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Domain name too long?

Discussion in 'Domain Names' started by Jiraiya, May 18, 2005.

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  1. #1
    I trying to register a domain for a directory.

    The domain I'm thinking about has 16 chars not including the TLD. It would be *******directory.com and it consists of 3 words total.

    In terms of SEO, do you think it will have an impact on search engines because it's so long?
     
    Jiraiya, May 18, 2005 IP
  2. norfstar

    norfstar Peon

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    #2
    In terms of SEO, no. I read an article recently that put forward a theory that some SEs are penalising domain names with two or more hyphens, but other than that I don't think having a long domain will harm your SERPs in any way

    In terms of visitors remembering your domain, yes. Long names in general are harder to remember.
     
    norfstar, May 18, 2005 IP
  3. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #3
    I seriously would focus on common sense only and not seo when it comes to selecting a domain name. Algorithms change but a longass name you'll be stuck with for good.
    Mike
     
    Blogmaster, May 18, 2005 IP
  4. Cristian Mezei

    Cristian Mezei Notable Member

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    #4
    You should try a no more than two words name.

    Try to find the most relevant.

    Two words are easy to remember, seo friendly, and nice to the eye :)
     
    Cristian Mezei, May 18, 2005 IP
    Colleen likes this.
  5. Blogmaster

    Blogmaster Blood Type Dating Affiliate Manager

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    #5
    Please consider using a made up name as well if you find something catchy. Can work great for offline addvertising.
     
    Blogmaster, May 18, 2005 IP
  6. ViciousSummer

    ViciousSummer Ayn Rand for President! Staff

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    #6
    I totally agree with this. I would lose interest trying to type in such a long domain name. :D
     
    ViciousSummer, May 19, 2005 IP
  7. mcfox

    mcfox Wind Maker

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    #7
    General rule of thumb is two words, one hyphen if you want people to even have a chance of remembering the name to type it into the browser. As far as seo goes, I have seen three and even four hyphen domain names ranking in the Serps but as has already been pointed out, an algorithm change and they are gone.
     
    mcfox, May 19, 2005 IP
  8. DarrenC

    DarrenC Peon

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    #8
    DarrenC, May 19, 2005 IP
  9. Smyrl

    Smyrl Tomato Republic Staff

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    #9
    Amen. From my teaching experience I saw first hands my students could not handle a long domain name. The school's domain name at that time was
    www . midland . cc . tx. us, then thrown in a / and tilde + more and you spent whole class period trying to get them back on page from which they should be working.

    Shannon
     
    Smyrl, May 19, 2005 IP
  10. ziandra

    ziandra Well-Known Member

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    #10
    I agree with all the above. Look at some really sucessful sites out there.

    yahoo
    google
    amazon
    ebay

    All have several things in common. First, they are short words. Second, their name really has nothing to do with the service they provide. It is just a short, supposedly catchy, name.

    I know that I would rather type "www.ebay.com" than "www.thebestauctionhouseintheworld.com" even if the latter one somehow managed to get enough people to type it in to become better than ebay..
     
    ziandra, May 20, 2005 IP
  11. Tuning

    Tuning Well-Known Member

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    #11
    What do you think if the domain has the key phrase thats already 20character long and its getting approx 50,000 searches a day ?

    Still you go for nice catchy name ? ( curious to know :rolleyes: )
     
    Tuning, May 20, 2005 IP
  12. fryman

    fryman Kiss my rep

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    #12

    That sums it up. Also as the domain gets longer so are the chances of someone misspelling it or missing one letter and never even getting to your site.
     
    fryman, May 20, 2005 IP
  13. jlawrence

    jlawrence Peon

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    #13
    at the end of the day, it depends on what your site is about.
    Are poeple going to go there directly, or only via links from SEs or other sites.
    If the topic is such that they're unlikely to go directly, the who cares how long the domain name is ;)
    The domain name being short (ish) only matters if the user is ever going to type it.
     
    jlawrence, May 21, 2005 IP