Plural vs. Singular

[MacyT.]

This may be discussed somewhere else on this forum, but I couldn't locate anything when I searched...

Is there a general tendency for one or the other to generate more traffic/revenue? And if so, if say, just as an example - swivelstool.com is already taken, would swivelstools.com still be a decent buy?

 

[Theo]

It depends on the use of the word.

E.g. foam.com is preferred over foams.com but I'd rather have boats.com instead of boat.com

You have to research each keyword before committing to a purchase of a generic. Because there are no more decent ones left in the wild

 

[MacyT.]

Thanks. I know with some generics it's obvious, but I have a couple of two keyword domains that I bought as both singular and plural. It's still early, but both seem to be getting equal amount of traffic (the singular gets slightly more).

So I wasn't sure if when I was ready to sell, the singular would be worth a great deal more just for a little extra traffic.

 

[rianvisser]

Sure it will be a good buy. Especially if you start a website with information on a variety of different swivelstools.

I think it all depends on the type of site you run. Earlier this year I started a scam letter database website. I regged the domain scamletters.com - Plural - which was perfect for the site.

 

[elitedomains]

As Acroplex said, it really just depends on what keywords you are talking about... I would rather have usedcars.com than usedcar.com , but would rather have hotgirls.com than hotgirl.com -

 

[TragicDomains]

what about video vs. videos?

I'm never sure about this one.. it seems like my domains with video get more traffic than the ones with videos...

 

[afcassidy]

I think these rules apply for every single possible situation.

Does the term sound more natural with video or videos?

 

[Biggie]

i hand regged a loan typo in singular version

after a couple of days it got a few hits ...

1 click paid $2.34

so i regged the plural thereafter...

1 click paid $2.54


for video


i'd rather have videos

i'd rather have movies over movie


i'd rather have lyrics over lyric

though i'd rather have report over reports, as the latter is suspect to rumor.

where report is considered more factual.


i'd rather have tv over tv's, just because i'd have a 2 letter domain

i'd surely like to have more women ....rather than just one!


and a lot of checks is better than one check, unless that one check is really big


having a variety of subjects to read is better than one subject

but i'd rather have one loyal subject, than a nation of unruly bastards ...

 

[Nova]

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy, and would definitely prefer bottles in front of me to frontal lobotomies.

 

[TragicDomains]

johnnywalkerbluelabels.com

OR

johnnywalkerbluelabel.com

???



Seriously though, I just did a search the other day for adding 'flash video' to my site. Then it occurred to me that I could reg. flashvideo.com. Of course it was taken (and would probably infringe even if I could have registered it). But then there is the concept of 'flashy video' which hadn't yet been taken.

I saw that 'flash videos' had about 1/10th the google search hits that 'flash video' has, and so I regged flashyvideo.com instead of the plural.. I like the domain, but I should have got the plural too I suppose; Seconds after I confirmed the availability of flashyvideos.com with Networksolutions someone regged it (makes me wonder if someone was sniffing my packets.. argh!!!).. In any case, now someone else has it and they have set up a pretty snazzy parked page with some pretty cool 'flashy videos' to boot... oh vell...

in any case, it sounds like video monetization is going to be the wave of the future.. check out flashyvideos.com and look what the guy has done.. looks fairly professional.. keep in mind that he slapped this site up in under 24 hours.. with a logo and everything..

(btw.. upyo.com is perfect!!!--how much?)

 

[Nova]

Outrageous Ginger Ale

How do they put those video sites up so fast like that? I've seen one or two others that seemed to go up fast, including on a domain I dropped some time ago. Is there some turnkey viral video thing out there or something?

Anyway, back on topic, it really does depend on the word. Sometimes singular and plural are more or less tied for value, and sometimes...

 

[TragicDomains]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of template for video landing pages like there are for normal parking pages..

as far as singular and plural go.. it seems like everyone I talk to has a different opinion.. for me, I think the plural can add confusion especially when you are telling someone which site to go to verbally.. (the ends of words tend to get lost in sound bites unless hearing conditions are idea).. as far as semantic meaning is concerned plural is sometimes better...

.. in any case.. its definitely worth discussing..

I would honestly like to see a complete list of every domain name ever sold. I know soldnames has some.. but I know there are a lot more names out there.. if I could see a master list of all domain names sold (since the start of domaining), then I could do a statistical comparison of singular and plural prices.. (I think the diamond name that sold for 7 million was singular.. but now I forget ).

anyways,
thanks for the advice guys..

 

[carlton]

It depends on the use of the word.

E.g. foam.com is preferred over foams.com but I'd rather have boats.com instead of boat.com

You have to research each keyword before committing to a purchase of a generic. Because there are no more decent ones left in the wild

Ditto on Acro's point regarding depends on use of the word.

what about video vs. videos?

I'm never sure about this one.. it seems like my domains with video get more traffic than the ones with videos...

This is a good example I think of how both the singular and plural have very good value and applicability. Loan and loans are kind of the same thing ... though I tend to like the plurals most of the time.

 

[dcristo]

Plural is usually better but it depends. For example, Games.com would be better the Game.com as it makes more sense and would get more searches/type-in traffic.

 

[RTM.net]

Unless the usual use of the plural form is in the collective sense; i.e. fish and not fishes... then I usually prefer the plural form. That being said, if you can... get em both.

Which is better: new.com or news.com ? blue.com or blues.com ?

I run adsenseforums.com as well as adsenseworld.com - I specifically chose those singular and plural forms - like many above, I think it really depends on specific words and usage.

Rob

 

[Kventures]

...

 

[MacyT.]

Very good thread, I myself have thought about this also!

Yes, everyone's comments have been very helpful. Glad this thread finally caught some attention!

 

[dherwan]

Unless the usual use of the plural form is in the collective sense

Which is better: new.com or news.com ? blue.com or blues.com ?

Yes I agree, one character can make a big different interpretation

 

[jca]

I just wanted to revive this thread about plural versus singular domain names.

Which would be better in this example:

fbworm.com or fbworms.com?

(For a site about Facebook virus descriptions/warnings. These are just examples, not real domain names.)

 

[Tia Wood]

Which would be better in this example:

fbworm.com or fbworms.com?

It depends on the content:

fbworm.com - Site about the fbworm
fbworms.com - site about all fbworms

webdeveloper.com - site promoting 1 web developer
webdevelopers.com - site targeted to all web developers

domain.com - the singular is awkward in this example
domains.com - this is what people would refer to most

What's better? To have both singular and plural if you can.