Better Domain Names: Brand or Generic

[link8r]

This is a conversation that is happening a lot off-line - it may even happened here before but I'm raising it again.

Which domain do you think is best: Generics or Brand.

Lets say your company is Hansing Steel Engineering. Do you think Hansing.ie or steelengineers.ie is better and why?

 

[Drang3d]

What I'd do is purchase both. To be honest every project is different .You could build the site on the generic domain and redirect the brand domain name to the generic domain. This way you get the extra benefit of link building using a keyword based domain but also have the option of including the branded domain name in tv advertising, radio etc. Also the other benefit is also having the ability to sell the website in the future.

But usually for corporate clients you'd usually go with their branded domain as they plan on being around for a long time. If it is an affiliate project I'll go with generic domain as usually after a while I might get bored with the project and want to sell it on. But if I had a choice I'd go with a brandable domain as you never know in the future if Google will devalue keyword domains to a certain extent in their algo so if you go generic, your really betting on an advantage that you have no control over and can be pulled at anytime in the future.

 

[tomed]

Personally I'd try and stick to the brand. Keywords are great in the domain from an online marketing point of view, but it's such an easy one for Google (or other search engines) to remove this factor for rankings.

On top of that - as soon as people recognise your brand, they will remember your name, not what your targeted search terms are. A nice short domain will work will in other marketing mediums too.

My personal opinion is that selecting a domain based on keywords is a bad idea in the long run. You can still rank without having a keyword rich domain name. So why bother?

 

[mneylon]

If you have the "category killer" generic then fine, but you probably won't, so a short memorable brand would make more sense.

 

[link8r]

@BK - point. I'm assuming long and short domains for generics. Given that the Killer domains are pretty much gone (music.ie, beer.ie) etc

 

[raul]

Hansing Steel Engineering ... hansing.ie or even better hse.ie ( taken, obviously )

yeah - branding first and take the second for seo reasons

 

[lucidc]

Depending on the nature of the project I would would always try to advise a client to create their own brand and building their site from there. You now have an opportunity to choose a reasonably short domain as well create strong brand recognition which their market will identify with.

My own personal preference is definitely for brand.

 

[mneylon]

@BK - point. I'm assuming long and short domains for generics. Given that the Killer domains are pretty much gone (music.ie, beer.ie) etc

Long generics can end up looking inane

 

[beanstalk]

Keywords in the hostname do correlate with higher rankings according to some studies (see Google Ranking-Faktoren - SISTRIX GmbH , about half way down the page). I think branded hostnames look better though.

Google now support the canonical tag cross-domain, so you could choose to have your site on the keyword domain and mirror it on your branded domain (but have your inbound links point to the keyword one). Probably not a good idea though as it's so far only supported by google and is only a hint, not a directive.

 

[link8r]

Keywords in the hostname do correlate with higher rankings according to some studies (see Google Ranking-Faktoren - SISTRIX GmbH , about half way down the page). I think branded hostnames look better though.

Google now support the canonical tag cross-domain, so you could choose to have your site on the keyword domain and mirror it on your branded domain (but have your inbound links point to the keyword one). Probably not a good idea though as it's so far only supported by google and is only a hint, not a directive.

Keywords in domains definitely are easier to rank - they tend to rise very quickly - I have no doubts, we see this every month when we advise clients on multiple domain strategies. However, focus on single vanity SERPs (e.g. "web design") is dangerous and risky. Even for a site ranked for "Gifts" - 90% of traffic will come from other search phrases and as much as 60-70% may not contain the word "gifts"

The Cross-domain is heavily related to avoiding duplicate content. If you have 2+ domains and wnat them to rank or have bought them with a view to using them to achieve more SERP's, then the best advice is to develop a site there. I think people get lazy/make too much of a big deal of having more than one site - don't get me wrong - its easier for me if other people to keep doing this ;-)

 

[Michaela]

Re:

Brand is always better - consumers relate your company with your brand name. You cannot build a strong brand name with a generic domain name website.

 

[magentotech]

branding is way better - customers will know you uniquely with the brandname