Bad words in domain names

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by shade, Oct 24, 2006.

  1. #1
    I've started up a community site about 4 months ago. Traffic is ok, but could be alot better. Well i've been anyalizing my site, it seems to me that it might infact be the domain name.

    The sites name is http://digitalassholes.com and as you notice it has the word asshole in it. Though it seems to work well for the intended audiance, it's making link trades, and even advertising a nightmare. Has anyone had a problem like this? I'm teetering on changing the domain name, though i'm not sure if that will fix the problem. Any suggestions would help.
     
    shade, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  2. weaz

    weaz Peon

    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #2
    Ha, I can see where this would be a problem.

    I think it's a sweet URL, though.
     
    weaz, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  3. shade

    shade Peon

    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #3
    I do as well. any idea's on how to either filter trades through another domain so that i can keep that, or is my best bet just to buy a new domain and forward the rest of the traffic from the original domain?
     
    shade, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  4. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

    Messages:
    28,849
    Likes Received:
    4,542
    Best Answers:
    123
    Trophy Points:
    665
    #4
    I wouldn't worry about the link trades - targetting and relationships will overcome those obstacles.

    Advertising should be able to be fixed if you work on your pitch and emphasise the benefits rather than the site name.
     
    sarahk, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  5. weaz

    weaz Peon

    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #5
    Exactly... sites that are going to be offended by the name wouldn't appear to be in your target audience.
     
    weaz, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  6. shade

    shade Peon

    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #6
    I was planing to advertise via google...I haven't done alot of paid advertising, so i'm rather new at it. Is this the wrong way to go?

    Also, i'm not completely understanding the first part. Targetting and relastionships....are you talking about with other webmasters, or the crowd themselfs?
     
    shade, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  7. zodiac

    zodiac Peon

    Messages:
    2,661
    Likes Received:
    82
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #7
    this is what will happen if you try adwords.they will review your site,reject your ad and then ban your site from using adsense.
     
    zodiac, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  8. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

    Messages:
    8,909
    Likes Received:
    794
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    455
    #8
    Out of curiosity, does Google have a list of words they specifically don't find acceptable? Or would you pretty much just need to ask them on a case by case basis? Just curious as to what might be borderline OK versus automatically calling for a ban.
     
    jhmattern, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  9. MountainLife

    MountainLife Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    622
    Likes Received:
    19
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    120
    #9
    hahah great thread I bought a couple amazing bad word domains just t have wondered if they would even be indexable
     
    MountainLife, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  10. fireflyproject

    fireflyproject Active Member

    Messages:
    969
    Likes Received:
    13
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    70
    #10
    It all depends on your audience. Really. There is a VERY VERY successful adult forum that has the word "fuck" in the domain.
     
    fireflyproject, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  11. Eagle Eyes

    Eagle Eyes Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    #11
    Would google really accept that domain? I am in doubt.
     
    Eagle Eyes, Oct 24, 2006 IP
  12. Software_outsourcing

    Software_outsourcing Peon

    Messages:
    298
    Likes Received:
    5
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #12
    Do this domain name give you any advantage? If it doesn't , it is better to change it . The general trend is that the people who lack stuff in their sites try to attract attention using some cheap gimmeckry.
    I don't want your site ( witout people seeing it) bracket it with those sites.
     
    Software_outsourcing, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  13. shade

    shade Peon

    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #13
    Not sure on the advertising, but i google approved that site, with the domain name for adsense...it was on my original adsense application. I'm pretty sure they already approved my ad as well, though i'm not 100% sure if its approved or just in moderation as i haven't fully setup the account.
     
    shade, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  14. shade

    shade Peon

    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #14
    Actually thats part of the problem. There are 2 domains that i know of. gofuckyourself which is owned by playboy and is an extreamly sucessfull (though very drama orientated) webmaster board and fuckyou.com which makes little to no money, and is considered a flop, owned by a1-advertising. I don't have the cash readily avaliable like playboy has, nor the cash a1 has for that matter. My thoughts are if they have a hard time making it with the swear word, and have 500k domain names, then yea, it would be very diffacult for me. Of course the later rely's soley on the domain name, and doesn't use any link trades or advertising.
     
    shade, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  15. shade

    shade Peon

    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #15
    It fits my community very well, as well as the site content. It's more or less funny, mean or rude sarcasm or satire. Where if i changed it to digitaljerks or something like that, it just wouldn't have the street credit so the speak, nor would it be readily accepted by the current members.

    I have a few alternatives but none scream "this is the domain name" like digitalassholes was. Hence my whole problem with this. The name is perfect minus the bad word. Which means i either find a new way to go infavor of getting traffic, i change the domain name or i go to adult advertising which none of the people want.
     
    shade, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  16. tyzer

    tyzer Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    574
    Likes Received:
    13
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Digital Goods:
    2
    #16
    Your domain name, reminded me of this site,

    www.penisland.net

    Unfortunate name, but i bet they get loads of traffic just because of their domain name.
     
    tyzer, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  17. bigmack

    bigmack Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    175
    Likes Received:
    4
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    128
    #17
    Damn those are some nice looking pen's though aren't they? I might have to get a sample.. :D
     
    bigmack, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  18. Renegade

    Renegade Peon

    Messages:
    34
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #18
    I own Shitware, and it gets indexed no problem. It's basically a place to rant and vent about software and technology.

    I don't worry about making it a huge site though. It's a fun sideline. But it does get a fair amount of traffic.
     
    Renegade, Oct 25, 2006 IP
  19. WillB

    WillB Peon

    Messages:
    453
    Likes Received:
    7
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #19
    You could try getting digitalaholes for link exchanges and marketing and redirect the traffic.
     
    WillB, Oct 26, 2006 IP