MKA
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The TLD (or extension) of a domain is usually brought into focus when discussing the value of domains. But there isn't much of a discussion to be had, the .com is King: the .com is going to command a higher price than any other extension.
But one discussion that's usually glossed over is that of the SLD, particularly what is the best SLD, presupposing that we've settled on a particular word or phrase. e.g. initiate.com vs initiative.com or cloudscale.com vs cloudscaling.com.
This is of course of key importance in negotiating the sale of a domain, because we want to make sure what we have the best version of the word or phrase, just as we want to make sure that we have the .com. We want to make sure that if the client walks away from our initial negotiation they will return and not settle for an alternative.
These differences specifically refer to morphemes of root words which there are two kids: inflectional affixes, and derivation affixes.
The root word is the word in its base form, e.g. "run"
An inflectional affix is one that doesn't change meaning but does change the grammatical form of the word, e.g. "running"
A derivational affix is a new word created from the root word, e.g. "runner."
So how do we know that we've got the best version of SLD?
90% of the time the root word is best, 9% of the time the plural (inflectional affix) is best, and 1% some other morpheme is best.
So how do you figure out whether or not the domains you own have the best SLDs?
But one discussion that's usually glossed over is that of the SLD, particularly what is the best SLD, presupposing that we've settled on a particular word or phrase. e.g. initiate.com vs initiative.com or cloudscale.com vs cloudscaling.com.
This is of course of key importance in negotiating the sale of a domain, because we want to make sure what we have the best version of the word or phrase, just as we want to make sure that we have the .com. We want to make sure that if the client walks away from our initial negotiation they will return and not settle for an alternative.
These differences specifically refer to morphemes of root words which there are two kids: inflectional affixes, and derivation affixes.
The root word is the word in its base form, e.g. "run"
An inflectional affix is one that doesn't change meaning but does change the grammatical form of the word, e.g. "running"
A derivational affix is a new word created from the root word, e.g. "runner."
So how do we know that we've got the best version of SLD?
90% of the time the root word is best, 9% of the time the plural (inflectional affix) is best, and 1% some other morpheme is best.
So how do you figure out whether or not the domains you own have the best SLDs?
- Dotdb.com direct comparisons: which is registered in more extensions, cloduscale or cloudscaling?
- Dotdb.com indirect comparisons: Replace the word "cloud" with some other (related) keyword, e.g. serverscale.com vs serverscaling.com or capitalscale.com vs capitalscaling.com.
- Grammar: Is the phrase grammatically coherent? "Obese cure" should be "obesity cure," so obesitycure.com is better.
- Length and syllable count: Shorter domains that are quick to pronounce are generally more valuable.
- The radio test: Is there any ambiguity in the pronunciation of either version of the domain?
- Phonetic tricks: Rhymes and other tricks that makes the domain memorable, snailmail.com rhymes, snailmailer.com doesn't.
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