A question about geo-targeted EMDs

[Kay]

Let's say I want to buy a geo-targeted EMD and I've found some suitable ones. Which do you think is better?

a) LosAngelesWidgetsSite dot org (the .com is already taken)

or

b) LAWidgetsSite dot com and org

I like "b" better because it's shorter and also easier to type. I can also get the .com which seems like an advantage to me. However, although it includes LA it doesn't actually include the city name. Which would you buy?

[grynge]

LA is probably an easy one because the search engines tend to know LA stands for los Angeles the problem is when you get to something like SA which most of the world thinks is South Africa but us here in Australia know it to be South Australia. That is one thing to look at before grabbing the domains if it is a well known shorthand then yeah go for the short one.

The other thing to think about is where is the traffic coming from? Advertising then the shorter the better or SE's then it doesn't really matter how long your name is.

[tke71709]

I prefer A if you're looking to buy a EMD to get a boost in the SEs.

The goal of an exact match EMD is to get SE traffic so I don't worry too much about inconveniencing my visitors a bit if they choose to return later.

[Kay]

Thanks, I was thinking along similar lines. I've hedged my bets a bit by going for LA instead of Los Angeles, but San Francisco rather than SF (science fiction?). I did do some searches first, and I agree that LA is very commonly used, whereas SF isn't a common abbreviation for San Francisco.

[KenW3]

For an EMD, spelling the name out is often likely to generate higher results in G's keyword tool, but it never hurts to check. For exact searches, Los Angeles Attorney has almost six times the number of searches on exact. For a radio, TV or print ads, I would prefer the shorter LAAttorney.com. Los Angeles Restaurant only has twice the number of exact searches as LARestaurant.

For an EMD, spelling the name out eliminates confusion. LA is also the state abbreviation for Louisiana here in the states. Although LA is not necessarily specific to Los Angeles, the new geotargeted .LA TLD will be for used for this city instead of the state.

[Kay]

Crikey, I didn't know that Laos had sold out to Los Angeles. I'll try to keep up at the back - it appears that this happened in 2007! It sounds quite promising but really it's just another thing like .tv or .co isn't it. And people will generally go for the .com, won't they? I think I'll give .LA a miss for now, but thanks for the heads up anyway. The .LAs are expensive too. 50 bucks a year on the place you linked to.

[Dave McM]

the problem is when you get to something like SA which most of the world thinks is South Africa but us here in Australia know it to be South Australia

...and which in TLD terms is actually Saudi Arabia, so it's even more confusing than that. (South Africa is .za, which is a bit odd, as even in Afrikaans it's Suid-Afrika.)

I suppose you can't really blame the Lao government for cashing in - Laos must have one of the lowest connectivity rates in the world in both absolute and per capita terms, whereas Los Angeles must have one of the highest.

[crabfoot]

South Africa is .za, which is a bit odd, as even in Afrikaans it's Suid-Afrika.

Not at all odd = if you happen to be a Zulu ... ananzi?

[Dave McM]

Nope - South Africa in isiZulu is iRiphabliki yaseNingizimu Afrika.

Apparently (if Wikipedia's to be believed) they came up with the ISO code za back in 1974, and based it on Dutch (presumably as a near alternative to Afrikaans) - Zuid-Afrika. That sounds reasonably plausible - I can't imagine the South African government of the time taking black majority considerations into account.

[grynge]

I was sort of talking about the search engines lol and not the standards, I don't think I have ever seen SA come up in a search as Saudi Arabia and I have probably done more than my fair share of them. But then I haven't done a search from any of the arab states so the results could be completely different over there.

You have to wonder how the new lot of soon to be released tld's are going to be handled. Maybe I should apply for .oz lol I wonder who will apply for .usa or maybe I should apply for .ing lol now that would give way to some great domain names.