Perhaps I can start things off by asking a very basic yet crucial question when it comes to building a specialized search engine / directory ----- What type of domain name do you want to give your site?

Does one develop a domain name that ranks well alphabetically or does one go for a domain name that has keywords in it (and doesn't rank well alphabetically)? Any opinions? This is the first step I am undertaking in potentially developing a Hyperseek-supported directory.

For example what domain name do you think would be most beneficial (these are NOT the ones I am thinking about registering BTW):
www.Adams-Cars.Com
or www.Midsize-Cars.Com

Please consider that the industry has some major players with affiliate programs and TV advertising. There is lots of competition.

Do you go for the keywords or go for the alphabetically-ranked domain name? I'd appreciate your thoughts.

At the time, the name "Xena Online Resources" made sense, and when I created a Web site I took the programmer's approach and used a URL that was mnemonic, xenaonln.htm. Unfortunately people don't search (much) for "Xena Online Resources". They search for "Xena links" and "Xena".

Now, the current URL is different from the original one, but I don't have a domain for it. The directory is just a part of my domain. Nonetheless, a couple of years ago I ran across xenaonline.com. Hm.....

Yup, it purports to be a Xena links directory. I was both flattered and infuriated when I first figured out they'd taken my Web site's name for a domain name. But when I looked at the page it didn't really have many links, and they actually link to MY directory, so what the heck.

Anyway, if I had known then what I know now, I might have gone with something more like "xena-links.com". In fact, I'm in the process of setting up a "xena-links.com" although I'm not sure of what I'll do with it (I can't afford another full hosting account right now, so I can't move the directory over there).

I think a good domain name is important. You want people to be able to remember it and to find it quickly with a logical search. If the domain name contains the most likely search term, then maybe that will help people find the page more easily (although we all know how touchy the ranking game is with the search engines).

[This message has been edited by Michael_Martinez (edited 03-26-2000).]

Your question begs my question again Do you go for the keyword-laden domain name that will get buried in a list of alphabetically ranked sites? or do you go for a domain name that will near the top of an alphabetically list?

If you go for a keyword-laden domain name, you have to hope you can beat other sites with the search results. With a site that ranks near the top of an alphabetical list, you will gave a good chance of being noticed.

So, have I answered my own question? In an industry where there is incredible competition, it is best to go for a domain that will rank high in an alphabetical list. Do you agree/disagree?

I've seen domain names with the keyword phrase (both with and without dashes) come up first in the listings on both Alta Vista and Inktomi. If it was because of the domain name or some other reason, I don't know. But I don't think alphabetizing domain names will accomplish anything. Why not break ties by alphabetizing titles instead?

To make myself more clear, I believe it is important to have a *title* rank well alphabetically.

We're just starting to announce ours, allthough we thought of domian names quite awhile ago.

In our choice we wanted to get the same name with our country code (.au) and the .com. We wanted it to be descriptive (didn't worry too much about "keywords" and dashes, but all keywords are there).

We ended up with :
www.australiatravelsearch.com.au www.australiatravelsearch.com

We are quite happy with it (it even works alphabetically), if we were a couple of years earlier, it would have been shorter.

Cheers
Rick

While alphabetic sorting does take precedence at some directories/engines, we're seeing more of a trend towards true relevance.....so the tide seems to be shifting (albeit slowly) towards quality content being legitimately ranked higher.

For my money, I'd be in the market for a rememberable name over one that starts with the letter "a". Which would you remember: "aaaaaalinks.com" or "sonicsearch.com" ?? To me, "sonicsearch", while running the risk of being in the lower half of some results pages will certainly stick out in people's minds, and has a better chance of being passed around the water cooler.

Remember, when running a search engine, you're not going to be getting traffic like a normal website, a much smaller % of your traffic comes from other search engines...more likely, you'll get word of mouth hits, and traffic from reciprocal linking from the webmasters listed, newsletters, and the like.

J-

[This message has been edited by DianeV (edited 03-26-2000).]

Personally, I am very glad I went with an easy to remember name and and didn't worry about the keywords or the alphabetical listing from the domain name. As John said, if you pick a good common sense name that makes sense to the general public and focus on QUALITY content, you will be o, so much farther ahead than trying to come up with the perfect name to "hit" all the search engines.

I would also like to mention the fact that I think you run the risk of destroying your credibility when your first concern is placement. Once you get into the search service business your image means a lot and what kind of image are you presenting when you have spent the time to build a good site and then your domain name is www.my-search-engine-for-shopping-cars-books-and-anything-else-that-might-make-a-buck.com

P.S. Bob: I need to give you a call and chat about Portal Pro and pricing. I'll call you using a number listed on Magic City.

[This message has been edited by Bradley (edited 03-27-2000).]

quote:

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To me, "sonicsearch", while running the risk of being in the lower half of some results pages will certainly stick out in people's minds, and has a better chance of being passed around the water cooler.

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I don't have any takers yet, but one way around the strictly alphabetical listings is to add priority options, inspired by goto.com:

http://run-down.com/Companies/

(look at the first link on the page)

Alphabetical makes it much easier to find things in lists, but also encourages iffy names. I figure the priority option appeals to those who are serious about getting visibility for their listing(s).

On a different note, it's been many months since I posted here, so we'll see about two things:

1) if my password still works

2) if I can get back in the habit of checking the forum regularly...

Dan

In addition to what's already been said I have my own personal feeling with regard to domain names.

Although a 'matching' domain name (one that goes along with the title of your site) is probably desirable, I don't think it matters too much about the ranking of the domain name itself.

Rather than listing your domain name, most s/e's and dir's will rank you by your site's title - that is - the title *you* decide to give your site.
www.xforums.com (not sure if it exists, just using it as an example) could be promoted as 'Extreme Forums' and still be placed in the 'E' section of an alphabetical listing, or even 'A1 Extreme Forums' for the letter 'A'.

I think its more important to concentrate on the QUALITY of your site and the listings it contains. I get over 1800+ visitors per day for my own series of sites and the number one reason for its growing popularity is that people *like it*.

You'd be surprised at how many *extra* hits you can get from a link placed on someone else's site after they've visited your site and placed a link back (especially if the other site is a really busy one.)

Yes, I do think a memorable name is a good thing, and yes a matching domain name helps to associate that name/branding, but I think the number one key thing to consider is quality and content.

Hope this gives you something else to consider whilst making your plans.

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[This message has been edited by Janet Berg (edited 03-30-2000).]

Regards,