Which Do You Prefer - Singular Or Plural

[Gerry]

There are some words that make sense and look good and sound good either way.

For example (these are not the actual words I am considering):

comic and comics
Comic as a stand alone word does not seem correct yet there is a huge following of Comic Con.
Comics would be a better choice for a collection of comics yet whenever I hear anyone talk about comics they are talking about comic books.

gun and guns
There is a gun collection. But doesn't that make it a collection of guns?

This singular and plural thing will drive you nuts.

 

[asfas]

I think comic means funny and is an adjective, so it's probably correct with a noun next to it
while comics is a noun and can be standalone

so it's not the same word in plural in that sense

while guns is indeed the plural of gun

 

[JohnnJohnn is verified member.]

Mostly singular as people are lazy nowadays to type in the s

 

[RTM.net]

I'm more with what asfas said - and also, Google's Adwords Keyword tool is a good indicator. It depends on the usage of the term in the singular and plural term. As mentioned, comic is an adjective , and stands perfectly well alone. Smoking Gun is more relevant than Smoking Guns.... smartphones would be better than smartphone... drugs also better and indicates wider coverage than the singular drug ...

Again, if the term is used as an adjective for the content on the site, the singular works well. If it's specifically about the term than the plural is better.

IMHO

 

[Daniel Levi]

It's absolutely a case by case basis. I prefer the plural version for lead gen sites. For example, Tutors.com would make more sense for a lead gen site than Tutor.com. However, a geo+service domain such as ChicagoDentist.com is better than ChicagoDentists.com if you plan to team up with only one dentist and send him all the leads.

eCommerce domains also make much more sense when they are pluralized. Televisions.com is better than Television.com, and the list goes on and on for product domains. Plural is almost always better.

Informational domains such as Elephants.com are better pluralized if you are looking to develop them most often. Although Elephant.com could sell for much higher and serve as a terrific brand, I'm exclusively thinking about it with my developer hat on.

At the end of the day, it really depends on your personal situation/keywords. Usually the plural version is better, but there are always exceptions. A true case by case basis.

 

[stewie]

for me it's case by case... No real general answer to the question. The example of gun or guns....I'm taking guns.

Many more factors to consider , like price or intended use etc...

But good question one I have dealt with many a time or times...lol

 

[Gerry]

Thank you for all the replies. I can see that most of us has encountered this situation on more than one occasion.

 

[Shane]

It's funny that someone mentioned smartphones vs smartphone as I was recently in an auction for smartphone.net. I ended up paying off my car rather than buying the domain.

Back to the subject -- I like plurals when it makes sense. For example, I would prefer HardDrives.com over HardDrive.com. While HardDrive.com would make for a great cloud storage website, HardDrives.com would be better suited for selling hard drives or reviewing hard drives. I guess in the end it comes down to what you intend to do with the domain.