Domain name help: Need your opinion

[sirkinm]

I'm purchasing a domain name for my site, and I want to be sure the name is good in terms of SEO value and branding. I'm using different names than the examples here, but the ones I'm considering are similar.

Do you feel that one of the two names below has an advantage over the other? Why?

How2LoseWeight.com
LoseWeightASAP.com

Let's throw these into the mix also -- any comments on these?

WeightLossGuy.com
HowtoLoseWeightNow.com
TheWeightLossGuide.com

Oh, and finally, what about: HowtoLoseWeight.biz

Feel free to buy these up (though I'm not sure if a single one is still available), cause I'm not really in the weight loss business. Thanks everyone!

Steve P. rulez!

[Daffy Duck]

I would use tools to see which of those keywords are highest in demand. I'm guessing that HowtoLoseWeightNow.com and TheWeightLossGuide.com would be the best.

[sirkinm]

Thanks Daffy. I'm curious to get other opinions to see if there's any kind of consesus.

[Rebecca800]

Hey Sirkinm

I learned through SBI that its better to have hyphens between each word in your domain. I know it may look a bit messy, but there are good reasons for it:

1. It enables search engines to distinguish individual words - so your keywords "lose weight" (or whatever!) will boost your ranking in every result

2. It's easier for humans to read at a glimpse than a string of letters - your Google results won't show the first letter of each word capitalized

(Hence my own domain choices, below!)

So I'd go for something like weight-loss-guide.com

[Karmacoma]

IMHO I think websites with those kind of names like howtoloseweightnow are tacky and cheap (please take no offence this is just my thinking). I prefer brand names which give more credibility.

[Jesse Ian Dunn]

I think How2LoseWeight and TheWeightLossGuide are the two winners, though I'd be more drawn to them as "howtoloseweight" and "weightlossguide." Hope that's helpful.

[sirkinm]

All good points -- thank you. I might have to sacrifice a little of the branding potential, because when you're just a small guy, you need as much keyword boosting as possible (though Karma, you're point on tackiness is well-taken).

Rebecca, about your point, I was wondering if it helped the search engine to have hyphens or not. I've heard that the search engine CAN pick out words in a long, unhyphenated string, but it's probably not as good as separating by hyphen (but who knows the mysteries of Google's algorithm).

[Brutha]

If someone tells their friend that he has read an article on a blog called
How2LoseWeight.com it's probably that the listener writes to instead of 2.

LoseWeightASAP.com is also problematic from a word of mouth perspective

Rebecca, about your point, I was wondering if it helped the search engine to have hyphens or not.

I think that googles algorithm is smart enough to separate the words without hyphens.

[TaylorLord]

I would rather go from a non SEO related domain name just because if you think about it there is so many variables if someone search how to loose weight in Google.

With this one I would probably suggest something that isn't so saturated like loosethefat.com or useitorlooseit.com(use your body or you will turn fat) then show the people that comes to your site how to loose weight.

I dunno try to think of something unique.

I searched "how to loose weight" and i got this:

Results 1 - 10 of about 26,500,000 for how to lose weight. (0.27 seconds)

there is nothing there for you to stand out.

You need something that stands out, something web 2.0 ish something that is easily remembered and that doesn't take 5 minutes to type out

Never the less, even if you cant figure out a awesomely cool name, attracting people with your content is whats going to make your or break you. The title doesn't matter too too much. I hope this helps a little!

[Lauxa]

I'm going to break the mold and vote for weightlossguy.com I just think it would be easier to remember.

I definitely think it would be best to leave out the "2"... if giving your address orally you don't want to have to make a clarification like that.

TheWeightLossGuide.com is all right, but it's hard to remember to the "the".

[Talkofthatown919]

WeightLossGuy.com

TheWeightLossGuide.com

^ imo those two are the most marketable

[MrSelfDevelopment]

I would go with "TheWeightLossGuide.com" .... my second choice would be "HowtoLoseWeightNow.com," but the second choice sounds a little bit like an infomercials Web site...When I read "HowtoLoseWeightNow.com" my immediate thought is someone trying to sell me something...

When I read "TheWeightLossGuide.com" I imagine someone giving me advice on weight loss.

Mr. Self Development