No short domain names left!

Anyone creating a website knows how hard it is to find a good domain name that someone else hasn't already registered, especially if that domain name is short. Short is good, of course, because it means less typing for the user. And as mobile browsing becomes more prevalent, short names become even more important (you try typing a URL like http://www.wireless-digital-cameras.com on your keyboard-less phone and see how long it takes you before you give up in frustration and/or pitch the phone out the nearest window).

As you might imagine, keyword-rich domains are hard to find (because they give you content a natural SEO boost), but you can still find some if you look hard enough. But there are no 2- and 3-letter domains left anymore according to this Interesting Facts about Domain Names by fellow Canadian Dennis Forbes, although there are still 4-letter domains available. Of course, all the 4-letter keywords are probably taken, so you'll probably end up with a non-word. But it'll be short. If you're trying to build a brand as opposed to just an easily ranked domain, this and the 5-letter combinations are fertile ground to explore.

I just thought that report made for some fascinating reading and it might give you some ideas the next time you want to pick a domain. AdSense sites can work well with arbitrary domain names, after all — the domain name is just one part of the overall URL of the page. If you can't get a keyword-rich domain name, you can always create a keyword-rich subdomain (see for example pet-fence.ericgiguere.com or eczema.grossdiseases.com) to help with the SEO. Or put the keywords in the file name itself, as in www.ericgiguere.com/about/google-adsense-tips.html. Really, you can have a complete arbitrary URL and AdSense will still figure out the best ads for that page by scanning its content for keywords. The keywords-in-the-URL trick is more about getting better search engine rankings than improving the ad targeting. Don't get me wrong, it helps the targeting, but it's not a requirement.

Look at the domain hosting this blog you're reading: www.memwg.com. It's a 5-letter arbitrary domain (the first letters of my book's title) and the ads are still well-targeted.

Eric Giguere is the contextual advertising expert who wrote Make Easy Money with Google and Uncommon AdSense. You can read this blog by mail if it's more convenient for you, just send a blank email to memwg-blog@aweber.com to subscribe.

Comments