Generic website names that feature descriptive words of products and services deliver significantly higher click-through rates (CTRs) and overall clicks than those with non-generic domain names.
Memorable Domains created a Google AdWords PPC campaign using electric bicycles as a test. It set up identical ads with three domain names:
* ElectricBicycles.co.uk (generic domain name with an exact product match)
* YourBikes.co.uk (an alternative generic domain name)
* InAHurry.co.uk (a non-generic name)
According to the test, ads featuring the generic domain name with an exact match to the product had a CTR that was 15% better than identical ads featuring the alternative generic, and 42% better than ads featuring the non-generic domain.
In the same test, the “ideal” generic ElectricBicycles.co.uk ads produced 45% more clicks than the “reasonable” YourBikes.co.uk ads, and 105% more clicks than the InAHurry.co.uk ads, which did not intuitively explain the product.
The results indicate that while the use of generic keywords is important, the choice of the domain name itself is also critical.
The exception to these findings is in cases where the generic name is an established brand or website with a strong awareness and trust factor for the product or service search terms in question. Even in such cases, a generic domain name has potential value in targeting very specific product or service search terms with an appropriate keyword-rich domain. Established brands might then consider a generic name for mini-sites associated with a particular product, service or ad campaign.
DKD DomainNews