5 letter or 14 letter domain name

by ~kev~
23 replies
I have an older 14 letter domain name blog that I have been posting to since mid-2008. The site has over 1,000 post and is currently using wordpress.

The domain name was bought in late 2006, put a site on it, closed, then reopened in mid-2008.

Then I have a 5 letter domain name that I bought in 2007, had open for a year, then closed. This site has been closed for about 4 years.

I thought about moving all of the content from the 14 letter domain name to the 5 letter domain name.

There has been talk that google will start discrediting exact keyword domain names, so I thought about moving to a generic word name.

I am hoping the generic name appeals to a wider range of people then the 14 letter domain name.

I am a little concerned that using an exact keyword in the domain name might turn people off the blog.

The blog covers a wide range of topics, everything from camping to political.
#domain #letter
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Shorter is always better IMO
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  • Profile picture of the author zoldusta
    yeah, the short domain is better. and as for moving your content to another site i don't advise.

    make fresh content for the new site and optimize it. in fact build as many sites as you can, because with Google updating alogorithm constantly, they're not to be trusted,

    you should always have backup
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    • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
      Originally Posted by zoldusta View Post

      in fact build as many sites as you can, because with Google updating alogorithm constantly, they're not to be trusted,
      I do not have time to create content for more then 1 or 2 sites.

      Some of my articles can reach 1,300 - 1,600 words, and can take several hours to write. I have worked on articles on and off for a month before they were finally posted.

      Plus, I take all of my own pictures, and make videos for my blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dmarcotte
    I know that google recently changed the algorithm and if your site name was an exact match for the keyword phrase and you didn't have enough quality information you got hit. I know because it happened to me. I spent 1 year clawing my way to the first page and then found myself back on page 20 - since then I have again clawed my way forward - but it was frustrating. I think the lesson here is that quality is most important. If you have quality content it won't matter how long or short your name. However shorter names are easier to remember, Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author connorbringas
    Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

    I have an older 14 letter domain name blog that I have been posting to since mid-2008. The site has over 1,000 post and is currently using wordpress.

    The domain name was bought in late 2006, put a site on it, closed, then reopened in mid-2008.

    Then I have a 5 letter domain name that I bought in 2007, had open for a year, then closed. This site has been closed for about 4 years.

    I thought about moving all of the content from the 14 letter domain name to the 5 letter domain name.

    There has been talk that google will start discrediting exact keyword domain names, so I thought about moving to a generic word name.

    I am hoping the generic name appeals to a wider range of people then the 14 letter domain name.

    I am a little concerned that using an exact keyword in the domain name might turn people off the blog.

    The blog covers a wide range of topics, everything from camping to political.
    If you are just going to take the content from one to the other..why dont you 301 redirect one domain to the other domain. That way you get the backlinks from the other domain anyway? This is the best solution. However my experience is the longer domain looks better in my eyes.
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  • Profile picture of the author jerytohn
    Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

    I have an older 14 letter domain name blog that I have been posting to since mid-2008. The site has over 1,000 post and is currently using wordpress.

    The domain name was bought in late 2006, put a site on it, closed, then reopened in mid-2008.

    Then I have a 5 letter domain name that I bought in 2007, had open for a year, then closed. This site has been closed for about 4 years.

    I thought about moving all of the content from the 14 letter domain name to the 5 letter domain name.

    There has been talk that google will start discrediting exact keyword domain names, so I thought about moving to a generic word name.

    I am hoping the generic name appeals to a wider range of people then the 14 letter domain name.

    I am a little concerned that using an exact keyword in the domain name might turn people off the blog.

    The blog covers a wide range of topics, everything from camping to political.
    Discrediting EMDs? I think you could be wrong about this. EMDs used to have an advantage for ranking exact match for the keyword. But now, they are reducing that advantage for ranking for the particular keyword phrase. This is what I understand.

    Which means your original site is as good as any other domain, perhaps still better. It would be a big mistake to take the trouble to change domains, particularly with many factors that could be affected, such as traffic, Pagerank etc. This is just my opinion.
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    • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
      Originally Posted by jerytohn View Post

      Discrediting EMDs? I think you could be wrong about this. EMDs used to have an advantage for ranking exact match for the keyword. But now, they are reducing that advantage for ranking for the particular keyword phrase. This is what I understand.
      Originally Posted by itejsin View Post

      well, it might be better short but it depends what the long term is as well. (what pr is your site, what short name do you want to use, is it related and so on.) answer the questions before you do it!
      What I am worried about is losing years of natural links.

      I have some high ranking sites in my niche that have provided natural links to my articles. These are not links I posted, but posted from people that liked my content.

      The blog has a PR of 2.

      In google webmaster tools it shows over 10,000 links going to various articles. And something like 400 - 500 linking domains.

      There are hundreds of images that I have uploaded to the site, tweaks to the theme, hundreds of internal links that might have to be fixed if the site is moved, I honestly do not want to switch.

      I might slow down on posting to that blog, open the other site, and shift some of my focus to the other site.
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  • Profile picture of the author jerytohn
    I think you should find out more about what Google meant by 'reducing EMDs' before making such a drastic decision. I'm pretty sure your site is not one of those affected at all. There is a difference between penalizing a site and reducing the advantage of a site.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by zoldusta View Post

      in fact build as many sites as you can
      Waste of time unless you're building your own private network.

      Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

      Plus, I take all of my own pictures, and make videos for my blog.
      Good stuff.

      Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

      What I am worried about is losing years of natural links.
      You should be worried about losing readership, not links.

      Originally Posted by jerytohn View Post

      I think you should find out more about what Google meant by 'reducing EMDs'
      EMD's aren't the issue. The issue was the crap associated to most of them. (unnatural link profiles, keyword stuffing etc)
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    • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
      Originally Posted by jerytohn View Post

      I think you should find out more about what Google meant by 'reducing EMDs' before making such a drastic decision. I'm pretty sure your site is not one of those affected at all. There is a difference between penalizing a site and reducing the advantage of a site.
      Something like this

      Google Drops "Low Quality" Exact Match Domains From Search Results

      I would not call my site low quality. I have some small post, but a lot of my content is over 1,000 words, uses videos and uses images.

      From what I am seeing, blooger blogs that are "very" low quality are outranking site with real quality content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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    Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

    There has been talk that google will start discrediting exact keyword domain names
    "Discrediting" in the sense of "no longer awarding the previous artificial advantage accruing just to the EMD" for thin, poor-quality sites, yes. They're already doing this now. But not in the sense of "penalizing".

    As far as I'm aware, nobody (who knows the first thing about it) is seriously suggesting that you might actually be worse off with an EMD than without one? There may be other reasons for preferring your other name, though, Kev, but I can't see SEO being one of them, surely?
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    • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      "Discrediting" in the sense of "no longer awarding the previous artificial advantage accruing just to the EMD" for thin, poor-quality sites, yes. They're already doing this now. But not in the sense of "penalizing".

      As far as I'm aware, nobody (who knows the first thing about it) is seriously suggesting that you might actually be worse off with an EMD than without one? There may be other reasons for preferring your other name, though, Kev, but I can't see SEO being one of them, surely?
      I posted a link in post #12 of this thread, follow that link and read some of the replies to that article.

      (I am not affiliated with that site in any shape, form or fashion)

      My blog has around 6,450 pages indexed with google - tags, articles and categories.

      Over the past few weeks some of my articles have disappeared from google search results.

      Keep in mind this is a 4 1/2 year old blog, no warnings in google analytics or webmaster tools.

      Pages linking to my content are ranking higher then the actual article.
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      • Profile picture of the author jerytohn
        Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

        I posted a link in post #12 of this thread, follow that link and read some of the replies to that article.

        (I am not affiliated with that site in any shape, form or fashion)

        My blog has around 6,450 pages indexed with google - tags, articles and categories.

        Over the past few weeks some of my articles have disappeared from google search results.

        Keep in mind this is a 4 1/2 year old blog, no warnings in google analytics or webmaster tools.

        Pages linking to my content are ranking higher then the actual article.
        Has your traffic dropped by some amount?
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        • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
          Originally Posted by jerytohn View Post

          Has your traffic dropped by some amount?
          Yes and no.

          My traffic has been staying at a steady increase for the past few years.

          The issue with with some of the articles. Its as if the articles have disappeared from google.

          We are talking original content, 1,600+ words, several images,,, exact keyword search and nothing for at least the first 7 pages of google.

          A lot of the older articles are still ranking #1, or in the top 3 results like they always have.

          The problem seems to be with the newer articles that have been posted in say the past 6 weeks or so.
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          • Profile picture of the author jerytohn
            Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

            Yes and no.

            My traffic has been staying at a steady increase for the past few years.

            The issue with with some of the articles. Its as if the articles have disappeared from google.

            We are talking original content, 1,600+ words, several images,,, exact keyword search and nothing for at least the first 7 pages of google.

            A lot of the older articles are still ranking #1, or in the top 3 results like they always have.

            The problem seems to be with the newer articles that have been posted in say the past 6 weeks or so.
            It may or may not be due to Google updates. Many sites' traffic rise and fall all the time. I think there isn't much to worry about at this time. In terms of SEO, my opinion is to keep the old domain as it is and maybe develop the other one. Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    Shorter doesn't necessarily equate to better.

    Take this forum for example, relatively long; but is the "king" in its niche.

    I can also think of some relatively lengthy sub 500 alexa domains.

    Of course, a shorter URL will be easier for mass appeal. Imagine if Amazon.com was really AmazonShoppingNetwork.com - Do you think it would have taken off like it did?

    What if FaceBook.com was really FaceBookFriendsAndPictures.com (Would it have the same popularity it does now?)

    What if Google was GoogleSearchEngineWinner.com. You get the idea..

    Food for thought.



    PS: Remember ,there are more variables than that..
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Personally, I'd keep it on the aged domain that it's already on. I wouldn't move it unless there was a really compelling reason to move it.
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  • Profile picture of the author cowloc
    I would also recommend shorter domain names.
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  • Profile picture of the author aureusb
    Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post


    There has been talk that google will start discrediting exact keyword domain names, so I thought about moving to a generic word name.
    Websites who got hit by the EMD update were exact match domain names that were ranked highly in the first place because of the amount of weight exact match domains had before the update.

    Google Panda Update 20 Released, 2.4% Of English Queries Impacted

    Agreed with jerytohn. I think you should keep your old domain as domain age is also one of the ranking factors. Then develop the new domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    14-letter domain isn't too bad. My domain is 27 letters long. I get great results from it. But that's because i made the site work with good marketing... i didn't let the site make me.
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  • Profile picture of the author arranrice
    I wouldnt bother changing the domain if the site gets lots of visitors, I would keep it as it is. My site was successful with a 23 letter domain
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  • Profile picture of the author Blacksie
    A shorter domain is way better than a longer one. People will get to remember your domain/site in a shorter name. So stick with the 5 letter domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author WeavingThoughts
    It is natural for new posts to come up in SERPS after a few days. Then disappear and then reappear after several days again.
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