how many good .info's are left out there, but if you think about it, there is a reason for that!

    Matt
    Signature

    WarriorForum Rules!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2333498].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author freudianslip27
    At one point I had 100's of .info domains, and my experience then was that they didn't seem to rank as easily. Granted there were plenty of variables, but all things equal, I won't be buying a .info for anything that I am seriously interested in getting results with. That's just my two cents lol.

    Matt
    Signature

    WarriorForum Rules!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2334220].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author KathyK
    When info first came out, the spammers/scammers bought them in huge numbers. (And still do because they are cheaper.) That may be why they don't rank as well.

    Note - this is only a theory - I've done no tests.
    Signature

    Cheers,
    Kathy

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2334255].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Simon Johnson
    Originally Posted by RogCat View Post

    My question is also about trying to get round the many great domain names already taken by adding in extra words.
    The best solution to this problem is to add prefixes and suffixes to the keyword(s) you want to register.

    HowToDoX
    GuideToX
    XGuideTo
    YourX

    I haven't seen too many domains with the number 2 in them - I'd tend to avoid the use of numerics in domains. The key here is to "get into the mind" of the person searching for whatever you are delivering on the site, and make it relevant.

    Hope this helps.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2334295].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author RogCat
      Thanks Simon.
      The difference between search results with my exapmple of "how to ride a bike" and "how ride a bike" - is minimal which would suggest google isn;t really looking at the word "to". The first three results are the same. I understand that the start "how 2" may not necessarily be put in a search by a real person, but if google ignores the "2" then as a domain name would it work?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2342092].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author howinfo
        Anybody who is worried that .info extension does not rank well, I can put your mind at ease. Info extension ranks very well, as good as any other domain extensionand and for information website I can not think of any better extension than .info.
        Signature
        webhow.org
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2342392].message }}

Trending Topics