Thread: 'Bad English' in domain names

Some websites use what might be called 'bad English' in their domain names, and I was wondering what you guys think of this idea.
Probably the most extreme example of this I've seen is a site that uses 'spex', for specs or spectacles.
But it's also fairly common to see '4' being used instead of 'for', and 'u' being used instead of you.

It's a good way to get some easy to remember and decent domains and I don't really see anything wrong with that.

I'm not quite sure what you actually wanted to know though. Can you explain a bit more?

A few years ago when I started teaching English I couldn't find a domain with my keywords in it, everything had already been registered so I bought a domain with the correct spelling of English, but left out the a in learn.

It worked well for me, I had a small explanation at the top of the page so when other teachers wanted to link to me they could see that the choice of domain was play on how difficult English can be for second language students.

Sometimes a slang term is more popular than the official word. I agree with Khan that it can be good when the domainname memorable. However it can be inconvenient for offline promotion where you have to explain the spelling.

I think it doesn't matter actually but sometimes it does when you are in a competition.

People buy 'slang words' domains because 90% times 'correct word' domains are not available. So, its better to have a domain name with same meaning with little different spellings.

Some people also buy 'wrong domains' because they want to get free type-in traffic... Like if Hostgator.com is well known, someone could buy hostgatorr.com, if someone mistypes the domain than that person gets free traffic

But what you say is probably because it's easier.. I remember that I wanted to buy 'Uzeless.com' for 'Useless' stuff.. but so far I never did it (maybe it's bought already)

The reason I would've done that is because the domain useless.com was sold


Greetz

You have to be careful when choosing domains that look or sound similar to registered trademarks. The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization has a track record of confiscating domain names which are vaguely similar to registered trademarks.

For example, the U.N. confiscated gotpimpdaddy.com and pimpdaddydomain.com because of a claim that the domains were too similar to "godaddy."

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

For example, the U.N. confiscated gotpimpdaddy.com and pimpdaddydomain.com because of a claim that the domains were too similar to "godaddy."

Can someone from the U.N. even type WWDoubleU I mean Gouwgal you know what I mean!

Originally Posted by keynes

Some websites use what might be called 'bad English' in their domain names, and I was wondering what you guys think of this idea.
Probably the most extreme example of this I've seen is a site that uses 'spex', for specs or spectacles.
But it's also fairly common to see '4' being used instead of 'for', and 'u' being used instead of you.

Very good question. I worked a web site for sale domain, I had to study topics. Enough of the doom and gloom, the fact remains that some domain names do have value, and some have significant value. The majority of domain names are essentially worthless. This is what no appraisal system, domain name may be worth less than you paid for it. This is especially true if you've had to substitute numbers for letters, like studio4massage.com or if your domain name relies on multiple hyphens, like a-sensitivity-beautiful-women.com You need only visit a large domain auction site... Of course, you can always generate value in a domain name by developing it into a website no matter how bad the original domain name was.

I think there are some really good domains that use bad english and others that are really bad. It really depends on who is visiting the site and the other words included in the domain name.