Domain Name Length in Appraisals

[DomainMart]

Almost all domain-name appraisal service providers use the length of a domain name as a predictor of branding success. Yet, there is no mention of the significance of the number of characters, as a major contributor to branding success, by branding academicians or by practitioners!

 

[Anthony Ng]

Length doesn't just mean the number of characters though.

 

[DomainMart]

Length doesn't just mean the number of characters though.

What does it mean?

 

[Anthony Ng]

What does it mean?

For instance, we have to consider the number of WORDS and that of syllables as well. And for visual branding purposes (such as print media), whether the alphabets contain ascenders and/or descenders also counts.

 

[DomainMart]

For instance, we have to consider the number of WORDS and that of syllables as well. And for visual branding purposes (such as print media), whether the alphabets contain ascenders and/or descenders also counts.

What you mention might be true, but the issue raised here is the length, i.e., the number of characters. If you look at almost all the appraisers, they explicitly have the number of characters as one of the predictors.

 

[Anthony Ng]

If you look at almost all the appraisers, they explicitly have the number of characters as one of the predictors.

That's because it is an indicator that could be easily quantified, esp. for machine (software)-run "appraisals" (if they can be called appraisals at all). The number of characters does count, but not as much as a differentiating factor as e.g. how commonly used the words are. Actually, you are right in pointing that out, as most (if not all) so-called domain appraisals are basically useless.

Hmm ... perhaps I should start my own appraisal shop. LOL!

 

[DomainQuay]

For instance, we have to consider the number of WORDS and that of syllables as well. And for visual branding purposes (such as print media), whether the alphabets contain ascenders and/or descenders also counts.

I agree.

Even for shorter names, it's also better if the letters are pronounceable as syllables rather than needing to be said individually.

For example, it's much harder to tell people about your site YXZTQ (pronounced Y-X-Z-T-Q, basically 5 syllables) than about your site Google (2 syllables), even though Google is longer.

 

[Bern]

I have a four-word DOT COM domain name with No dashes that almost 5 million web pages on Google are using as the Keyword Phrase in their page titles, PPC ads, etc. It's in a category that gets high adsense payouts.

Do those things increase the value of the name EVEN Tho its that long .. or make it lower because there's too much competition?

Would really appreciate opinions because I got an offer and am floundering on whether or not to accept. I ordered an appraisal from place it's parked, but reading this thread, am expecting something not too good if they go by length and don't take other things into consideration. Is there a domain appraisor who does spend some time on a name and not just use Metrics?

Thanks!
Bern

 

[Nova]

Short and sweet is certainly generally desirable, but it's by no means a rule. Many relatively "long" domains are worth just as big a fortune as many or most of the best shorter ones, and many "long" are worth much more than many "short." For instance, the appraisal boards see a lot of relatively short names, but not many of them come within a hundred miles of names like
ForSaleByOwner.com (reportedly bought for $835k) or CaliforniaRealEstate.com (three words, twenty letters, and quite a few syllables - I'm confident most of us would sure be glad to have it). So, I would be very careful about thinking one of your long names is worth less than it really is.

 

[BiggieBiggie is verified member.]

Short and sweet is certainly generally desirable, but it's by no means a rule. Many relatively "long" domains are worth just as big a fortune as many or most of the best shorter ones, and many "long" are worth much more than many "short." For instance, the appraisal boards see a lot of relatively short names, but not many of them come within a hundred miles of names like
ForSaleByOwner.com (reportedly bought for $835k) or CaliforniaRealEstate.com (three words, twenty letters, and quite a few syllables - I'm confident most of us would sure be glad to have it). So, I would be very careful about thinking one of your long names is worth less than it really is.

good points of observation!

short domains, particularly 3 letters will always command a ceratin value.

terms, that people type in browsers to finds info or products, will always command a certain value.

no matter what the length is!



the appraisal via a "machine" would always pick the 3 letter domain over the "term", if it is longer than three characters.
thus making that appraisal biased.


for branding a name, it depends on your biz model.
the best are one word domains and one word names that were "made-up" (like yahoo) followed by "two word" domains.

 

[Bern]

Thank you both for your advice. I remember now when ForSaleByOwner.com was in the news way-back-when and didn't think about that being four words and five syllables .. maybe I will hang tuff thinking about that. I got the appraisal back and it wasn't entirely machine made .. did tell me the term gets over 30,000 searches per month. (But my Parked Page doesn't!)
Thanks again!
Bern