18 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
18 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Would a- or a . in the domain name affect traffic?

by BillyBatts
16 replies
I found a niche i want to try out but ofc the domain name i want for is taken and can be bought for no less then $7500,- ..

Now i found a .com that is available if i use a - or . in the name.

For example: burgershop.com is taken but burger-shop or burger.shop.com is not.

It probably sounds like a stupid question but it's vital to my choice, go for the adjust niche name or something totally different.

Personally i like website with a - better as you can read the url better but thats my personal thought.

Cheers.
#affect #domain #traffic
  • Profile picture of the author dana67
    I think it's possible in instances where someone was manually typing in your domain name and forgot to type the - or . If traffic is coming in from a clicked link, then it probably shouldn't make a difference in that case.
    Signature
    Working online for over 10 years
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10969820].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
    I see the . doesnt even work, sorry about that, its 3am here, brainstorming late as usual.

    It will be a webshop, as i said the premium names are taken but i found there is still a domain left if i name it www.the-"niche".com but i am reading on some seo page that "the" is not preferred but it's the only way to get the name.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10969824].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Laksh
    Yes, '.' is not going to b a choice. Regd ur main question, How at u going to market ur site?? U relying on SEO?? (Google doesn't honor mainkeyword domains anymore, but honestly, it doesn't hurt to try for exact matches).
    If you intend to rely on other than SEO methods, it shudnt matter much.

    In either cases, remember that you are giving some of your traffic to the other site for sure if you pick this domain.

    Y don't you try some other combination like YourBurgerShop.com or checkout other words which mean the same.
    Signature
    Setup Profitable Bing Ads PPC Campaigns | Get FREE Traffic from Youtube
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10969841].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
      Originally Posted by Laksh View Post

      Yes, '.' is not going to b a choice. Regd ur main question, How at u going to market ur site?? U relying on SEO?? (Google doesn't honor mainkeyword domains anymore, but honestly, it doesn't hurt to try for exact matches).
      If you intend to rely on other than SEO methods, it shudnt matter much.

      In either cases, remember that you are giving some of your traffic to the other site for sure if you pick this domain.

      Y don't you try some other combination like YourBurgerShop.com or checkout other words which mean the same.
      I won't be relying on seo only ofcourse, social media will be a big part of it.

      When it comes to the traffic to a other domain that is fine, pretty much every popular name is reserved lol, when we keep in mind that "burgershop"is an example: burgershop.com .net .org .eu are all reserved for insane high prices and have no content of my niche at all, just a message that it is for sale.

      Placing You in front of it, hmm, i don't know.. yourburgershop.com or burger-shop.com, i need some more opinions and knowledge but thanks for you input.

      Off to bed now, 4:30 am, ugh, i hate those brainstorming nights
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10969849].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Hyphens in a domain name don't matter for SEO but odds are repeat traffic will search for the domain name without a hyphen and end up on a competition page or a parked page.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10969852].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PBScott
    Google treats a hyphen pretty much exactly the same way as it would a space, the hyphen is the best choice and perfectly fine.
    Domain names don't help much for SEO these days, but the user still needs to type them in, so make it easy to remember.
    Signature

    If you don't look at this => Really Funny Shirts <= you missed something in life

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970005].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
    The thing is, there are 2 niches i found that are quite popular and the current website look pretty shit. But the names for those 2 niches say exactly what they are so that's why i want it in the domain name.
    I find it quite annoying that the first names don't even have websites, the names are just reserved in the hope someone will make a LOT of money one day.

    I even found a .com for my niche name with a hyphen in it and it was reserved, i ask what the price was and it was $9999,-.. wtf man.

    Also, i've have been looking for some other endings, would it matter if for example it would end with .shop, .rocks, .equipment? Last one seems too long though.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970340].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    Originally Posted by BillyBatts View Post

    I found a niche i want to try out but ofc the domain name i want for is taken and can be bought for no less then $7500,- ..

    Now i found a .com that is available if i use a - or . in the name.

    For example: burgershop.com is taken but burger-shop or burger.shop.com is not.

    It probably sounds like a stupid question but it's vital to my choice, go for the adjust niche name or something totally different.

    Personally i like website with a - better as you can read the url better but thats my personal thought.

    Cheers.
    What are you concerned/worried about? SEO or the visitors perception?

    IMO, it shouldn't make much of a difference either way.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970620].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
      Originally Posted by ChrisBa View Post

      What are you concerned/worried about? SEO or the visitors perception?

      IMO, it shouldn't make much of a difference either way.
      A little of both i guess, haven't been designing and registering domains for the past 12 years.

      Now i regret i wasn't more serious back then, could have made a fortune by now but it's never too late
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970632].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author unifiedac
    Most of your traffic is going to come from search results or referrals. This means the user is clicking a link, not typing the domain name. I have lots of domains with hyphens, some of them are long like: this-is-my-domain.com.

    From a SEO perspective, I've never had a problem with them.

    What some of the others say about manually typing the domain may be true, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Focus on providing good content and they will find you, either by organic search, referral, social media, or otherwise.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970659].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
      Originally Posted by unifiedac View Post

      Most of your traffic is going to come from search results or referrals. This means the user is clicking a link, not typing the domain name. I have lots of domains with hyphens, some of them are long like: this-is-my-domain.com.

      From a SEO perspective, I've never had a problem with them.

      What some of the others say about manually typing the domain may be true, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Focus on providing good content and they will find you, either by organic search, referral, social media, or otherwise.
      I indeed expect most will come from search, the niche involves many different items. The domain i got my eye on has a .shop extention which is A the only one left and B makes sence as it is a website, should be ok then, right?

      As you have experience with multiple sites, any seo links/tips to get the best results for search engines?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970736].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mdallen
    one of the most successful sites when I was first online was a Traffic Exchange called traffic-splash.com
    It is still around I think. I think if you market well a dash should never stand in your way. If you don't believe that I believe that look at my signature
    Signature

    Mike Allen - Discover the one trick to force Google to send you buyers

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970940].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Julio
    To the OP if you can't get the .com for your domain name go with a new gTLD instead and just focus on SEO and getting your site added to social media sites.
    Signature
    DominioNombres.com Marketplace!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10970976].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author atulsha
    - would be a better choice. If the more popular site is webshop.com and you book web-shop.com atleast you can seo your site to show up second for "web shop" fairly easily and could get decent amount of traffic.

    As for users ease in typing , people who have been around computer for few years would bookmark the site and for others who don't bookmark would likely search in google if they can't get your site name right. With decent content you have win-win situation as long as copyright issues are not there.
    Signature
    150 DOFOLLOW links from 100 domains. HIGH DA(50+)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10971115].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    From what i know chosen domain not matter for seo .For example you can rank a info domain like a com also
    Signature
    Find out my best method to make $200-$300 daily with affiliate marketing
    Atention : Not a quick rich scheme ,takes patience, consistency and some work also
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10971416].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BillyBatts
    The thing is, i still read on different spots on the internet that a .com is better indexed and is the most popular as people are used to see .com but i wonder if that is still important in 2017.

    On a other website i explained my problem a little bit better but it seems that board is dead so i will quote my message here.

    I thank you all for taking the time to give me feedback and would appreciate it once again if you could do so on my quoted message.

    Cheers

    I want to start 2 web shops in a niche that I think will pay off as it's always in demand and pretty much all the competition web shops look like sh*t.

    However, I run into the same problem as many, preferred TLD's are taken and not even by the web shops, they are all reserved for insane prices.

    So, for example purposes, let's say I got a web shop I want to call "golfsupplies.com". It is reserved for $10k as is the same name with the .net, .org, .store, .shop as are all similar names like "golfgear.com", .net, .org etc.

    I mind you, none of them have content on them except a landing page telling the domain is for sale.

    Also the .com, .net, .org names with a hyphen, like "golf-supplies" are taken.

    Now as I see it, there are several options.

    Option 1: After checking out all the names, these TLD's are available with a hyphen, like : "golf-supplies.shop" (my preferred one as it's a web shop), "golf-supplies.rocks", "golf-gear.equipment"(I like this one too but I think the TLD is too long) and "golf-supplies.store" (seems like a viable option too).

    So that was option 1 or rather the first options. Personally I like the "golf-supplies.shop" the best but I don't know if in 2017 the TLD is such a big importance, again, bear in mind that all the TLD's with my niche name are taken but have no content.

    Option 2: Is to put something in front of it but I am not a great fan of that, for example: "yourgolfsupplies.com" or whatever.

    Option 3: Make a totally different name, for example "thegolfmasters.com" which I also don't prefer as my niche name is a name that let's you instantly know what kinds of products you will find on the web shop.

    Traffic will come mostly through social media, message boards and seo.

    Normally I don't bother this much with a name but it is going to be my first serious project and I believe big things are usually successful through small details.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10971492].message }}

Trending Topics