# Domain name importance



## Inxie (Aug 16, 2012)

My question is this...
How important really is your domain name?

For example if I could have the domain name 'funnytshirts.com', this is a very highly used search term and i'm sure most people would snatch that up if it were possible. I have recently learned however, that search engines do not take keywords from your domain name and in fact is a completely redundant factor in searches.

Would I be correct in saying that any decent name with the correct marketing is a winner and that one should not spend too much time on this aspect?


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## Ribcage (Nov 4, 2010)

Aside from internet searches, many merchants advertise they're website on social networks, emails, printed media, vehicle graphics etc, not to mention word of mouth. A good domain name that is easy to spell and easy to remember can help in getting people directly to your site in the world outside of SEO.


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## printingray (Apr 4, 2012)

A unique Domain name get worth soon than a common keep in mind. You Domain name describe you company value as well company status. This is the first thing which is noticed in SEO.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

Marketing marketing marketing - 

Example - GoDaddy -

Name has nothing to do with much of anything. The logo does not represent what the company does yet the name and the logo are recognized around the world.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Riderz Ready said:


> Marketing marketing marketing -
> 
> Example - GoDaddy -
> 
> Name has nothing to do with much of anything. The logo does not represent what the company does yet the name and the logo are recognized around the world.


Name is very important, sorry, but that dog don't hunt.

The official name of "Go Daddy" and the name on their logo is actually "Go Daddy.com". In a glance you can see they are a "dot com" company.

In addition Go Daddy.com spends millions and millions of $$$ to promote their service. Most people can associate "Go Daddy" to their web hosting service because they pay hot woman big bucks and run Superbowl ads.

Standard practice is that unless you plan to be a "Nike" or "Pierre Carden" and can spend millions of dollars in print, radio, TV, and point of sale advertising, then what your name is should have some *relevance* to your business.

Most domain names used by companies use their official corporate name in some form. In lieu of that the _overwhelming consensus _in the web community is to use something that makes sense in regards to your business, along with other considerations like having a somewhat short url etc. 

By your logic then the T-shirt forums domain name could be called "waycool.com" and that would not matter? It might work if Rodney ran Super bowl ads.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

mgparrish said:


> Name is very important, sorry, but that dog don't hunt.
> 
> The official name of "Go Daddy" and the name on their logo is actually "Go Daddy.com". In a glance you can see they are a "dot com" company.
> 
> ...


What percent of companies use there web address as part of their logo and marketing? The vast majority. Are all these .com companies? You claim Go Daddy is actually Go Daddy.com thus their website should be www.godaddy.com.com? You have no clue what you are speaking.

Look at all the t-shirt companies that have exploded over recent times? None of their names reflect they sell shirts, apparel. 

Explain to us how your website name reflects your business so we can see you follow your own advise. I am sure most of us assume sense you are claiming some level of knowledge and expertise on the topic you use this in your "business"i


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Riderz Ready said:


> What percent of companies use there web address as part of their logo and marketing? The vast majority. Are all these .com companies? Look at all the t-shirt companies that have exploded over recent times? None of their names reflect they sell shirts, apparel.
> 
> Explain to us how your website name reflects your business so we can see you follow your own advise.


You are creating new arguments that don't exist again to divert away from the real argument.  

1. My comment has nothing to do with the "percent of companies use there web address as part of their logo and marketing". 

2. Run a google search and just type in the name "t-shirt" or "custom tshirt".  See what domain names are that pop up. Those that don't have "tshirt" or some_ relevance_ to tshirts in their domain name are largely "the big boys" and paying big $$$ to boost their placements.

3. I do not sell online, no ecommerce. My website is a testbed for web development. I use it for code development and testing scripts. I'm not trying to drive any traffic to my test websites. For example ...

Internet Radios

Once completed I will sell this script so that other webmasters can make money by their users clicking in a ad generated by the song title of what is currently playing and leading them into Amazon with that song and/or album already searched. The website owner makes a commission based on Amazons affiliate program.

Your strawman arguments always fail.

4. Name is very important for any business or for a domain name, just plain ole' _common sense_ dude. If a name didn't matter then you could just pick a random name. Want to be on page 43 in a search query then use a random name or else be prepared for fork out big bucks to get the high ranking.

5. If you still want to argue relevence in domain name choices for a small business I would be happy to debunk this further with credible sources on the web.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

mgparrish said:


> You are creating new arguments that don't exist again to divert away from the real argument.
> 
> 1. My comment has nothing to do with the "percent of companies use there web address as part of their logo and marketing".
> 
> ...


You need to get over following me and posting responses every time I post especially regarding topics such as sales/marketing/web sites where you have no experience or success to speak. It is embarrassing and humiliating. I understand how you old timers who have been passed by people with significant sales/marketing backgrounds drives you to the point of acting like you do but it is time to move on old timer. Heck you would watch the history channel then tell Boeing how to build a jet. 

You keep trying to convince the world of your immense knowledge all the while I stuff my pockets with cash.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Riderz Ready said:


> You need to get over following me and posting responses every time I post especially regarding topics such as sales/marketing/web sites where you have no experience or success to speak. It is embarrassing and humiliating. I understand how you old timers who have been passed by people with significant sales/marketing backgrounds drives you to the point of acting like you do but it is time to move on old timer. Heck you would watch the history channel then tell Boeing how to build a jet.
> 
> You keep trying to convince the world of your immense knowledge all the while I stuff my pockets with cash.


You can lie and smear me all you want it doesn't win your argument. I don't care how much of a legend you think you are in the sales and marketing world, or how much cash you _claim_ to stuff in your pockets.

Your comment 

"Name has nothing to do with much of anything"

Is not true.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Inxie said:


> My question is this...
> How important really is your domain name?
> 
> For example if I could have the domain name 'funnytshirts.com', this is a very highly used search term and i'm sure most people would snatch that up if it were possible. I have recently learned however, that search engines do not take keywords from your domain name and in fact is a completely redundant factor in searches.
> ...


Go to any search engine and type in ...

t-shirt forum
tshirt forum

Then if you just type in the words "t-shirt" or "forum" individually compare the results. Search engines do use the keyword in the domain, although I do agree that it is not the only factor for rankings.

This is proof that choosing a name wisely is very important, it should not be just some arbitrary or "catchy" name unrelated to what you do unless you are prepared to spend big $$ for rankings or branding.

I can assure you that all things being equal having something "tshirt" in your domain name will get you a higher search ranking for "tshirts" than if you didn't.

Do your own research, the overwhelming consensus is that you should choose your domain name carefully.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

mgparrish said:


> You can lie and smear me all you want it doesn't win your argument. I don't care how much of a legend you think you are in the sales and marketing world, or how much cash you _claim_ to stuff in your pockets.
> 
> Your comment
> 
> ...


Claiming to be an engineer and clearly knowing nothing about marketing and sales you should at least have some kind of reading comprehension. The above quote was CLEARLY, to those that have reading skills above 1st grade, was in reference to GoDaddy. Let me help you since you are having problems - my post - 

_*Example - GoDaddy -

Name has nothing to do with much of anything. The logo does not represent what the company does yet the name and the logo are recognized around the world. *_

Are you arguing that Godaddy and their logo clearly represents they are a domain registration company?

I have no need to lie or smear you. Your post say it all.


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## Mabuzi (Jul 3, 2007)

Domain name for SEO its is very important to incorporate product name in your URL. Its adds about 10% in SEO weight alone. Don't let any one else tell you different. Great for services or funny t-shirts

For marketing well that's another story. It certainly helps but is no guarantee of success or importance. 

When I start my next adventure I will beyond a shadow of doubt put more emphasis in adding product to the URL.


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## LoneStarChris (Jul 13, 2012)

I think the answer is it depends. Sure, you can call yourself Nike and sell donuts. Or you could call yourself Donut Emporium and sell Donuts. If your question is... when some guy is driving down the street and sees a big sign with nothing but my name on it how important is it that my name communicate what I do.... the answer is probably pretty important if you rely on casual traffic for your business. And if you call yourself Donut Emporium and sell shoes.. well, that's probably funny as hell for the walk-ins.

When searching for Domain Registrar GoDaddy is #1 and Registrar is #3. How important is the name to the ranking? Don't know. I use Dotster which doesn't even show up on the first page of search results. But I use them because of recommendations from my peers and their past performance. I work in the IT industry and when someone asks who they should use I say a. Anyone but GoDaddy and b. I really like Dotster. So if you want IT evangelists and fans to drive your business well then how you treat your customers counts for a lot more than a domain name.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Riderz Ready said:


> Claiming to be an engineer and clearly knowing nothing about marketing and sales you should at least have some kind of reading comprehension. The above quote was CLEARLY, to those that have reading skills above 1st grade, was in reference to GoDaddy. Let me help you since you are having problems - my post -
> 
> _*Example - GoDaddy -*_
> 
> ...


Again you are taking this argument in far out places to confuse the issues.

My point is that "Go Daddy" spends a gazillion $$ for their branding, if they didn't then know one would know who they are. So they could call themselves "Go Daddy" or "Who's Your Daddy" it wouldn't matter much in that case they "brand" through extensive ad campaigns. 

Someone that does not have enough money to hire Danica Patrick and run Super Bowl ads cannot just throw out some random name for their business nor their domain name.

And Go Daddy is a hosting and a domain registration company BTW. 

You used "Go Daddy" as reference why you believe that "_*Name has nothing to do with much of anything.".*_ So how I am not reading what you state correctly? Your context is clear, you are using Go Daddy as an example, no one here has "Go Daddy" resources to "connect the dots" of the name to the business the way Go Daddy does.

Nike or Go Daddy has the $$$ resources to _educate _the public to make the association with the name to the business. NAME DOES MATTER.

I can read, and yes I am am Engineer. I am also heavy into writing code .... web and PC. I didn't learn that on the "History Channel".


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

I would like to thank Parrish for letting us know Godaddy.com hosts web sites. Shocking news! Thanks for the tip I will look into their services.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Riderz Ready said:


> I would like to thank Parrish for letting us know Godaddy.com hosts web sites. Shocking news! Thanks for the tip I will look into their services.


So this disproves my statement "Name does matter"?


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

LoneStarChris said:


> I think the answer is it depends. Sure, you can call yourself Nike and sell donuts. Or you could call yourself Donut Emporium and sell Donuts. If your question is... when some guy is driving down the street and sees a big sign with nothing but my name on it how important is it that my name communicate what I do.... the answer is probably pretty important if you rely on casual traffic for your business. And if you call yourself Donut Emporium and sell shoes.. well, that's probably funny as hell for the walk-ins.
> 
> When searching for Domain Registrar GoDaddy is #1 and Registrar is #3. How important is the name to the ranking? Don't know. I use Dotster which doesn't even show up on the first page of search results. But I use them because of recommendations from my peers and their past performance. I work in the IT industry and when someone asks who they should use I say a. Anyone but GoDaddy and b. I really like Dotster. So if you want IT evangelists and fans to drive your business well then how you treat your customers counts for a lot more than a domain name.


I agree that name alone does not get you success, however, for most small business what you name your business and your domain matters.

Go Daddy has to market heavily to get the name to the business connection, otherwise the catchy name is moot.

The "Registar" company domain name http://registar.com/is very relevent to the "Domain Registrar" business, it's short and relevent to what they do, and they don't run Super Bowl ads. On their logo it states "Registar the Star of Registrars".

"Dotster" is also not an arbitrary name BTW.


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## VTG (Dec 16, 2010)

Riderz Ready said:


> Marketing marketing marketing -
> 
> Example - GoDaddy -
> 
> Name has nothing to do with much of anything. The logo does not represent what the company does yet the name and the logo are recognized around the world.





mgparrish said:


> Name is very important, sorry, but that dog don't hunt.
> 
> The official name of "Go Daddy" and the name on their logo is actually "Go Daddy.com". In a glance you can see they are a "dot com" company.


.
The names GoDaddy and/or GoDaddy.com do not describe _anything_ about what the company actually does. In other words, the name has absolutely no relevance whatsoever to web hosting services or domain name registrations.
.


mgparrish said:


> In addition Go Daddy.com spends millions and millions of $$$ to promote their service. Most people can associate "Go Daddy" to their web hosting service because they pay hot woman big bucks and run Superbowl ads.


 .
Yes, the reason why GoDaddy is widely recognized is due to their advertising & marketing efforts. I'm pretty sure Riderz made that point in his post when he said, "marketing, marketing, marketing".
.


mgparrish said:


> Standard practice is that unless you plan to be a "Nike" or "Pierre Carden" and can spend millions of dollars in print, radio, TV, and point of sale advertising, then what your name is should have some *relevance* to your business.


 .
Again, it comes down to your marketing budget. If people _never_ saw an ad for the following companies, and never heard them being talked about by friends (word of mouth), most people would have no idea what products or services they actually provide:

- Amazon
- eBay
- Skechers
- Zappos
- Zazzle

These company names do _not_ indicate what they actually do. However, they've become well recognized because of their "marketing, marketing, marketing".
.


mgparrish said:


> Most domain names used by companies use their official corporate name in some form. In lieu of that the _overwhelming consensus _in the web community is to use something that makes sense in regards to your business, along with other considerations like having a somewhat short url etc.


.
No argument there. However, companies _can_ use unique names that are _not_ relevant to their products or services and still become _wildly_ successful. 
.


mgparrish said:


> By your logic then the T-shirt forums domain name could be called "waycool.com" and that would not matter? It might work if Rodney ran Super bowl ads.


Yes, according to your own logic, if Rodney spent millions in advertising when he launched his forum, and continued to market it aggressively, he could have called it whatever he wanted to.
.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

...and back to small businesses that are on our level....


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

VTG said:


> .
> The name GoDaddy or GoDaddy.com does not describe _anything_ about what the company actually does. In other words, the name has absolutely no relevance whatsoever to web hosting services or domain name registrations.
> .
> I stated "Godaddy.com" has ".com" in the name, the name if seen on tv or in print ad and on the logo shows this is an _online related business_. They are not just "Go Daddy" when you see them on TV or in print ads. It lets the viewer associate "Go Daddy" with the internet and not Go Daddy the Strip Club, if such a thing exists.
> ...


See my mark-ups above.


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## Naptime (May 19, 2011)

yes name matters.

yes marketing matters.

can you market an arbitrary name? yes.

can you market a relevant name? yes.


it all boils down to your budget and your market.



i will say though... that the bickering between you two, is becoming quite annoying. be adults. give advice, have arguments. that's all fine.

do it without being childish please.


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

I think the domain name is relevant. Sometimes when I'm doing a search for, say, painters, I'll type in a www.examplepainter.com.au just to see whether the guy has a website or not. Nine times out of ten, they do.
I'm a sign company. My logo and company name relates to signs. My marketing flyers, brochures, business cards relate to signs. It only seems prudent to have my domain name relating to signs as well. It keeps everything simple.
Btw, I've never heard of GoDaddy!


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Naptime said:


> yes name matters.
> 
> yes marketing matters.
> 
> ...


I am being an adult, my arguments are relevent and not childish, no ad hominem arguments, strawmen, character assasination etc.

There is no bickering in my statements just straight forward debate. 

I believe that not putting thought into your domain name upfront is a huge mistake, six months go down the road and very hard to change it once it's out there. 

It's not just the overwhelming consensus in the web community that domain names should be thought out ... it's just good common sense you put thought into creating one.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Gecko Signs NT said:


> I think the domain name is relevant. Sometimes when I'm doing a search for, say, painters, I'll type in a www.examplepainter.com.au just to see whether the guy has a website or not. Nine times out of ten, they do.
> I'm a sign company. My logo and company name relates to signs. My marketing flyers, brochures, business cards relate to signs. It only seems prudent to have my domain name relating to signs as well. It keeps everything simple.
> Btw, I've never heard of GoDaddy!


Likely you haven't heard of GoDaddy cause you folks down under play a different kind of football. LOL Go Daddy runs commercials in the US with hot sexy woman during the NFL Super Bowl every year and no doubt if you had seen one of those you would remember who Go Daddy is, as they say, sex does sell.


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## Coderwear (Aug 3, 2012)

Hi.

Search engines such as Google do not just use the websites name when ranking searches the programme looks at the text content of the site as well as a few other bits n' bobs.

A domain name can be important if you want to use it in marketing. I chose Coderwear because I think that my target market will remember the name and search for it (it's not up yet so don't bother) 

Sorry if this repets what others have said but I didn't read a few of the replies.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Coderwear said:


> Hi.
> 
> Search engines such as Google do not just use the websites name when ranking searches the programme looks at the text content of the site as well as a few other bits n' bobs.
> 
> ...


I do agree other things are more important in rankings and they don't _just_ look at the URL, but the URL is looked at. In addition, the domain name choice has other considerations beyond SEO such as you mention with Coderwear.


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

mgparrish said:


> Likely you haven't heard of GoDaddy cause you folks down under play a different kind of football. LOL Go Daddy runs commercials in the US with hot sexy woman during the NFL Super Bowl every year and no doubt if you had seen one of those you would remember who Go Daddy is, as they say, sex does sell.


Hmm, maybe I should run a commercial during our AFL/NRL grand final with a hot sexy gecko...might get more sales! lol


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## Naptime (May 19, 2011)

Gecko Signs NT said:


> Hmm, maybe I should run a commercial during our AFL/NRL grand final with a hot sexy gecko...might get more sales! lol


no company could ever successfully use a gecko in a tv commercial. it just wont work.


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

Not even a semi-naked sexy gecko??!!! 

Actually, Bridgestone Tyres used to use a gecko in there commercials


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## Naptime (May 19, 2011)

Gecko Signs NT said:


> Not even a semi-naked sexy gecko??!!!
> 
> Actually, Bridgestone Tyres used to use a gecko in there commercials


oops. keep forgetting you're across the pond..

over here we have Geico insurance. "spokesman" is a talking gecko. no one really knows if he's english or australian 

my comment was meant to be sarcastically humorous.


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

LOL (That actually made me laugh out loud)
Goodness, thats one ugly gecko.
I dare say he would have an australian accent.
Now I see what you mean about sales/gecko/tv commercial - I wouldn't buy insurance from a talking gecko with an aussie accent either, even if he was semi-naked and sexy!

Anyway, back to topic (sorry Rodney  ) - I think it is prudent offine and online advertising at least, to have what you do as your domain name. Remember, the brain is the ultmate SEO and if you want tshirts/signs/whathaveyou, you will remember a company that has tshirts/signs/whathaveyou in their business name.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Gecko Signs NT said:


> Not even a semi-naked sexy gecko??!!!
> 
> Actually, Bridgestone Tyres used to use a gecko in there commercials


LOL our gecko goes full buck naked, as in the Full Monty.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip5VOv92bC8&feature=related[/media]


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

Oh my poor eyes!!
Leaves nothing to the imagination, hey? 
lol


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

Btw, its a british almost cockney, accent. Nowhere near an Aussie accent


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## Shirt Evolution (Jul 3, 2012)

Inxie said:


> I have recently learned however, that search engines do not take keywords from your domain name and in fact is a completely redundant factor in searches.


This is not true, at least not for Google. Google does its best to bring quality and relevant traffic to search results, and your domain plays a rather important part.

For example: if you had a shirt site FunnyShirts.com with a decent PR, it will show as more relevant in the search query "Funny Shirts" than say stupidnails.com with the same amount of backlinks and same content. That's why basic domain names sell for so much money. They're old quality domain names, easy to remember, and extremely relevant.

Your domain name is a very very important variable. It connects your brand to Google.



Gecko Signs NT said:


> Btw, its a british almost cockney, accent. Nowhere near an Aussie accent


I grew up in Australia and it's amazing how many Americans say I sound like the Gecko!


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

lol I had that in Canada when I visited. Got to the point where I didn't want to talk!


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

i had an online friend from australia. the first time i called her i couldn't understand what the hell she was saying. there's a difference between the accents, but it can be hard to tell to our american ears....


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