Web Design Company Domain Names

Need help in choosing a name

[tacheman]

I'm trying to think of a domain name for my web design business and am not sure which of the following is the best option to go for:

www.foo.com
www.foo-design.com
www.foo-web-design.com
www.foo-web-dev.com

Whats the most popular type? I guess the first is snappier but the others have keywords in and suggest to the potential customer what the site is about. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[pleeker]

Go with the snappy, memorable name. Branding is ultimately more important than any benefits that may (or may not) result from having keywords in your domain name.

My two cents....

[balinor]

Personally, I'd avoid the - if at all possible. Think of how much more complicated it would be to describe on the phone if you have to say 'dash'. Who knows what the uneducated web surfer will assume the dash is. They may try to spell out dash and then who knows where they will end up. From my experience, a short, snappy, one word domain name is the best bet.

[yowza]

Definitely the short snappy one.

Mine is short and snappy and I got #1 rankings for my keywords without any keywords in the url.

[robert adams]

I agree with the short snappy ideas. As far as the dash/hyphen goes, the problem of telling it to people is not all that big. Probably, most of your visitors are going to get to your site by clicking on a link not by typing the url in the address bar. If you get a lot of traffic by word of mouth or offline advertising, then it is something to worry about.

just my 1.5 cents
robert

[eWhisper]

A lot of the problems with the widget-kw.com sites is that people who know the web, realize you choose it to try to optimize for search engines (not a bad idea) but it also looks like it's unlikely to be a name brand business that might be around for a while.

How many people around here skip G search results for sites that are, kw-kw-kw.com? I assume they're affiliate sites and don't even glance at them anymore.

Choose a name, make your site name.com, and skip the -web-dev.com excess.

[Edwin]

If you can still get foo.com, that's MUCH better than any of the other alternatives you suggested.

[sem4u]

I would go for a name that you can brand and is memorable.

[limbo]

You can go obscure - but as everyone has suggested try and make it memorable. I always look for a two word name that might play on words and inspires the branding and design elements.

Like 'Incwell' or 'topdog' for example.

Ta

Limbo

[sidyadav]

yep, I agree with the others, the shorter - the easier - the better. If by any chance its not available, I'd go with:
www.foodesigns.com

try to avoid "-" dashes in domains. I think it just confuses people.

Sid

[BlueGhost]

I would only use the "-" for a site that was being optimized on the search engines and for thoses keywords. Most people are clicking on titles - not the domain name. I don't think people will remember to put the "-" in if they have to type it in. If you competetor happens to be the one with out the "-" they will like the traffic you send.

[pleeker]

How many people around here skip G search results for sites that are, kw-kw-kw.com?

raises hand!

[waynet]

Normally I would try the name without the dash, but it probably wouldn't be good if the two words combined start to spell unreleated words, so in that case the dash is useful.

[moltar]

I think long domains with "-" will be considered spam from user's point of view very soon. I am one of them. As most suggested go with short domain, and just write a good title.

[SymbioticDesign]

foo.com is taken. I know, I keep trying to get it. LOL!

Seriously, foo.com is your best option. Most likely, if it is one word, or name, it is gone. Then you add the keyword. The most important keyword is design (as opposed to web).

That means that foodesign.com is best. NOT foodesigns.com. The plural on designs suggests that you are selling templates, buttons, banners, flash menus, art, or such. Or that You did not have enough clout to get foodesign.com. If you look at the big offline design agencies, they always used Foo Design as the name. Design, without plural, suggests that it will be a custom design studio. It is actually used as a verb. Gallerys use Foo Designs because they are presenting a collection of finished artwork by various artists.

OK, if foodesign.com is gone, then get foowebdesign.com

NEVER get foo-design.com as your primary Domain. You only get foo-design.com as a Domain to list in Yahoo! or a directory for foodesign.com to visually identify your company name out of the runtogetherwords.

At one time people grabbed and used hyphenated domains because Yahoo's search engine was so poor at picking out the keywords in a Domain. By adding a little non-alphanumeric character (the only one allowed in Domains), Yahoo would finally get it. This has changed. Yahoo started getting it's search results from Google. Soon they will change over to their own new aquisition, Inktomi. Google and Inktomi know how to pick-out keywords in Domains.

So, grab a short and snappy one or two word/name and add .com (don't use any other extension for a web design company). Go ahead and make it your primary Domain. To protect the name, you can then buy the best alternate TLDs. To make it more visible in directories, get the hyphenated version and park it your Domain (so that it will show up in the browser bar when you type the Domain Name in there, without redirecting you to the primary Domain).

There are exceptions. I have a 5 part Domain (4 words and 1 dash) that gets about 1000 type-in hits per month because it's completely logical. But it is parked on my brand name.

[SymbioticDesign]

I also noticed the foo-web-dev.com suggestion.

Believe me or not, people want developers over designers. I know. I am creating a site called SymbioticTechnologies to combat this prejudice (as we do offer development).

If you develop and you have to chose, use developing or dev in your Domain over design.

[Hunter]

buy foo.com first then buy the others but only if you can get them with out dashes.

[robert adams]

SymbioticTechnologies doesn't tell me anything about who you are or what you do.
just a thought

luck,
robert

[BlueGhost]

SymbioticDesign

"the hyphenated version and park it your Domain (so that it will show up in the browser bar when you type the Domain Name in there, without redirecting you to the primary Domain)."
Sorry I do't know how to do the cool box yet.

I know this is important but I don't get what you mean about parking the - domains under the on word domain. Some how it shows up in the browser bar? Can I ask you to expand on that some?

Thanks

[gussie]

SD -
I don't know what you mean by "parking a domain" either. If you have a minute, would you mind expanding on this topic and telling us more about this technique? I'd sure appreciate knowing, and I'm sure others would, too,
Thanks
Gussie

[smeegel]

Hi I was faced with a similar decison recently .. posted it here somewhere. Since foo.com was taken for me, I decided to go with fooweb.com and make that my brand.

Not sure if you can change your brand but its working out well for me. Good LUCK!