.com naming question

This is my first post and probably a common question, but here goes. I have started a company and need a domain name for an ecommerce store. I am trying to decide between companynameonline.com or companynamekeyword.com

For example, nikeonline.com or nikeshoes.com

Any thoughts?

thanks,
Josh

 

no love for a peon??

 

I'd go for the Keyword from an SEO point of view.

If you are more interested in branding, I'd go for online.

 

Do you sell more than one product? If you sell only shoes then use keyword, else go for a more generic name to allow for product line expansion.

 

and my understanding would be that if you wanted the keyword to have any value in SEO terms, comanyname-keyword.com would be marginally better than companynamekeyword.com, if only because people might use the URL as anchor text when linking back to you.

 

As already said, if it's the one product that you sell, go for companynamekeyword.com otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

Unless you go for companynamekeyword1.com, companynamekeyword2.com, companynamekeyword3.com, but even then, a subdomain of companynameonline.com would be preferable.

Of course it's not all about SEOing and SEOing is not only about the domain name...

 

Still... If we're going on a poll here, I'd go with the companynamekeyword.com - though I'd prefer companyname-keyword.com

Just my 2 cents

 

Yes, but if that is another choice to make, I would register both, just in case...

 

Definitely agree with you, uca. Have one domain point to your main site.

 

Wow, I'm gone for a little while and lots of replies. Thanks!

So it seems that most people are favorable towards the keyword. As pointed out, the keyword would be broad enough to cover a range of products, because no, it's not just one specific product.

But SEbasic's reply definitely caught my attention. I'm definitely trying to create a brand. It's more of an upscale product and the website is not your run-of-the-mill ecommerce store. I personally like the companynameonline.com solution because to me, it sounds more upscale and doesn't dilute the company name. My business partner likes the companynamekeyword.com solution.

Will the keyword solution really make a difference with SEO?

 

oh, and I thought using a hypen in a url was a no-no? I was surprised to see that suggested.

 

Save some bucks.. Try store.companyname.com

Cheap, and benifits from the already established domain name in existence...

 

Some people don't do it because they think it is seen as spammy. But think, most of your target market don't make those sort of judgements. AFAIK google will identify keyword in companyname-keyword.co.uk if it appears in the body of someones site as anchor text but it won't pick it out as a seperate word in companynamekeyword.co.uk. So if someone uses your URL as anchor text, it works to your advantage. I don't know what difference it makes in terms of your site address.The debates here lead me to think it gives a potential marginal advantage. I always buy the hyphened and unhyphened versions if they are both available

 

One of my competitors is doing much better in the search results than one of my sites just because they use the keywords in their URL with hyphens.

 

what's everybody's opinion on using "my" before the company name? as in mycompanyname.com?? Do you think it is a trend or does it have some staying power?

 

It only works if its consistent with the brand IMO

I just got mysecretdiary.net for a small project for my daughter and friends, but I could see it lending itself to a bigger project

 

"my" added just because the regular domain name is not available isn't a good idea, IMO.
Trance-formation gave you a good example of when it might work, it makes sense in that case.
Keyword in domain is a plus, but it won't make you to the top of the list, there's much much more work to do than just that. It used to be better, but not anymore.