Domain name purchasing order

[Just_a_bloke]

I understand the domain name can have a beneficial effect on my sites rating with search engines, though I expect there are loads of theories on this, so what are peoples thoughts on the best order to purchase suitable domain names please.

A quick look at a domain seller site has the following;
.com
.co.uk
.org.uk
.me.uk
.net
.org
.biz
.name
.uk.com
.eu.com
.gb.net
.uk.net
.me
.co
.xxx
.tel
.mobi
.cc
.tv

Presumably .com and .co.uk have similar ratings, however which should I next pt for if the .com and .co.uk are gone, and so on?

Thanks in advance for any input

Steve

 

[Posilan]

Presumably .com and .co.uk have similar ratings, however which should I next pt for if the .com and .co.uk are gone, and so on?

It doesnt really matter which you go for, but personally if .com and .co.uk have gone, i'd choose another name - otherwise you risk losing a lot of your traffic to the other sites through people trying to guess the domain name.

Steve

 

[Just_a_bloke]

people trying to guess the domain name.

Thanks for your comments.

Its basically a product name, rather than a company name (nothing like tesco or ford). I already have the company name well covered.

 

[Super Simon]

Thanks for your comments.

Its basically a product name, rather than a company name (nothing like tesco or ford). I already have the company name well covered.

I think you may have missed Steve's point.

If your product is called "Pineapple Squares" and pineapplesquares.com and .co.uk are both taken so you register pineapplesquares.net, you might miss a lot of trade by people going to the .com or .co.uk instead of your site.

 

[Rudi]

Yeah, did you not see what happened to Apple's UK sales because they couldn't register apple.co.uk?

<sarcasm />

But seriously, the points above are extremely valid if you're targetting the UK. Most people will preferably type .com or .co.uk over any other suffix, so even if they remember the product name if they try to browse to it manually they may end up with he wrong site, which isn't good for you!

 

[darren atkinson]

For a UK focused website then .co.uk or .com are the best two, after that I would consider .net, .org, or possibly .co

For SEO purposes the above are all okay, .co is fairly new but I noticed a few .co websites ranking pretty well for fairly competitive terms the other week.

I wrote a few posts on this subject recently which may be of interest to you:

http://www.ecommerceblog.co.uk/domain-extensions-why-you-should-stick-with-what-works/ - Domain extensions for SEO.

http://www.ecommerceblog.co.uk/premium-domain-names-why-you-should-consider-buying-one/ - Why considering a 'premium domain name' might be a worthwhile option.

It's an important consideration to get right upfront.

 

[bdw]

The smart money says that there is no advantage in any particular TLD other than for local purposes. Why would there be?

.

 

[Just_a_bloke]

Thanks for the feedback guy's.

I'm not expecting anyone to try and work out my domain. I'm assuming someone will be entering "Pineapple Squares" in to the likes of Google then the likes of Google will (ideally) pick my site for the first page because of an appropriately named domain and suitable page content.

From the one comment of suggesting using another domain name, lets say 'Plumpie.whatever' In which case 'I' don't think (that's why I'm asking) it's going to get the same result as my initial idea, especially if someone eles has a domain name of 'PineappleSquares.whatever2' with a site containing Pineapple Squares content.

Perhaps I've partly answered part of my initial question, apart from the buying order of domain extensions.

---------------------------------------------

Lets throw something else in... Do I run with...
Pineapple-Squares.whatever
or
PineappleSquares.whatever

Does the hyphen make much difference?

TIA

JAB

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

It's better to go without the hyphen. Except perhaps in the case of a name like www.penisland.net.

Saying that, they got a shed load of traffic because their name is ever so funny.

The main reason for avoiding hyphens is to make it easy to type in your domain correctly. Also, you certainly don't want to use a hyphenated domain because the non hyphenated domain is already taken; you'll lose a lot of traffic to the other site.

Here's a some more info: http://www.werockyourweb.com/domain-name-with-or-without-hyphens

I hope that helps

 

[pickaweb]

If you are trying to target the UK then I would recommend getting a .co.uk
If you are trying to offer a global service most people will go for a .com domain name.

It all depends on what you are trying to target.

 

[AcornDomains.co.uk]

You could also consider purchasing a suitable domain but I would always try to get the .co.uk for the UK market and the .COM as well if you can. How much that will cost you depends on the popularity of the keywords you are trying to target but you can check the Domain Prices website to get an idea what .UK domain sell for, it lists previously sold domains and you can search by keyword.

Having a generic domain can help your website SEO ranking for the market you are trying to approach but a lot of it will depend on good content on your site so don't under-estimate the payback for spending time writing unique and original content for your site.

Good luck

Acorn Domains

 

[astutiumRob]

The smart money says that there is no advantage in any particular TLD other than for local purposes. Why would there be?

User expectation, Browser auto-fill, Regional variations, Surfer mentality

There are _lots_ of reasons to pick a particular tld over another - mostly "social" - peopel _expact_ a charity to be on .org, people in Germany type .de as the extension by default - even when you've just told them its .com etc

 

[bdw]

User expectation, Browser auto-fill, Regional variations, Surfer mentality

I was responding to the OP, who was asking the question in the context of a TLD's effect on search engine ranking. My point is that (outside of local factors) the search engines have no reason to prefer one TLD to another.

.

 

[amac]

You could also consider purchasing a suitable domain but I would always try to get the .co.uk for the UK market and the .COM as well if you can. How much that will cost you depends on the popularity of the keywords you are trying to target but you can check the Domain Prices website to get an idea what .UK domain sell for, it lists previously sold domains and you can search by keyword.

Having a generic domain can help your website SEO ranking for the market you are trying to approach but a lot of it will depend on good content on your site so don't under-estimate the payback for spending time writing unique and original content for your site.

Excellence advice. I agree with the overall thesis - buy your national tld i.e .com in the US, .co.uk for the UK, .de in Germany etc. If you can or can afford to importantly, get the .com, .net and .org.

 

[astutiumRob]

My point is that (outside of local factors) the search engines have no reason to prefer one TLD to another.

Some TLDs are banned, some are up-pref'd, some are down pref'd, *most* are treated the same.

 

[bdw]

^ Citation Required. ^

.

 

[Big Pete]

Do not over stress on the name . go co.uk and .com . and if you have your product name in the domain , thats fine. just ensure the content on the site is doing its job.