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Chimpie
03-05-2009, 12:38 PM
So I've been asked by a friend in another state to create a fun domain for a city site. Let's say he lives in Whoville.

I'm not good at coming up with creative domains, but the two I thought of are taken. itswhoville.com and whovillebuzz.com

What are some other ideas?

billbenson
03-05-2009, 12:48 PM
Have you tried the .org? The state of Florida uses sunbiz.org. It's an obvious play on the climate. What does Whoville have to offer?

Chimpie
03-05-2009, 12:52 PM
I want to keep it a dot com if possible. But good suggestion... keeps the brain running.

Whoville has a lot of variety, for the old and the young. It's a tourist attraction. Kind of on the wealthy side, but not too terribly wealthy. Some outdoor type activities.

cbscreative
03-05-2009, 01:26 PM
I was going to make a similar suggestion. If this is an official city site, it would have more authority with a state domain and you wouldn't have to worry about the .com being available.

Chimpie
03-05-2009, 01:55 PM
No, this is fun site.

rezzy
03-05-2009, 01:57 PM
Well, can we have the actual place? It may help create better names that are more tuned to it. Instead of creating a randomized name.

Chimpie
03-05-2009, 02:00 PM
Well, can we have the actual place? It may help create better names that are more tuned to it. Instead of creating a randomized name.

I would love to give you the actual name, but I'm afraid of the lag time between the time a creative name is listed here and the time I get to register it.

I'm really sorry.

rezzy
03-05-2009, 02:10 PM
I figure the most fitting and creative name will still be a lackluster whozilla, whatsitville, etc.

Without knowing its Florida, where we can relate the sun and fun, or Alaska. The idea is far to general and uninspiring. Maybe someone can create something.

Chimpie
03-05-2009, 02:18 PM
It's not Florida, but it is a coastal state with sun and fun.

Warm climate, known for relaxing on the beach, partying in the sand, but also spending some time downtown shopping and at cafes.

Yes, it is general, but so should the domain. I don't want the domain to be to specific cause the site topic should be general.

If it was about the beach, whovillebeach.com would be perfect. As would be downtownwhoville.com, if the site was specific for downtown.

That's why I threw out the examples, whovillebuzz or itswhoville. I've seen those domains used before, but they are both taken.

Harold Mansfield
03-05-2009, 02:53 PM
There are a few stand by's that I use when trying to get a specific keyword.
For a city, you could go magazine route and check on adding these words to the city name either before or after to dictate events or activity: (you could use "the" in front of these if they aren't available)

Press
Herald
Times
Events
Post
What's Happening
Happening
Happenings
Now
On The Bay
On The Coast
Street
Blvd
Insider
Hopper
Guide
Today
Nights
At night
Tonight
VIP
Extra
Xtra
Extreme
Xtreme
Circuit
RandR
Relax
Go
Outside
Go Out
Get Out
Outdoors
Open Air
Out In
Out N
Word
Word On The Street
Now
City
City Guide
Guide
Day Guide
Tourism


You get the picture. Be careful using "out" by itself.

nighthawk
03-05-2009, 05:27 PM
try pre/post fixing the following:

visit
explore
probe
delve
dig
talk
drop by
hit
see
tour
come by
go
allabout
info


Take a word or two that describe what the site is about, then bung them in a thesaurus and see what other words you get back, I just did that with "explore" and "visit", thats where most of that list came from.

Chimpie
03-05-2009, 05:40 PM
I'm liking it. Keep it coming. I'm sure you're helping out more than just me with these suggestions!

Harold Mansfield
03-05-2009, 08:33 PM
I'm sure by now you can understand using descriptive words, adjectives, slang and pop culture words , together with a thesaurus can give you hundreds of options for domains with your preferred keyword in it.
If you still can't find one that will do , you may need to purchase the one that you want, provided that it is for sale.

Dan Furman
03-05-2009, 09:17 PM
hortonhearsawhoville?

billbenson
03-09-2009, 03:16 PM
eborg, whats your opinion on hyphenated keywords for a url?

nighthawk
03-09-2009, 05:34 PM
eborg, whats your opinion on hyphenated keywords for a url?

Personally I tend to avoid them, they lead to too much confusion when spoken aloud. An example is the now defunct Air Scotland - the website was www.air-scotland.com, yet in all their tv ads, they directed people to "visit air scotland.com". I wonder how many people missed out the dash and ended up at the wrong website?

For the same reason I avoid using numbers in URLs. "seven seven seven.com". Would that be seven7seven.com, 777.com, 7seven7.com etc etc.

Keep them as simple as possible, and avoid anything that may cause confusion when spoken. You may also want to watch spelling on difficult words. Their/Theyre/There should also be avoided, likewise color/colour if you are targeting international visitors.

janicejan
04-06-2009, 04:02 AM
whoville-leisures
whoville-maniacs

KristineS
04-06-2009, 12:47 PM
I have to second nighthawk on the hyphen question. We had a hyphenated URL for one of our sites for a while and it was a huge pain in the behind. I'd avoid having a hyphenated URL if at all possible.

Harold Mansfield
04-17-2009, 03:33 PM
eborg, whats your opinion on hyphenated keywords for a url?

Sorry, didn't see the question.

I have a few that I am using for product or landing pages. I wouldn't use one for a blog or website...rather try and find something "brandable" or significant in that niche (memorable) as a domain before I go to hyphens.

I wouldn't use one for a business site either unless it was intricate to the name of the site (ie: Glenngary-Glennross..I have seen law firms use them in this fashion and it looks kind of cool), but that's just me.

The bad thing about hyphens is it is direct advertising and branding for the version of the domain without the hyphens..because people don't remember hyphens....used-widgets.com, is going to be sending traffic to usedwidgets.com all day long with it's outside advertising and promotions...and since they are in the same niche and offer the same or very similar things, the consumer will never know the difference...also people are brand conscious and associate value with perception. Does used-widgets.com have the same perceived authority as usedwidgets.com? Not really.used-widgets.com appears to be the second rate knock off of the original...usedwidgets.com. The copycat.

Is there enough to go around ? In most cased there is. used-widgets.com (with great content) will still see success, and tons of traffic with proper marketing and SEO, but it won't be the king, unless usedwidgets.com just sucks. (not to mention the other TLD's that are "usedwidgets" with every other extension, .net, .org, .tv, . ws, .info, .tel, .co.uk, and on and on...if they are all in use with "widget" sites on them, I would probably stay away).

I suppose if you find a killer keyword combination (and it's a ".com", ".net", or ".org") that is an exact match for a well used search term or phrase...it would be just fine, but I see people use hyphens for bastardized gibberish and reversed phrases all the time and to me that is a waste of $10.

Of course these are merely my opinions, they are not based on any set logic except my personal likes and dislikes.