choices, choices, choices...

Yet another domain name decision

[Algebrator]

Here is the current situation:
I get most traffic/orders from keyword "widget". The distant second is "widget help" (as I sell a thingy that helps with widget).
Currently my domain name doesn't have anything to do with
"widget" and , along with compelety redesigning the site, I am planning to change that.
Right now "widget.com" and "widgethelp.com" are taken. I bought
"widget-help.com" as the next best alternative. Now a person
(whose judgement I otherwise trust - he wrote a copy for my
new site), is suggesting that I use "1widget.com" or "1widgethelp.com", the reason being that "Search engines pick up numbers before letters " (?).My gut feeling is that this is not a good idea - among other things the name doesn't look very professional (kind of like "AAA Easy Loans"). Also I am not sure if there is any validity in his logic - I will appreciate any comment (pro or cons)
Thanks!

[benihana]

my gut feeling is that 1widget.com may help you a bit in the SE's if people are searching for '1widget', which is unlikely.

It may help get at the top of the page for any directories that list alpahbetically within categories, but i would agree that it does look a bit unprofessional.

[Travoli]

I'd personally avoid the numbers. I don't follow his logic, search engines read code top to bottom. I suppose it might help for directories just like it does for yellow pages, but people can smell a forced attempt for miles away IMHO.

[privacyman]

From what I had read in past for some engines, think they frowned upon a person using UPPERCASE or First Letters Of Words All Capped as being an attempt to spam the index.

Not sure if they commened about using numbers at beginning for keywords, title, or domain, but my own thought would be that they might look at it as possible attempt to spam index, unless of course the domain actually did match a physical business' name such as 1stsavyurbooks (picked at random).

Otherwise I would have to agree that a digit in front of the domain like 1widget.com or 4widgets.com "would" look unprofessional, but if you did have only 4widgets and/or the physical business actually had that name and was established it might be different.

If the name's already taken, possibly try for another that is a synonym or close to it. Antiquebooks might be as good as Oldbooks, or Bookshoppe.

[takagi]

Now a person ... is suggesting that I use "1widget.com" or "1widgethelp.com",

Forget about adding a digit. The only situation where it could help for a SE is if your homepage is linked from a very long link page (over 101k) ordered on domain name. Google ignores the text & links after 101k, so you could miss an inbound link.

Right now "widget.com" and "widgethelp.com" are taken. I bought "widget-help.com" as the next best alternative.

You could consider "widgets.com", "widget.info" or other top level domains (.net, .org etc).

[Ben_Horn]

I wouldn't go with widget-help.com if widgethelp.com is a competitor. IMHO, potential customers will often forget to use the hyphen and end up at your competitor's site.

(We have a domain that matches our business and someone else's too. They chose to add a suffix onto their business name for their URL. You wouldn't believe how much of their email we get because people forget to add that suffix.)

[Algebrator]

Ben_horn,

widgethelp.com is not a competitor in a true sense - the domain belongs to a non commercial site with lots of free stuff related to widget. They are constantly ranked #1-#3 in Google
and carry my banner ad on their home page.

Regardless, I am not sure I follow the logic about mistyping
the domain name - I would expect most people to click on
the SE result, not to actually type in the url. Am I missing
something here?

[Algebrator]

Takagi,

>>You could consider "widgets.com", "widget.info" or other top level domains (.net, .org etc).

widgets.com - taken.
widget.xxx - taken for any reasonable xxx
Also, from what I have seen being discussed in these forums, using anything other than .com for commercial sites (particularly when a reasonable name such as widget-help.com
is available) does not seem as a very good idea. Is this an
incorrect assumption?

[trillianjedi]

widgets-help.com is actually better than widgetshelp.com in any event, as the search engines see that as the two separate keywords, giving you some nice free anchor text.

I think I am correct with that?

It's a valid argument above about people leaving out the dash, but it depends if most of your traffic is from search engines or people seeing your domain advertised someone in paper and then typing in a URL.

TJ

[ritch_b]

Using a domain other than .COM isn't necessarily a bad idea - at least, not in terms of search engine positioning as having a .INFO or similar doesn't appear to place you at a disadvantage compared to a .COM.

In terms of consumer recognition though, .COM is light years ahead of pretty much anything.

.INFO, .BIZ et al simply don't carry the same kind of weight as a .COM in general terms. The main exception to this rule is .CO.UK which is country specific anyhow.

Just my two penneth!

R.

[takagi]

anything other than .com for commercial sites ... does not seem as a very good idea. Is this an incorrect assumption?

Are you worried about the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) or about potential visitor not clicking on a site if the top level domain isn't ".com"?

For Google there is no difference for the top level domain except for searches on google.co.uk for 'pages from the UK' and the alike. For the USA there is no such function.

Since you expect most visitors via SEs (see msg #7), a .info, .org or .biz won't harm you that much I think.