Choosing A Domain Name
A guide to choosing a domain name.
Branded vs. Keyword
The biggest decision most webmasters make is deciding between a "keyword" or a "branded" domain. A "keyword" domain is a domain that has generic words in the name, which indicate what the site is about - like books.com. A "branded" domain is a domain name that is unique and has nothing to do with the subject matter of the site - like Amazon.com. The advantages of a keyword domain are that when someone sees a keyword name they know immediately what the site is about. It is very effective in communicating to the user what the site is for. The downside is that it is hard to create a unique identity for the site because the name of the domain is very generic. The advantages of a branded domain are that you can create a unique identity for the company that no other company can imitate. By having the flexibility to name the company and web site anything you want, you have many more options to create a specific identity. You are not restricted to the narrow impressions that keyword domain are restricted to. For example,the word "Amazon" has nothing to do with books but the company has created such strong associations with the word "Amazon" (low price, good selection, good service) that they are able to build a competitive advantage over other companies. The downside of a branded domain is that it will take time, money, and talent to educate your target audience about who you are and what you represent. Many people look to the big brands on the internet (Yahoo, Google, etc) to try to emulate their branding but these companies have tons of money to spend to repetitively get their message out. As a small webmaster you won't have that luxury. It is also a higher risk strategy because if you try to create a brand that doesn't connect with people then you might end up accomplishing nothing. This doesn't mean you can't build a good brand though - it just might means it is harder than it looks.
My attitude towards this whole decision is that a successful branded domain is better than a successful keyword domain, but a successful keyword domain is better than an unsuccessful branded domain. In other words, branding allows you to have much greater upside by creating an emotional connection with your visitors that no other web site can duplicate. But creating a good brand takes skill, effort, and money; while a keyword domain automatically gets you a certain amount of recognition to start off with but there is not as much upside. So if you think you have the skill and talent to create a good brand then go ahead. If you don't think you have the skills then take the keyword domain route.
If you have a B&M store or business that you are buying a domain name for you will probably have fewer options as far as choosing a name. If your company is named "XYZ" then you will probably want to get some derivative of XYZ.com, XYZOnline.com, XYZCorp.com, XYZLLC.com. If none of those are available you'll probably want to go through the .net domains. As a general rule all 3-letter .com domain names are taken and 99% of 4 letter .com names are taken.
Branded vs. Keyword - Examples
Here are some examples of internet indutries that have different companies with keyword and branded domains.
Branded Domains - related vs. unrelated
When creating a branded domain you can choose a name that is related to the subject matter or unrelated to the subject. For example, the word "Amazon" has absolute nothing to do with books but with a name like "Ameritrade" you can tell it has something to do with stock trading.
Related names
 | FatWallet.com, a site that finds cheap deals on random consumer items. |
| IconBuffet.com - a site that sells icons. |
| IPchicken.com - check your IP address. |
| iTulip.com - stock market mania site. |
| jumptheshark.com - a site that talks about TV shows that hit their peak ("jump the shark" is a reference to a particular "Happy Days" episode). |
Unrelated names
Keyword Domains - Functional vs. descriptive
A functional keyword name usually has a verb and noun combination and usually incorporates a call to action from the visitor while descriptive keyword names usually describe what the website is about.
Keyword Domains - Functional Names
| BuySellWebsite.com - a site that where you can buy and sell a website. |
| RentACoder.com - a site where you can contract coders to do work for you. |
| Buy.com - a site where you can buy basically anything. |
Keyword Domains - Descriptive Names
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admin November 21, 2006
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