The Verdict On Domain Names

[ManofBliss]

I am about to buy an aged domain to set up my store tonight.

If one must choose between the following two options, the verdict is to get a used aged domain over a year old whose name has nothing to do with the keyword or product, over a brand new domain that is a phrase match or even exact match. Correct?

I am so excited to setup my store tonight.

[PritchB]

That's the consensus.  (Unless you can get an exact match domain)  The aged one will let you throw tons of links at it and should rank quicker.

[SeanBissell]

If you get an aged domain you'll probably have to wait a week before you actually "get" it.
-Sean

[ManofBliss]

Correction:

The exact match is only available as .com on backorder.

If you get an aged domain you'll probably have to wait a week before you actually "get" it.

Actually, I have bought a used domain and had it running the same day. Am I understanding you correctly?

And it doesn't even necessarily matter if the used domain name is relevant?

[Jackson]

Every "used" domain I've bought has taken up to a week to show up in my account.

And yes, remember pmissions=train horns!

Good luck with your store!---Jack

[ManofBliss]

Every "used" domain I've bought has taken up to a week to show up in my account.

It depends on the kind of domain purchase. Expired domains are instantly available, while auctioned domains take a few days to process.

And yes, remember pmissions=train horns!

Good luck with your store!---Jack

Thank you very much.

[Ted Marcus]

I am going for a zombie domain for my new store as well.  i got a pr3 with a benign name.

the question of questions is - well, really only to be answered in a couple of years. 

would an almost perfect domain name trump an irrelevant one - over time?? 

the only measure is in conversion %.

 but one would need to set up virtually identical content, spin articles, etc.  a lot of work for a guy with a wife and eight kids.  my academic days are behind me.

i'll leave the windmills to others.

[Outlaw]

OK, so I've read about the effect of an exact match domain for keyword phrases with less than 50K competing pages and I just want to make sure of something. From what I understand, Google still considers keywords separated by hyphens an exact match, but does that go for any combination of hyphens and non-hyphens?

Take, for example, the keyword phrase "a b c". Supposedly there would be no difference between abc.com and a-b-c.com, but what about a-bc.com or ab-c.com? Will that count as an exact match or would I be better off going for something like abc.net?

One more question: the keyword phrase I want to match has about 36K competing pages, but if I change it to a title-only search it comes up with over 80K. Is that a problem if I'm trying to use the domain matching strategy or does it not matter (and how is that even possible???)

EDIT: I just realized that if I search allintitle:"a b c" it gives me 86.9K competing pages, but if I take the quotations out it gives me 22.2K. Odd?

[paulbannister]

Outlaw

An exact domain is exactly that... no hyphens at all just  "exactname.com"  etc.  Only with an exact match domain and a competition level of under 50k for both page and definately title will the domain rank nice and quick.

If you use 1 hyphen it will rank better than anything else...but not an exact.

Any more hyphens/letters what ever then its the same as any name match.

btw ... if you have titles higher the comp pages... chances are it will be tough as a lot of people are probably SEOing on it.

Hope that helps

[krackajackfoo]

I wouldn't waste money on an expired domain. They appear as "reset" by google and are just like a new domain to google.

Look for an aged domain, preferably with some PR and has been indexed by google for a few years. This will bring you the best results.

[Howard]

I wouldn't waste money on an expired domain. They appear as "reset" by google and are just like a new domain to google.

 
I disagree, but thats just my opinion....

Some registrars 'reset' the creation date, but that has not affected any expired domains we have bought,
and has not affected them negativley in google.... 

[huzie]

what is the verdict on .co domains?

I have just found a gold star with over 1k of searches and the .net, .com and .org are gone.. but the .co is available

.co or aged?

[huzie]

actually have just found the .com with one hyphen in it!  (its a 3 worder)

[krackajackfoo]

Hypens don't register as an exact word match, be warned.

[huzie]

So do we think an aged domain in this case or the .co exact?

tried searching for ".co" in the forum but didn't quite get what I wanted!