length of domain names

[Trisha]

I'm trying to decide upon a domain name for a new site and the one I would like is pretty long. What do you think? Does length really matter that much?

It is for a content/info site, not a commercial one so I don't see branding as an issue. I know what I want the site title to be and would like to have the same domain name. It's something like 'Keyword1 Keyword2 and Conservation', so I'm thinking about 'keyword1keyword2andconservation.com'. Only both keyword1 and keyword2 are kind of long words, as is conservation. Total characters not including the .com is 33.

The more I think about it, the more I want it despite the length, but I'd still like to hear what other people think.

Alternatives I've thought of are 'keyword1keyword2.com', but it's already taken, and I consider the conservation part of the site to be very important so I like the idea of including it. I also thought about abbreviations, 'kkac.com', but that's been taken too. I also considered something like 'regionkeyword1keyword2.com', but I don't want to be restricted to only including information from one region, or pressured to include information for the entire region. And I'm just not imaginative enough to come up with a name that doesn't include words that describe what the site is about.

I should mention that I don't want the keywords in the name just for search engine purposes, although it will help when people link using the name of the site. Mostly, I want the title of the site to reflect what it is about, which is a serious subject, and I'd like the domain name to reflect the title.

What's the longest domain name you've used? And did it cause any problems?

[tedster]

The longest domain I manage is 25 characters - the client was sure they wanted it. Three months after the site launched, they began to see the headaches.

On a radio appearance, the client noticed that the domain name was hard to communicate verbally and ensure good type-ins. Similar problems when talking to a reporter. In link exchanges, typos started popping up on the reciprocating site.

It is a lot easier to work with a short domain name - although I realize that they are pretty picked over in many areas. The fact that the domain is highly descriptive does not mean all that much, in the long run. I can think of many keywordless but memorable domains - chillingeffects.org immediately came to mind.

[Purple Martin]

Size does matter - and for domain names, smaller is better.

[takagi]

Maximal domain name is 63 characters long.

See also:
Overusing keywords in domain & URLfs... - Will I have trouble with SEfs If I use very long key-word URLfs & Domain? [webmasterworld.com]

63 characters - includes http:// or not? [webmasterworld.com]

The longest hyphenated URL - .... what is the record? [webmasterworld.com]

[Trisha]

After thinking about it for another week I decided to go ahead and buy the somewhat long domain name. I realize there is a possibility I may regret it at some point. But I do like the name. In this subject area there are many sites that are a little too Geocities homepage types and this name sounds more authoritative and serious.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice and comments!