My Guidelines For Picking A Domain In A Niche Market

[...] My Guidelines For Picking A Domain In A Niche Market… [...]

Jonas,

You use the same technique I use. My tip to add is…try to avoid domains like CoffeeSecretsExposed.com (just an example).

Notice the term created between Secrets and Exposed…that 3-letter word can cause unintended problems with the search engines.

Thanks for a great blog,
Mike

Thanks for the tips you guys sharing here. Mike, what do you mean that 3-letter word can cause unintended problems with the search engines. Would you mind to explain it in detail. THX

I think Mike means that in the domain name CoffeeSecretsExposed if you take the last letter of “Secrets” and the first two letters of “Exposed” it spells another word that you don’t really want as part of a domain name.

This reminds me of the website that sold pens and writing implements which had the domain name Pen_Island.com (but without the underscore). That website is now an adult site, presumably because the original owners decided to trade under another domain name – and who can blame them?

So the answer is to watch the juxtaposition of words in a name and make sure that you aren’t inadvertently creating another less desirable word that might get you penalised in the search engines.

@Mike, @Simon – Those are awesome points you make. I hadn’t thought of that before. I’ll have to go back through my domains and make sure I don’t have stuff like that.

John

I have another story…but about your 800 numbers.

Several years ago…mid-90’s…I was attending a video conference and the speaker told us his horror story about his new 800 number. He was thrilled he managed to get his name in the 800 number.

After a few days he started receiving phone calls from “teenage boys” and his product was not a teenage boy product. He sold and still sells “how-to” videos. So he started asking some questions and then he realized what had happened.

His new number was 1-800-COOKSEY. If you start changing a few letters, you soon realize his new number was also 1-800-COO-LSEX… Funny and true story…

Have a great weekend.
Mike

Lol… that is a good one Mike. I didn’t see that either. Using hyphens should take care of that though but who wants hyphens if we can avoid them.

Very true, there are a lot of funny stories of companies inadvertently buying domains that have multiple meanings:

ExpertsExchange.com = ExpertSexChange.com

PenIsland.com = PenisLand.com

Here is a post with about 10 of those types of domain names: http://www.domainsuperstar.com/the-1-reason-why-your-domains-are-not-making-you-money

As far as keyword domain names go; here is a quick tool that you can use.

The tool uses real time data from the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to bulk check hundreds of domain names that match exactly to keywords that get searched in Google every month.

All you have to do is enter in a keyword: http://www.domainsuperstar.com/domain-finder-tools/type-in-traffic-finder

LOL!

Very funny those domain names with those letters in the wrong places

Jhon, I would like to know what do you do if your guys buy the wrong domain name. Can you exchange it for another?

cheers!

Alex.

There is one I use from time to time. You can find it @ nameboy.com

[...] concerning picking the right domain name, John Jonas has written a terrific blog posting called My Guidelines For Picking A Domain In A Niche Market . In a very succinct and easy to follow manner he details domain-selecting strategies that work for [...]

I’ve grown quite fond of using DomainIdeas.com to get good suggestions. Type in your keywords and it spits out coherent suggestions…

hi jonas

thanx for the great tips on domain picking. have a question though…what is the reasoning behind choosing .org over .net? i know there are differing opinions all over the web. and i’m pretty sure i’ve read an opinion to the opposite. just wondering what your reasoning is.

thanx
jw

Very good information about choosing domain names and an excellent caution about inadvertent letter combinations. I don’t understand what the problem is with domain names with dashes. They seem easier to read and understand, but I have seen comments in other blogs that people don’t care for them. Why is that?

Some good information. I think domainers could use a little more of a marketing approach like yours.

I tend to prefer .net over .org, unless the name really resonates with .org. (A site like makemoneyfast.org just strikes me as off-key.) Also, .nets are likely to have greater resale value down the road.

Speaking of resale value, a hyphen in a domain name makes a big dent in that. Hyphens are great because you can get keywords that might otherwise be unavailable, but they will hurt you if you ever expect to sell the domain name or the website down the road. If you never plan to sell, then hyphen away – but more than one says this-site-is-spammy.com.

There is a lot of contradictory information about domains. Taking away the info that is just plain wrong, the disagreements often come down to intended use. Domain “professionals” hate hyphens because they are mainly thinking of resale value. However, as a developer, that may not be a concern.

Hi John,

Just stumbled across your site and this post – and thought you may be interesred in http://whatawebsite.org in relation to (i) domain names & (ii) a growing collection of quality websites.

Ok, hope it’s of interest

Best wishes

Will
P.S. I was in Cebu a few years ago teaching English – had an amazing time!

I feel that bestpetinsurance.com seems more spammy than pet-insurance.com but I suppose it depends on your use. I like to provide content and value first which I feel is hard to do if the domain has some of those defining adjectives.

BTW: John, I love your content but the “my Filipino’s” term seems a little crass. I know what you mean but in print it comes off a little rough.

I just bought a slew of .info domains from go daddy for $1 each for a year. How can you go wrong with that?

Thanks for the tips. I think hyphens are not preferable myself. By the way I think John was referring to “my Filipinos” as his employees in the Phillipines and not in any derogatory way. I certainly wouldn’t mind if the Philippinos I employ called me “my American”, in fact I think it would be cute.

From a ranking point of view both pet-insurance.com and petinsurance.com have the same chance of been ranked equally (assuming all other factors are equal).

One you didn’t mention, use the exact phrase people search with, or a with a very popular “core” phrase. An exact phrase url ranks real well.

Another good idea is to check Google for that keyword, ie search Google. Check the first few sites that come up and see what their page rank is. This will help get an idea of what your up against. Interestingly, even highly searched words, often are not well optimized within the top sites so one that is well versed in SEO, can get a site well ranked for most ANY search term.

Cheers!

JeromyS
http://twitter.com/JeromyS

@Arty Ras

here is an interesting article of the ongoing discussion, if you should use hyphens or not: http://www.webcopywriter.com.au/2008/09/seo-dump-the-dash-in-your-domain-name/

Personally I think. It’s depend. Just don’t know yet on what (-:

So is a .info worthwhile if the others are gone and only being used by arbitragers?
Thanks, Ben

The technique you have imparted is such a useful one for me because i now know how to get the most important domain!!

thanks for the info..

hi john. ive been reading your modules and have been learning a lot. i was just wondering, why do you prefer filipinos to work for you?

note:im a filipino myself

John: Thanks for all your valuable content!

I hope you receive this comment in with an open heart.

I am a bit taken aback when you use the term: "my filipinos." To me, it comes across as condescending and paternalistic — although I'm sure it was not intended that way.

I'd recommend instead: "my great team in the Phillipines." (:

It's hard to always pay attention to how we use language, but we owe that respect and kindness to our fellow humans.

Stay well,

Marie-Jeanne

This is really an excellent tool. I typed in one keyword phrase and got 5 legitimate domain names that I bought. Thanks for the link.

Good tip of finding good domain names. It's not always possible to get the domain name we want but if the keyword meets all my other criteria and only the domain name is stopping me then I'd consider tweaking it a little so I can get into the niche.

[...] Buy a domain name (I recommend using godaddy) Here’s how I pick a domain name [...]

I keep reading ongoing commentary regarding John's reference's to his "guys" or his "Filipinos". C'mon people, chill out. There is nothing disparaging indicated in his remarks. Political correctness can be bad for you, if carried to extreme. LOL!! Stop with the political correctness already.

Good advice, John, thanks. I always buy a domain as niche specific as possible. For the rest of my internet marketing I like to use my name, as it builds my brand. I like the idea of having my team take care of any future domain needs for me. So I will keep the article for future reference. Thanks.

Hi John

I keep coming back to your website for the excellent information & tips you share with your readers. This is a good post and comes in at the right time esp. when I know I have to buy domains in near future. Also received a lot other information form the valuable comments on this post. Thanks to the commenters as well

Cheers!
Abizer

hi im roy,

these facts are informative in searching and making niche. At least we will be able to make the best niche website available for all..