How important is your website name and structure???

[Roadam]

Hi guys.

Am looking to set up a gambling affiliate website but was wondering just how important the website domain name is? Does it need to be a .com to have a real success or is .co.uk or .org good enough to attract users?

Also what is a good way to structure your site so that when people do come on it makes them want to click on the gambling links? I was thinking of having main headings for each type of game such as, bingo, poker, lottery etc but am not sure whether you should have any written articles with the links or separate them under a heading for articles.

Would really appreciate your comments on this.

[Hermski]

Hi Roadam

Welcome to the forum. I’m actually new here myself, but have been working on my site pretty much non-stop for about 5 months. That’s a very short time in terms of running a site like this, but if you’re happy to take my advice anyhow, read on J

Regarding .com or .co.uk
From the research I did it also depends on which countries you want to target. There is plenty of great co.uk affiliate sites around, but as your site will be in English and with time maybe feature other languages too, I would stick to .com. Nice and easy. In addition, why not look up the domain name you’re going for and get a .com as well as co.uk? Then you’ve got both channels covered. The co.uk will simply forward to .com.

Website domain name
I’ve heard all sorts of things regarding good domain names. I wouldn’t put my hand in the fire for this, but one comment was that google does not take the domain name into consideration anymore when it comes to ranking well. Nevertheless, it makes perfect sense to name your domain accordingly to reflect what your affiliate site will cover. It will also make your domain look more obvious to the viewer.

Site Structure
There is tons of information on the web. However, before you go mad thinking up countless sections you want to introduce, take a step back and lay it all out in more detail. It also depends on how much time you’ve got on hand to work on your site. Bingo, Poker, Lottery? You think you will have the resources and time to create decent content for all these ‘areas’? You should consider going more specific and concentrate on key areas first i.e. if you want to do an online casino guide, start with the top sections and then dig down.

Welcome page: TOP 10 / TOP 5 Bonuses / Intro Text etc.
Reviews section: Casino reviews / any other information on that particular subject? Etc.

Always keep in mind future improvements to the site as it will happen. If you get caught up wanting to cover off too many ‘areas’ right from the start, you will only saturate your overall offer. In addition, making adjustments later on may then turn into a right nightmare.

It always helps to check out other sites too and see how they approach it. Don’t just look at the big players. They have been going at this for years and their access to resources is of a different caliber altogether.

Hope this helps.

[F-L-C]

Domain name matters... just look at the prices for confirmation :P

When it comes to structure look at it from the perspective of a visitor not a webmaster! What structure would you want when you visited a site?

[Dima RU]

Hello. I`m Russian, and in Russia most of the people obviously prefer .ru instead of .com. Don`t know, it`s a matter of trust maybe.
But I think if you want to work with english-speaking world, you should have .com.

Big companies buy both .com and .ru and just make a redirect. I think, it`s a best way.

[Roadam]

Thank you so for much for this guys!

[FictionNet]

If I'm starting a new UK site and I know I want it to become a brand, I will only use the name if the .co.uk and the .com are both available. If I find a great name/idea with the .co.uk free but the .com is taken, even if it's only parked somewhere, I will forget the name. I have no intention of building up a great UK brand name, only for someone with the .com to piggy back on it. Been there, done that.