Domain Name - Product or Company?

[Reel Kicker]

Hi all,
I hope to be opening an e-commerce shop for my products in the next couple of months, but was unsure of what domain to use. Should I use my product name as the domain, or my company name? Or something completely different?
Thanks in advance,
RKS

 

[owas]

If its your own product I would set up a website, for consumers to find info on stockist, etc. I would then think its best to set up a website under your company name selling the product and then you have the options to sell other products.

 

[Reel Kicker]

Thanks, I was thinking that, in case I do bring out other products, but I just wanted to check!
RKS

 

[SamRapidSwitch]

Why not just have one website listing product range and stockist info, and just get both domains to point to the same IP? If you buy any future domains for future products, just point them at that IP too...

 

[Reel Kicker]

That could work, and it'd save any hassle with customers not being able to find our store, thanks
RKS

 

[TheGeekestLink]

Why not just have one website listing product range and stockist info, and just get both domains to point to the same IP? If you buy any future domains for future products, just point them at that IP too...

That's what I've done. I've bought quite a few and linked them all to my core business pages...

 

[SamRapidSwitch]

Bit of a no-brainer really!

 

It would depend on your market.

If something like " car parts" then def wants to be in domain.

 

[antropy]

It depends on a lot of factors. If you're only selling one specific type of product then having that in the domain name may well be helpful but Google has recently reduced the amount of weight it puts on the domain name. This should help answer your question:
http://www.seobook.com/googles-matt-cutts-talks-down-keyword-domain-names

 

[WHUK]

Using the company name would be the right thing to do. If you use the product name, your eCommerce website will be limited to the information and selling of that product itself. Having the company name as the domain name gives room for expansion. You can launch various products and sell them in the company name, this would be more convenient.

 

[cameroncruz]

I suggest you use your company name so your customers can easily recognize you.

 

[ZedS]

The most effective and simple route would be to use your company name plus products in your domain, providing it's not too long e.g. FantasticoCars.co.uk (Fantastico being the company name and cars obviously being the product/service).

That way customers will find you when they need to AND it will establish a direct link between your company and its products/services. Also, it's important to have your company name in the URL so that the search engines pick it up instantly when your company is searched for. Additionally, you want exposure and awareness for your brand - so you need to establish that link, and keep the focus on your brand. There are hundreds if not thousands of companies selling the same products - but I want to buy from YOU, not the other companies who sell the same thing.

Just my thoughts!

 

[SamRapidSwitch]

The most effective and simple route would be to use your company name plus products in your domain, providing it's not too long e.g. FantasticoCars.co.uk (Fantastico being the company name and cars obviously being the product/service).

That way customers will find you when they need to AND it will establish a direct link between your company and its products/services. Also, it's important to have your company name in the URL so that the search engines pick it up instantly when your company is searched for. Additionally, you want exposure and awareness for your brand - so you need to establish that link, and keep the focus on your brand. There are hundreds if not thousands of companies selling the same products - but I want to buy from YOU, not the other companies who sell the same thing.

Just my thoughts!

Although I see your logic on the domain name having relevance to search engine results, this isn't necessarily true.

If you google "what do search engines look for" the first result is from metamend dot com, this gives you a pretty comprehensive view point on what search engine results actually look for, I'm sorry to say content or relevance of domain name is NOT one of them.

Instead a search engine will look at Text, Titles, Headings, basically things that are content related, ie what the website is advertising or talking about. You could have flowers.com and be talking about nuclear missiles, search engines would primarily pick up on the missile content, rather than flowers. My guess is it's this way round so businesses aren't penalised for having a unique domain that doesn't immediately strike a chord with their profession (digital & media agencies are a good example of this).

Sam

 

[ZedS]

Although I see your logic on the domain name having relevance to search engine results, this isn't necessarily true.

If you google "what do search engines look for" the first result is from metamend dot com, this gives you a pretty comprehensive view point on what search engine results actually look for, I'm sorry to say content or relevance of domain name is NOT one of them.

Instead a search engine will look at Text, Titles, Headings, basically things that are content related, ie what the website is advertising or talking about. You could have flowers.com and be talking about nuclear missiles, search engines would primarily pick up on the missile content, rather than flowers. My guess is it's this way round so businesses aren't penalised for having a unique domain that doesn't immediately strike a chord with their profession (digital & media agencies are a good example of this).

Sam

Thanks Sam - I agree, the content is definitely much more important and has far more impact on the SEO than the domain name does, but I believe the domain name does have a small bearing.

 

[JD@fifty6]

Sam's got it absolutely right. Just to re-iterate, domain name choice has little to no effect on search engine rankings anymore specifically because people were making their choices based on this fact and ended up spamming the hell out of it.

If anything, needlessly naming your domain something unrelated to your company name could end up having you negatively ranked in the future.

My question to myself for things like this is always "What would I do if search engines didn't exist?". The answer to that is generally the right thing to do. Good luck with the new venture!