I have looked around and searched for about an hour and I am still not sure what to think, I even tested a site with it and although it could be a flop (30% of my work is) I think it might have been that the domain name starts with <snip>.
I just get the feeling that this is the reason so I was hoping that someone else might have experienced some problems or success with the "1st" being in a domain or maybe someone else has tested it.
E.
[edited by: Webwork at 10:55 pm (utc) on Dec. 19, 2008]
[edit reason] Less specific, as in the second instance "1st" [/edit]
Hmmm . . let's see. If I employ 1 or 1st in my domain name will that lead to higher/better search engine rankings since . .
An urban legend in the making.
webmasters would also have site titles like
! Widgets
and use a domain name like exclamationwidgets.com as ! would rank before 1
One of the two now has a site attached to it and has been ranking with little or no active promotion. Initial feedback is good... ...otherwise I'll have to flog them to e8 :)
do you know of any popular websites that contain numbers within their domain?
I believe people started to use numbers after there is no good names, so they started to play with names, trying to get an easy to remember names using numbers at beginning.and we all know maybe 80% of popular websites are old enough so no need for numbers to get a good name.
From my little experience since my website start with a 12, it was useful for me, even when i got that domain i knew nothing about SE, and it wasn't a trick to take that name, i just didn't find better name!
How and what benefits?
1- i try to add my website to directories regularly, my site is the first in category always, this drive more traffic.
2- I'm doing very good with keywords i target so i don't see there is a SEO problem with numbers in domain name!
3- This is the most important. my domain name are not very easy to remember in my case, specially its an Arabic website.but numbers helped me, my site about chat, people used to name it 12 شات its same as 12 Chat, this created some thing like a brand name! returning visitors now search for that and come to the website.
So i don't see a reason to say numbers in domain names are bad for SEO and i don't believe it always superior over non-numbers domains.
i don't see a reason to say numbers in domain names are bad for SEO
Is it "2", "to", "two" or "too"? Is that "4", "for", "four" or "fore"?
Some percentage of people will get it wrong.
[edited by: MamaDawg at 11:54 am (utc) on Jan. 11, 2009]
An urban legend in the making.
Heh! Back in the 90s, a number domain was the in thing. All the directories used alpha listings and the numbered domains were usually at the top. From a visibility and indexing perspective, this was king at the time. I played the numbers game for about a year and moved towards a branding model after seeing what I was getting into. ;)
No, domains that start with numbers are not bad for anything, including SEO. As mentioned above though, you have to be careful with the combinations so as not to create the 2, two, to, scenario. The last thing you want to have to do is spell out your domain "all the time". I have a client or two like that due to branding issues. Thankfully we have the typo versions 301'ing to the primary.
I find use of them seems to produce greater attentionYes: I believe it helps people to remember a brand/domin name, but only *after* they've found it...
The mnemonic benefits may well outweigh any SEO drawbacks (if any).
To Mike031: tell that to the Nasdaq-listed company FLWS [quotes.nasdaq.com].
Compare 123example.com with 123-example.com or example.com
Few will search for [123example] - so one small factor is denied to your SEO effort.
Not a hill of beans, to be sure, and certainly not a reason to change domains. But 'every little helps', so it's one more factor to consider when planning a new site.
Of course, if your keyword is '123example', then go for it :)
Compare 123example.com with 123-example.com or example.com
Quadrille? I can't believe your promoting hyphenated domains in 2009. You must have a bunch of those in your portfolio, huh? ;)
To the OP, don't let anyone convince you to buy a hyphenated domain unless it is to protect brand, etc. Or, in rare instances, the word is naturally hyphenated at which time you'll want to have the non-hyphenated version for redirecting.
Quadrille? Snicker, snicker, snicker...
Merely pointing out that in SEO terms, 123-example.com is superior to 123example.com.
How you (or anyone) chooses to use that info is for them, not me; my 'general' views on hyphenated domains are no mystery; I have but two such domains; both 'special cases', and both just fine. And both superior to their non-hyphenated equivalents, in SEO terms, if not "high fashion".
Context, is all; Perhaps I should widen the discussion to include Quadrille's Oft-Quoted 14th Law ;)
More than one hyphen is international shorthand for idiot webmaster; More than two hyphens is Galaxy-wide shorthand for "I'd be a spammer if only I knew how"Who's counting? Not me. But it's the look of the thing; would you really spend money at [my-wonderful-domain.info...]
But despite that, still superior to nonhyphenated multi-word titles in SEO terms.
So, to bring it back to the OP - I would not use alph+numeric domain names, unless there was brand term included. "7up" is one of very few examples, though I have one that has yet to astonish the waiting world.
[edited by: Quadrille at 5:59 pm (utc) on Jan. 11, 2009]
