: Generic or brandable name for blog This question looked like a duplicate, but it's actually talking about domains in general which may include company domains. My question is about blog domains.

@Jennifer507

3 things you need to consider


You need to think of the long-term goal. So ask yourself, Do you stick with python for a long time? If you say "yes" then go with pyclass.com
During my recent testing, a domain name which actually tells what the domain is about, is more likely people to remember and follow. Kind of similar effect to taglines for a company.
The 3rd thing is, In the future you may have an idea of covering another language, but you may not cover since the domain is on the python. So based on the long term plan decide it.


Good luck.

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@Sherry384

I am not sure what is branded about pyclass.com. A brand is a "Top of Mind" name that people would search for specifically at minimum. According to domain tools, this domain name was registered this year, but there are also hints that the domain name existed before with a rough and unstable history. Pythonhow.com has a cleaner history. This is important for trust.

It really is a choice at this point between the two. Both domains are of the same relative value with one significant exception - semantics. The domain name pyclass.com would have almost no semantic value whereas pythonhow.com would have more. Keep in mind that semantic value is based upon terms being found in an ontology or a well established brand which you do not have at this point. So for pyclass.com, class is the only term of value whereas for pythonhow.com you would have python and how. The next thing to do is a simple search for py class and python how to see which one returns results similar to your topic. I will save you the effort and tell you it is pythonhow.com. Though direct term matches against domain names are lower on the list and mostly happens last if at all, the semantic value of the domain name is a significant factor in returning results - one of the top factors in fact.

[Update]

-Maybe I was trying to say "brandable", not branded.

There is no such thing as brandable. I have been building businesses my entire adult life including back in high-school. There is one truth about brands. You do not make them- you enable them- people make brands and you do not have control over the process.

There is no such thing as a formula that makes one thing brandable. Xerox as a brand for example, would not have happened without a killer product in every office. Pepsi as a brand followed it's main and well known ingredient pepsin which was already in every household and had been for a century. Coca-Cola had a much harder time. Coca was taken from the coca plant from South America and the kola nut from Africa which no one was familiar with. Rebranding as Coke was necessary. Kleenex was the first on the market.

What a brand has to be first and foremost is memorable, and "Top of Mind" which is a marketing concept meaning the first to come to mind when solving a problem. You may have Scotties facial tissue in your house, but you call them Kleenex.

I go back to value.

Funny names and spelling make branding harder. Xerox would not have happened except for the a killer product. The brand name means nothing to us. Same with Coca-Cola. It meant nothing. Pepsi, on the other hand was based on pepsin which was in every medicine cabinet. It meant something automatically.

A brand is something that is memorable and top of mind. Top of mind is something memorable. Getting the pattern yet??

I also go back to the semantic value of a domain name. Any domain name that contains terms/words that exist in an ontology which is a semantics database one of which is a dictionary work best. Remember my example of doing a search for the terms within the domain name? It is imperative that the terms within the domain name match search intent. This means that the search query results should match what the site is about. As well, known terms are memorable. Trust me. I have had many domain names of various names over the years. I was one of the first web hosts and registered ISPs in the world and a principle presenter at ISPOne for exactly that reason. I have handled thousands of domain names over the years. I personally had registered over 300 at one point. The ones that worked best are the ones people can already tie to intent and are easily remembered. The domain names that did not fall within this category failed.

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