Can a domain be too long?

**Grounded Vertigo** · 06-09-07

Hi all,

I'm working on a new site and have got to the point where I need to decide on a domain name. I've got a couple of options, however the best one is rather long, about the length of www.bestsiteforholidayflights.co.uk (it's not that domain I just wanted to show an example of the length..)

My question to all you very wise people is do you think a domain can be too long, especially if it's primary use is SEO as opposed to people having to type it in all the time.

Thanks for all your feedback in advance

Michelle

**gadget** · 06-09-07

Yes in my opinion but like all things related to SEO, I'm willing to be convinced otherwise!

There are tools available, like this one - Xinu - Check quickly your PageRank, backlinks and much more - that offer commentary on the domain name length and effectiveness.

**tbp** · 06-09-07

I don't think so, as long as your relying on SEO and being found in search engines rather than people remembering it and going direct.

With a 4 word doman for example, you can usually rank highly on that specific search and go to the top of the results even for a new domain if there aren't many competitors with a good pagerank.

**gadget** · 06-09-07

tbp - how about .. www.word1-word2-word3-word4.com, ie. a four word domain with hyphens?

**Grounded Vertigo** · 06-09-07

Thanks Funky Monkey and tbp for your replies. I'll definitely be checking out the links so that's for those Funky Monkey.

The keywords I'm basing the domain on do have quite a high search rating but not a lot of competition so I'm hoping that I can rely on the search engines for traffic rather making sure people remember it.

If I find any definite evidence (is there such a thing in SEO..) either way I'll report back.

Thanks again guys.

**tbp** · 06-09-07

tbp - how about .. www.word1-word2-word3-word4.com, ie. a four word domain with hyphens?

I don't know, personally I don't every use them.

I have seen a lot of people say that domains with hyphens do just as well as the same domain without the hyphens, however I keep an eye out for these domains out of interest everytime I do a search, and hardly ever see domains with hypens ranking highly.

With my own sites which are for example word1word2word3word4.co.uk, I way out rank other peoples sites with word1-word2-word3-word4.co.uk, and a lot of this purely comes down to the domain name.

I`m not saying it can never happen, just giving my experience and I work mostly in this area, using the domain name to boost my sites up the search results, and relying purely on SEO for visitors.

**Dynamoo** · 10-09-07

Google blocked ranking of generic keywords in the domain name a couple of years back (I think it was the "Florida" update. Using generic terms can therefore even count against you as it can make your site harder to find (I get loads of visitors who just Google my main site name now, rather than type the URL. Heck, I do that myself).

Hyphens are probably best avoided, but as domain names are so cheap you could always get one with and one without hyphens.

Oh as for *long* domain names, I have one that's 63 characters long plus the TLD. I don't actually use it though!

**tbp** · 10-09-07

Google blocked ranking of generic keywords in the domain name a couple of years back (I think it was the "Florida" update. Using generic terms can therefore even count against you as it can make your site harder to find

This may be the case but it doesn't apply now. Its the easiest way to get a good ranking using the keywords in your domain.

**globoChris** · 10-09-07

I would say a domain can be too long.

Its all very well having a domain name crammed with keywords to help you rank highly, but what happens if the search engines stop liking your site?

You might have driven hundreds of people to your site via the search engines but if none of them can remember your site's URL after your drop down the rankings then your repeat custom will suffer.

**QualityNonsense** · 12-09-07

As Chris says, think branding not keyword stuffing. Who'll remember a domain with five words in it?

**moredial** · 12-09-07

You have the whole URL to stuff with keywords, so keep your domain short. If it helps you can make use of keywords in the subdomain, directory name and file name.

There is very little weight on the url compared with other SEO techniques so my advice is to make your site look as user friendly and as little like a spamming site as possible.

When people click in the SERPs they are more likely to click because you have the keywords in the title and seeing them in the description will help reinforce that. One or two keywords in the URL will then just help to reinforce that the page they are being sent to may be relevant to what they are searching for.

**Grounded Vertigo** · 12-09-07

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. The majority of my sites work in the way you describe moredial - the detail is in the url and it has worked well and I think hearing all your feedback it seems to the way to go.

I will admit to having bought the long domain in question today, however it's more as an experiment to see if it does get much traffic in comparison to a similar site in the same area which is much more vague in its domain.

Thanks again everyone for being so helpful!

Michelle

**Dynamoo** · 12-09-07

Originally Posted by Grounded Vertigo

I will admit to having bought the long domain in question today, however it's more as an experiment to see if it does get much traffic in comparison to a similar site in the same area which is much more vague in its domain.

Experimenting with new sites is always a good idea

**tbp** · 12-09-07

I will admit to having bought the long domain in question today, however it's more as an experiment to see if it does get much traffic in comparison to a similar site in the same area which is much more vague in its domain.

Put the same keywords as the domain in an H1 tag at the very top of the page, and you`ll see your site get a really good ranking for those keywords in google

**tschirmer** · 13-09-07

As long as your domain isn't being flooded with keywords google overlooks like 'the'. i'd imagine google looks at all domain names objectivly, not with perception. so if your domain name's just got lots of RELEVANT keywords to your site, and no words googles going to overlook. I couldn't image it hurting you. Google doesn't look at the url muich anyway, it's mainly the anchor text to your site. but some webmasters don't put anchor text, so thats where google would see it.

thats my perception of it. tell us what you end up getting