"Stop words" in the domain name

[vardan]

Hi,

What do you think about "stop words" like all, best, get, go in domain names? I have registered a domain name for a new website, which has a stop word in the beginning, so I am a bit worried if this could affect the rankings. I had no idea that there was one in my domain name.

There are different opinions about this, also a never-ending "war" between brandable and exact match domain supporters, but I would like to know if you have any expierence or any studies about this issue.

Thank you.

[MJM]

When will people stop being so simple minded about exact vs brandable, one can be the other and vice versa. You don't think casino.com is brandable? I find this argument completely ridiculous, the only thing that changed with exact match was it's not an easily exploitable BONUS any more.

Personally I think anyone taking this business seriously should be willing to invest in a very high quality, easy to remember, domain. Whether that is a keyword domain, a so called "brandable" domain, or a blend of both (my favorite) - doesn't really matter. Domain should identify who you are and what you do, as short and catchy as possible.

Whether that's slotsmaster or onlineslots .com - doesn't matter all that much in my opinion (although full disclosure regardless of what google says I still think a strong exact match helps in the serps, others disagree). Just don't go for thebestonlineslotsforpeopleingermanyusingpaypal.co m and you should be good to go

[vardan]

Well, I guess never, because always will be beginners and experienced

When you want to start a new venture, issues like this and contradictory opinions can bother and one of the best features of our forum is that you can always ask other specialists to help you in your decisions.

Thanks for reply and advice.

[sweetbet]

Just don't go for thebestonlineslotsforpeopleingermanyusingpaypal.co m and you should be good to go

LOL Thank you for the laugh

[Top Domains]

When will people stop being so simple minded about exact vs brandable, one can be the other and vice versa. You don't think casino.com is brandable? I find this argument completely ridiculous

LOL, and that's as priceless as a great exact match and a great brandable. But exact match does have the intrinsic edge especially since it can serve as the brand as well, which you've pointed out so well with the casino.com example...

the only thing that changed with exact match was it's not an easily exploitable BONUS any more.

So succinctly well put... (Struggle with long-windedness myself.)

Personally I think anyone taking this business seriously should be willing to invest in a very high quality, easy to remember, domain.

Indeed.

as short and catchy as possible

See what I've written here before on the question of long vs. short (in my struggles with long-windedness alluded to above - see my sig link to prior posts).

Online gambling is a huge and remarkable exception to any general ideas about that, which may often be valid or invalid depending on the quality of a specific domain. There are also various outright myths, miconceptions, and even self-interested bias on the matter. There can only be an infinitesimal basket of a few like casino.com, poker.com, slots.com, etc., but in this particular lucrative online industry there are many other types and lengths that are worth a fortune to end users.

Speaking of which, some of the biggest reported domain sales of all time have been for longer ones. My company even has a very long six word domain that once had a real $6.7 million bid on it.

(although full disclosure regardless of what google says I still think a strong exact match helps in the serps, others disagree)

Would hate to be without one personally.

Hi,

What do you think about "stop words" like all, best, get, go in domain names? I have registered a domain name for a new website, which has a stop word in the beginning, so I am a bit worried if this could affect the rankings. I had no idea that there was one in my domain name.

There are different opinions about this, also a never-ending "war" between brandable and exact match domain supporters, but I would like to know if you have any expierence or any studies about this issue.

Thank you.

The war is over: exact match wins, especially when it functions as both exact match and as brand. Hybrid EMD/brandable can also be great and worth a fortune depending on quality and use. The war only still exists in the mind of those who seem to have some kind of axe to grind as well as a really hugely distorted bit if misinformation they've been fed and swallowed about EMD and search engines. Really great "pure brandables" are actually quite rare, and there are not really that many great hybrid emd/brandables either.

As far as stop words go, it really depends on the overall quality of the specific domain you have in mind. For example, "GoGambling.com" or "GoGamble.com" are clearly top uses of stop words. "GoBetOnSlots.com," however, while it may be quite clear and understandable, well let's face it - it's junk.

I've mentioned this before, but good idea to search for and read this article from November among others: "The Extreme Power Of Generic Domain Names" (DotWeekly).

[Aidan90]

The concept of 'stop words' is something I've always ignored. There's plenty of other factors that are so much more important when it comes to URLs - as mentioned in the great posts above!

[PromoteCasino]

Hi Top Domains,

What do you think of the domain probettingtips.com Would that be beneficial?

[vardan]

As far as stop words go, it really depends on the overall quality of the specific domain you have in mind. For example, "GoGambling.com" or "GoGamble.com" are clearly top uses of stop words. "GoBetOnSlots.com," however, while it may be quite clear and understandable, well let's face it - it's junk.

Your posts on domain names are always a good read: well explained, with examples and facts. Thank you.

So if the domain name begins with the word "just" and the rest is an exact match term, will search engines ignore the first word and let the domain name to rank if it were a normal exact match domain(the quality of the website is a different topic)? I am not posting the name, because I have 2 options and still I have not decided which one to choose.

[vardan]

Hi Top Domains,

What do you think of the domain probettingtips.com Would that be beneficial?

You have not ask me, but ... Before discovering these stop words I would say that it is a good name, but now I am not sure. I have read that it even metters where is located the stop word: in the beginning or the end of the name.

[PromoteCasino]

You have not ask me, but ... Before discovering these stop words I would say that it is a good name, but now I am not sure. I have read that it even metters where is located the stop word: in the beginning or the end of the name.

Sorry Vardan, no offence meant hijacking the thread. I just thought that TD seem's to know a lot on the subject and he would be in a better position to gauge the name. I too would be interested if the stop word would be better at the front or end!!!

[vardan]

Sorry Vardan, no offence meant hijacking the thread. I just thought that TD seem's to know a lot on the subject and he would be in a better position to gauge the name. I too would be interested if the stop word would be better at the front or end!!!

I meant you have not ask my opinion about the domain, it was a hijacking from my part, sorry

[MJM]

Hi Top Domains,

What do you think of the domain probettingtips.com Would that be beneficial?

Great example of a good modifier - bettingtips.com is likely unattainable, or at least for most affiliates who can't drop six figures or more on a domain - pro is related, and brandable, and makes good use of the desired key words.

Personally I think that's a great domain for that market.

[PromoteCasino]

Great example of a good modifier - bettingtips.com is likely unattainable, or at least for most affiliates who can't drop six figures or more on a domain - pro is related, and brandable, and makes good use of the desired key words.

Personally I think that's a great domain for that market.

I was surprised it was available, so snapped it up just for the future

[Top Domains]

Hi Top Domains,

What do you think of the domain probettingtips.com Would that be beneficial?

I really have to agree with what MJM wrote. In a world where BettingTips.com itself is already taken and may be hard to obtain, ProBettingTips.com is a strong and solid alternative for that niche. It's no surprise it has existed almost 17 years now.

[Top Domains]

Your posts on domain names are always a good read: well explained, with examples and facts. Thank you.

Thanks vardan.

So if the domain name begins with the word "just" and the rest is an exact match term, will search engines ignore the first word and let the domain name to rank if it were a normal exact match domain(the quality of the website is a different topic)? I am not posting the name, because I have 2 options and still I have not decided which one to choose.

I wish I could give an insider's view answer on that specific question regarding what search engines will do in that case, but frankly I cannot, and neither could any other person operating in the domain name industry. However, I can tell you there is far more to be concerned about in addition to what the SE's will do, and that is the "real life" human factor.

Each domain, especially ones "contrived" like that, have to be evaluated with a human perspective for quality and appeal. If the domain is awkward or unappealing from a human perspective, then you have a problem. I can't tell you how many times, for instance, I have looked at my own traffic stats in the past when I was publishing more actively, and pleasantly found that apparently people were choosing to visit some of my (unbelievably poorly made, absurdly virtually devoid of content in comparison to others) sites from search even though some of them ranked further down than others on page 1 of Google or some other SE. (Just imagine if I had actually made a nicer site and put a nice amount of solid content on it.) It seemed to be a compelling inference when I would see such things that the authority of the domain itself is what naturally attracted people to at least take a look. It was like, "so even though there are some really spectacularly made sites further up that clearly must have required a lot of effort and expense to produce, and really are quite nice, this visitor is still going to skip down the page to check out mine, how about that."

And that and more is the power and appeal to a real human person of the best domain names. I would do it myself as well; for instance, if I saw Casino.com or a top best long two, three or four word domain site ten sites down the search results page, I would still be very interested in checking it out. And I certainly experienced results regardless of how poorly I was actually using the domains vis-à-vis publishing actual content. And make no mistake, I do have better plans for the future regarding my past publishing habits.

When it comes to the word "just" specifically I would be especially careful, however. It seems that one could easily become too contrived or too awkward depending on the specific domain, though no doubt a few nice ones exist. I really like "JustPoker.com" for instance.