Help me choose between an Obvious and a Cool domain name

[adder]

Hi,

I'm getting back on the blogging path after years long absence. I've got these two lovely .coms. Both are short, memorable and containing two words (without dashes).

We're talking about a slightly techy type of reader.

Domain 1 - it is relevant to the readers and very obvious what it's about BUT one of the words is soooo overused that whenever I come across a domain name using that word, I roll my eyes! Think Geek, for example... there are millions of combinations with this word... and I probably picked a wrong example because my word is even more overused than geek.

Domain 2 - once you see it, you understand it's something cool but you'd have absolutely no idea what the blog was about without visiting the site. Besides, one of the words can have both positive and negative connotation depending on how you use it. Think, Awful, for example. You can be "Awfully thankful" for something, which is positive, but at the same time you can fall from the ladder and that would be an "Awful tragedy"...

Please all vote now :)

[rocker]

So basically domain 1 is a keyword domain name and 2 is a brandable domain name.

-My personal opinion-

Keyword domain names are easier to develop and brandable requires more marketing. So, the easiest way to go would be a keyword domain name.

That being said, if it were me, I would go for brandable. I cast my vote for Domain 2

[Webwork]

Keyword + "really cool/good/quality" > brandable + cool.

The difference, if both versions are "really cool", will be your $$$ outlay for branding/messaging including future costs of branding once any buzz subsides.

[rocker]

Keyword + "really cool/good/quality" > brandable + cool.

I am throwing a penalty flag on that one.

adder never said domain #1 is really cool :)

adder actually said:

one of the words is soooo overused that whenever I come across a domain name using that word, I roll my eyes!

[Rosalind]

My instinct says, go for the cool one because it will be really memorable. But what you think is cool may not chime with everyone else's idea of it. One test will be to mention both names to say 10 people. Then talk to them an hour later and ask them to tell you which one they remember.

[Webwork]

I am throwing a penalty flag

Ouch! Did you have to hit me in the cornea?! :P

What I meant to attribute the "cool" factor to was the site, not the domain. If I have the killer keyword domain AND a cool site then I'd take the keyword domain over the brandable domain.

Going back to the OP I can see it's not really a keyword domain IF/when it's "paired" with a modifier. Keyword domains are stand alone domains.

[onlineleben]

Can't you do a quick test with adwords putting up two ads with your keywords but different domain names? Check clickthrogh rate after a day and decide then.

[adder]

Thank you everyone for comments and sorry if my OP was misleading. We're not actually talking about any "money keywords" in either of the names. When I said the Domain 1 was obvious, I meant, for example geeknews.tld - a totally random example but the target audience would instantly know what the site's about.

The Domain 2, let's call it AwfullyCool.tld (mine is darker and cooler but you get the drift)

Whichever I choose, the words won't help me rank in any way. In fact, I'm aproaching this project from a viewpoint of a person who has never heard about Google. In other words I'm pretending that there's no such thing as Google and building the site for the user.

[buckworks]

the target audience would instantly know what the site's about

I'd consider that a major point in favor of the "obvious" domain name. It would make promotion easier, forever.

Something else to consider would be how the two domains would come across as a component in longer URLs.

Which domain would make a better impression in a context like

"Example.com/directory/sub-directory/long-winded-article-title/

I like OnlineLeben's suggestion of an AdWords test.

[lucy24]

Ultimate Copout Answer:

Any possibility of using both names, and running one as a mirror of the other? If you start out with badwidgets dot com as the mirror and widgetworld dot com as the real site, and it turns out after a while that most of your type-ins are for badwidgets dot com, swap them.

In other words I'm pretending that there's no such thing as Google and building the site for the user.

Taking that at face value ;)