The domain name I want to register is in German but I am hoping for some technical help on the principle.
I want to set up a website for our village Christmas market, which we are organising again this year.
The critical words are:
internationaler weihnachtsmarkt bayerisch eisenstein
We can't decide what to go for.
We could just do the 1st 2 words (international christmasmarket), which are available but I quite like the idea of bringing in the village name which is 2 words, although usually just 'Eisenstein is used'.
There are endless permutations, although hyphens will,I think, have to be used, because the words are so long.
I suppose my main question is, if words are run together, do the search engines identify them as separate words e.g.
www. internationaler-weihnachtsmarkt-bayerischeisenstein.de
Any thoughts? I know that the keywords or whatever they are called are important rather than the domain name.
Choosing a domain name
The domain name is still important though.
Debate rages on about hyphenated domains: Google for
seo hyphenated
and watch your day disappear!
I'm not sure if youre serious about that as a domain name or if it's just an example? It's awfully long!
I know German words ARE very long so there may be allowances for this in German google but in general, a long, hyphenated doman like that looks a bit spammy (for google) and is hard to remember (for people).
Why is 'international' important? Is it something people would search on?
Anyway, in answer to your main q, they should identify them as separate words, yes. Even without the hyphen. Your points about legibility are valid though, especially with such long words.
I might be wrong here, but I think you are quite well represented in Google in your area? So if you could be confident that anyone looking for the market would find it anyway, via your own links, I'd be inclined to make the name a bit shorter and easier...
Debate rages on about hyphenated domains: Google for
seo hyphenated
and watch your day disappear!
I'm not sure if youre serious about that as a domain name or if it's just an example? It's awfully long!
I know German words ARE very long so there may be allowances for this in German google but in general, a long, hyphenated doman like that looks a bit spammy (for google) and is hard to remember (for people).
Why is 'international' important? Is it something people would search on?
Anyway, in answer to your main q, they should identify them as separate words, yes. Even without the hyphen. Your points about legibility are valid though, especially with such long words.
I might be wrong here, but I think you are quite well represented in Google in your area? So if you could be confident that anyone looking for the market would find it anyway, via your own links, I'd be inclined to make the name a bit shorter and easier...
Last edited by Martha on Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
Yes, but if you are a high result for a search on your area, a carefully titled page on your blog could rank very well, very fast. Having just looked, you are all over the place if I look for Eisenstein Bavaria.
I imagine that trying to rank for a term as popular as 'Christmas Market' would be very dificult, and adding the village name wold make it very cumbersome.
But the amount of competition for all those words together on google is probably not too much. If you want to test this, just make a post on your blog about it and then search. You normally see results within an hour.
That's why I wondered if something memorable might be more important in this case. You can probably take care of Google by your own efforts, but the domain will be used elsewhere as well e.g. leaflets, brochures. It's hard to judge without speaking the language and knowing the market though, as you do
I imagine that trying to rank for a term as popular as 'Christmas Market' would be very dificult, and adding the village name wold make it very cumbersome.
But the amount of competition for all those words together on google is probably not too much. If you want to test this, just make a post on your blog about it and then search. You normally see results within an hour.
That's why I wondered if something memorable might be more important in this case. You can probably take care of Google by your own efforts, but the domain will be used elsewhere as well e.g. leaflets, brochures. It's hard to judge without speaking the language and knowing the market though, as you do
Last edited by Martha on Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
Whatever it's for, it is still far too long. Looking on Google.de, if you search on 'weihnachtsmarkt' most websites seem to have the town, then -weihnachtsmarkt, e.g. Stuttgarter-weihnachtsmarkt.de, far more memorable and managable, even if you are German.
Mark Twain wrote:
Mark Twain wrote:
In my note-book I find this entry:
July 1. -- In the hospital yesterday, a word of thirteen syllables was successfully removed from a patient -- a North German from near Hamburg; but as most unfortunately the surgeons had opened him in the wrong place, under the impression that he contained a panorama, he died. The sad event has cast a gloom over the whole community.
Faaaar too long, Margaret!!
Please see my post in this similar discussion here in the forum viewtopic.php?t=6235
Search engines can NOT separate the words and humans will find it difficult, too.
A nice example I came across recently on another forum:
Lets assume your company is called Pen Island. Are you going to name your domain penisland.com ?
I don't think so, and even if, how will you make sure google gets it right?
why not www.eisensteiner-weihnachtsmarkt.de ?
available, readable and precise.
Please see my post in this similar discussion here in the forum viewtopic.php?t=6235
Search engines can NOT separate the words and humans will find it difficult, too.
A nice example I came across recently on another forum:
Lets assume your company is called Pen Island. Are you going to name your domain penisland.com ?
I don't think so, and even if, how will you make sure google gets it right?
why not www.eisensteiner-weihnachtsmarkt.de ?
available, readable and precise.
But then I am not sure about Eisensteiner as a word. It is grammatically correct BUT it is not the name of the village. so www.eisenstein-weihnachtsmarkt.de would probably be my preference.
Another point to all this which is maybe being missed, is that it will be a German site for mainly German searches. It will have an English page. We come up everywhere for searches for Bavaria, Eisenstein etc. but only of Google.com. If you search for Bayern, Eisenstein etc. in Google.de, we are difficult to find, in spite of having a wholly German site with a German URL - but hosted in the UK. We are in the process of fixing that.
Another point to all this which is maybe being missed, is that it will be a German site for mainly German searches. It will have an English page. We come up everywhere for searches for Bavaria, Eisenstein etc. but only of Google.com. If you search for Bayern, Eisenstein etc. in Google.de, we are difficult to find, in spite of having a wholly German site with a German URL - but hosted in the UK. We are in the process of fixing that.
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Rocket Rab
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only Google knows...
Again, I am only stating what I have read on various sources that I trust. Many tests have been made and according to these results, google can not separate the words. This seems logical to me because how is google supposed to know how to separate them?
From what I know Google focusses on the content, meta tags and links. This is where it gets its information from. Else, how would you explain that BBC pitches up at the top of the list if you search for news.
Martha, thanks for the link.
Again, I am only stating what I have read on various sources that I trust. Many tests have been made and according to these results, google can not separate the words. This seems logical to me because how is google supposed to know how to separate them?
From what I know Google focusses on the content, meta tags and links. This is where it gets its information from. Else, how would you explain that BBC pitches up at the top of the list if you search for news.
Martha, thanks for the link.
Indeed, only Google knows! It's pretty smart though. But it's just one of many, many factors as you say.
Meta tags I really think are less important now. Meta Descriptions more so I believe?
http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors
Meta tags I really think are less important now. Meta Descriptions more so I believe?
http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix