Hyphenated Math

[butler65]

Hello everyone. I am new to DNForum and looking forward to my experience here. I will get straight to my question which is in regard to buying domain names that have a prefix then a hyphen and then a generic word.

In using the Overture Keyword Selector tool as well as Overture's View Bid tool one is certainly able to see the end result a word brings. For example in using the Keyword Selector tool the search term "loan" brings a count of 1,080,369. In using the View Bid tool for the search term "loan" the Advertisers Max Bid shows $3.83 at the top with plenty of advertiser bids.

It seems then that we could assume that the word "loan" is fair enough to consider. Okay, now, we put a prefix. Let's use the word "my" to create the domain name myloan.com. Here's where the math changes. Now, using your keyword selector tool and your view bid tool you search on the term "myloan". There shows a count for 234 for the term "myloan" under the keyword selector tool and there are is one bid for the term "myloan" for $.05.

Now then, take the same name but put in a hyphen and use "my-loan" the keyword selector tool is back up to it's original count of 1,080,369 as is the view bid tool at $3.83.

Okay, quickly jump to google and type in "my-loan" and you will get 237,000 results. Now, type in "myloan" and you get 36,100. There's some numbers dropping here.

Now, I would have to imagine that some "prefixes" would be better than others as should you put the word "got" in place of "my" and the results go severely down hill.

So, help me out here. Am I missing something or are the hyphens not so bad after all? Is it that hyphens need to be used wisely? Any and all input is very appreciated. Again, thank you.

[MediaHound]

Hi Butler,
Overture isn't all that precise.
Notice that
my loan
the loan
a loan
all get the same results served up.
Overture removes certain 'helper' words from your input.
Descriptive or supporting words are often disregarded.

Wordtracker is another useful resource for researching these sort of things, nice to be able to compare results with another somewhat decent sized, though much smaller, search engine.

Back to your question, hyphens are good for some situations.
Search engines love 'em, and sometimes people will actually type a hyphen when surfing, to take a blind stab to see whats there. These users are often more advanced than your average surfer, (one who isnt aware of the ability to type a hyphen in the URL, or just as soon type an ^ and expect results), and so they are usually a little more weary to click PPC links. Basically what it comes down to is not to expect boggling traffic that converts well with hyphenated names.
Unless, of course, the domain was a previous website with clickins from old links, and so this theory is null.
Hyphenated names are great to market to end users, a lot of sales are made in this arena, but dont expect massive returns in the meantime while you wait to catch your fish.

Hope this helps!
Welcome to the forum!

[ShaunP]

Hello everyone. I am new to DNForum and looking forward to my experience here. I will get straight to my question which is in regard to buying domain names that have a prefix then a hyphen and then a generic word.

In using the Overture Keyword Selector tool as well as Overture's View Bid tool one is certainly able to see the end result a word brings. For example in using the Keyword Selector tool the search term "loan" brings a count of 1,080,369. In using the View Bid tool for the search term "loan" the Advertisers Max Bid shows $3.83 at the top with plenty of advertiser bids.

It seems then that we could assume that the word "loan" is fair enough to consider. Okay, now, we put a prefix. Let's use the word "my" to create the domain name myloan.com. Here's where the math changes. Now, using your keyword selector tool and your view bid tool you search on the term "myloan". There shows a count for 234 for the term "myloan" under the keyword selector tool and there are is one bid for the term "myloan" for $.05.

Now then, take the same name but put in a hyphen and use "my-loan" the keyword selector tool is back up to it's original count of 1,080,369 as is the view bid tool at $3.83.

Okay, quickly jump to google and type in "my-loan" and you will get 237,000 results. Now, type in "myloan" and you get 36,100. There's some numbers dropping here.

Now, I would have to imagine that some "prefixes" would be better than others as should you put the word "got" in place of "my" and the results go severely down hill.

So, help me out here. Am I missing something or are the hyphens not so bad after all? Is it that hyphens need to be used wisely? Any and all input is very appreciated. Again, thank you.

With all due respect, why depend on other opinions? Invest $40 - $50 and register 6-8 names and prove it yourself?

Right?

Shaun

[Honan]

Maybe a "space" and a "dash" are the same thing according to overture and google.
In overture my-loan is my loan, so the results for both are actually just for loan
Try searching in google on "my loan" and then "my-loan" with the quotes
What do you get?

[MediaHound]

With all due respect, why depend on other opinions? Invest $40 - $50 and register 6-8 names and prove it yourself?

Right?

Shaun

That's up there as some of the best advice you'll ever get on this board!

Do as everyone else does, expect what everyone else expects.

Reach for the stars!

[butler65]

Thank you all for your input. I had made that investment and registered some names. It seemed to be verified by my results through searching. Hence, my posting as I thought maybe I was missing something. I don't expect much out of these but will wait to see how or if they pay for themselves parked.

I have them listed rather high at sedo with no minimum based on the results of the Network Solutions Certified Offer service. I chose to list them this way as I am interested in seeing how they do parked over a number of months. As good domain names are so hard to find these days I thought I'd give these a try to see what happens.

Again, thank you all for your input. Please also know that I posted this question here as after having read many threads before posting I saw some very informative responses to other posts. Your replies have been helpful and I do appreciate your input. I am glad to have found my way here as it is a great place to exchange thoughts, opinions and ideas.