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Domains: Possessive case, hyphen... or what?

by Saul
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hello all :°)

If my organization was named "Someone's Object" (for example, "Homer's Poems"),
what domain would you recommend using:

someonesobject.whatever (.com, org etc)
someones-object
someone-object
someoneobject

In short: would you put the possessive case in a domain? Lots of non english
speaking people might forget it... would you use a hyphen to separate the
words? Would you use both the possessive case AND a hyphen?

What are the current ideas on SEO and/or usability? I have bought all the various
variations on the domain I'm interested in, and they will all point to the "main"
domain... but I'm not sure which of the variations I have (with and without the
possesive case, with and without hyphen, etc) should be the main domain ;°)

Thanks a lot for any and all inputs!

cheers,
Saul
#case #domains #hyphen #possessive
  • Profile picture of the author Kecia
    I would go with someonesobject.whatever (.com, org etc).

    I would stay away from hyphens, as they can be forgotten so type in traffic may never make it back to the site.
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    • Profile picture of the author Saul
      Originally Posted by Kecia08 View Post

      I would go with someonesobject.whatever (.com, org etc).
      Thanks!

      And... why? Is that a personal preference or is there some SEO/usability theory behind
      that choice? Does the possessive case make a lot of difference?

      I don't mean to "challenge" your input (which I appreciate in any case), but I've been
      away from internet projects and webmarketing for so long I'd like to see if things have
      changed (which they obviously do online) or if it's the case of "the more things change,
      the less things have changed" - that's an italian proverb, kind of literally translated...
      not sure it makes sense in english ;°) lol

      cheers and thanks again!
      Saul
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  • Profile picture of the author Wi
    Well... Do you wan't visitors to remember your domain? Should they come back? I mean.. Many of my sites is longtail-keywords and I don't wan't them to come back, unless they find the website again through google or some other place.

    If you wan't them to remember your domain I would go for:

    someonesobject.com

    Hyphens intend to be forgotten, but if your website is good and the content is "likeable", then they will remember it anyway, so no worries there.

    SEO-wise.. It doesn't really matter.. Or.. someonesobject.whatever.com would be a little harder to rank high for, if it's a competitive niche/organizitation, or the keyword you wan't to rank for is competitive.

    Why would you choose someoneobject.com instead of someonesobject.com if the organization is names Someone's Object (with an s)??
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    • Profile picture of the author Saul
      Originally Posted by Wi View Post

      Why would you choose someoneobject.com instead of someonesobject.com if the organization is names Someone's Object (with an s)??
      HA! Can you believe I didn't think of that? Gee..I'm either getting too old
      or my job is more stressing than I figured... and since I'm 34 y/o I really
      hope it's my job! lol ;°)

      I haven't been thinking of online projects for so long that I forgot about KISS
      (Keep it stupid simple...if I remember it correctly!) and also how to think in
      english...In Italy it's more likely that people would forget the "Saxon Genitive"
      (that's the literal translation of how the possessive case is called in italian)
      but since I'm catering to english speaking people... who cares what a non
      english speaking italian would do??

      ok, so I'm going for the non-hyphen (lol, I put an hyphen in there...neat little
      paradox ;°) possesive case version.

      Seo and usability - HA! Common sense always beats everything else :°)

      Thanks a lot!

      cheers,
      Saul

      Ps. if anyone has more to add go ahead, I'm always open to new suggestions,
      although I think it will be hard to beat the practicality of Wi and Kecia08's advice ;°)
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      • Profile picture of the author Wi
        Originally Posted by Saul View Post

        HA! Can you believe I didn't think of that? Gee..I'm either getting too old
        or my job is more stressing than I figured... and since I'm 34 y/o I really
        hope it's my job! lol ;°)

        I haven't been thinking of online projects for so long that I forgot about KISS
        (Keep it stupid simple...if I remember it correctly!) and also how to think in
        english...In Italy it's more likely that people would forget the "Saxon Genitive"
        (that's the literal translation of how the possessive case is called in italian)
        but since I'm catering to english speaking people... who cares what a non
        english speaking italian would do??

        ok, so I'm going for the non-hyphen (lol, I put an hyphen in there...neat little
        paradox ;°) possesive case version.

        Seo and usability - HA! Common sense always beats everything else :°)

        Thanks a lot!

        cheers,
        Saul

        Ps. if anyone has more to add go ahead, I'm always open to new suggestions,
        although I think it will be hard to beat the practicality of Wi and Kecia08's advice ;°)
        HAHA

        It's been a while since a laughed at something I've read! This is pretty funny Phew!
        You're a pretty funny guy, I like that! Good luck to you sir! I hope your project will succeed

        Best Regards,
        Wi
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  • Profile picture of the author Reverb
    Just to reinforce what others have said, if the organization was named "Someone's Object, then someonesobject.com is THE best choice (or .net/.org if .com is unavailable).

    I'd avoid hyphens, if at all possible. One reason is a lot of people won't remember the hyphens, and another reason is it's kind of a pain to verbally tell someone your domain name (Someone's dash Object dot com...).
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    • Profile picture of the author Saul
      Originally Posted by Reverb View Post

      another reason is it's kind of a pain to verbally tell someone your domain name (Someone's dash Object dot com...).
      that's another good point! In fact I will probably count on word of mouth
      for at least some of the traffic, so making the domain easier to pronounce
      is another good point for avoiding hyphens :°)

      cheers!
      Saul
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