How important is domain name?

[YuraK]

I wonder if domain name is really important. Is greatcasinos.com much better than greatcasinos.lycos.com (all names are just for example)?
Should site that target english-speaking visitors avoid national domains (e.g. de, ru, even uk)?
I'd like to consider both users and search-engine/directory point of view.

[croupier]

First, never go with a free domain such as greatcasinos.lycos.com - a real domain can cost <$10 so be proffessional.

Search engines (particularly google) prefer hyphenated domains because they can 'see' the words, so it's best to have great-casinos.com as your site but also have greatcasinos.com redirecting to the site because this is better for humans.

If you're targeting a particular country then national domains are fine, otherwise always go for .com if possible. Only go for other TLD if you can get a really good one (eg. poker.cd which is mine )

Make sure your link exchanges use the text you want eg.

<a href="http://www.greatcasinos.com">Great Casinos</a>

If you do this, then the value of a hyphenated domain for SEs is greatly reduced.

[pixmaster]

RackShack is now selling domains for $5
And with bandwidth costs that low I don't see any reason to get free domain names and hosting

[Ace Fun]

RackShack is now selling domains for $5
And with bandwidth costs that low I don't see any reason to get free domain names and hosting

I reckon Rackshack is losing around $1.50 per domain registration. This is not a lot for a company the size of Rackshack and is probably cheaper than buying banner spots, but there may be transfer restrictions. I only pay $6.69 for domain regs from an ICANN authorised registrar and I think it's safest to keep all domain registration services away from hosting companies.

This is not a criticism of Rackshack who are reputed to offer outstanding value in hosting services.

[YuraK]

Thanks to all, especially croupier. You even answered my unasked question about hyphens.

[former member 2]

Hi,

if you're branding, or wanting to brand, which I think is a much over-looked aspect in this biz, then you'd want ....... well, here's the best example I can think of:

www.GoDaddy.com which if you didn't know, sells hosting / domains.

notice how the name is very odd, yet something you won't easily forget.

there's no chance of getting it mixed up, or little chance, as opposed to ....

www.Go4casinos.com (no idea if its a real domain or not)

notice the many ways there are that a person could mispell the domain.

www.goforcasinos.com
www.gofourcasinos.com
www.goforcasino.com
www.gofourcasino.com
www.go4casino.com
www.go4casino.com

and last, and surely least.......

www.gophercasinos.com :LOL:

which obviously brings up a whole slew of other possible mistakes.

Not that I've ever listened to my own advice, but I think it is sound anyway.

Now find a domain that fits the above, and is keyword rich, and you've done something I can't seem to accomplish.


PS.

FYI - my advice does not take SEO into consideration.

[Ace Fun]

Here are what I believe to be some of the current facts re: domain names, please contradict me if you think I am wrong.

a hyphenated name will always lose traffic to the non-hyphenated version.

.net will lose traffic to the .com

search engines ignore domain names except when considering relevance for outgoing links. ie: the other guys name is more important than yours.

a good relevant name will pull people off the search page. ie: a name like ripoffcasinos.com is probably not going to get you the most links.

a good type-in name will get you traffic, but you may need to use a filter page if it's ambiguous.

a memorable and brandable name will get you return visitors and verbal recommendations.

[former member 2]

I don't know if it would sift out as being correct according to experts, but I thought that a great post there Aces.