Too tense

[auAppraisals]

Hi All,

Just wanted a quick straw poll on whether people have an opinion on the preferred tense of domain names (assuming the same domain extension). E.g. which is better:

paint
painting
painter
painted
-or-
buy
buying
buyer
bought

You might immediately think that 'paint' or 'buy' was better because it is shorter and includes all other terms, but, in practical terms, which is most likely to be searched on, and which is likely to be most acceptable to the general public?

For what it's worth, I would say that 'painting', though longer, conveys more than just 'paint'.

Is there a golden rule, or does it depend on the term?

 

[findtim]

my opinion is it has to match the end result you are selling

fence paint, selling paint
fence painting, service
fence painter, 1 man band

painted i don't like

buy fences, selling
buying, don't like
buyer, don't like
bought, don't like

there's 2 things, natural search volume or brandability, if you can get both you should have a good domain.

tim

 

[Horshack]

I would have thought "paint" myself.

 

[Philip Littlewood]

Naturally the plural lends itself to a directory ie painters.com.au

 

[auAppraisals]

Agree with what's been said, but what about 'bake':

bake
baking
baker
baked

Again, I prefer 'baking' over 'bake'.

 

[findtim]

for me it always comes back to HOW do people use it in relation to what you intend to do with it, and this is important even if you just want to sell it as you will need to explain it to the potential buyer.

adding an "s" pushes to a directory, changing from a "y " to and "er alters the purpose eg: photography, photographer , both good domains depending on the user, photographers, suggests a directory, photograph is shorter but for me lacks in value, dubbophotograph would probably get more visits !

so ask yourself, what are you going to do with it or who are you going to sell it to.

i was walking through carlton a while ago and there were pizza signs, some said "wood fire pizza" some said " wood fired pizza " ? either way i think i'd end up with a pizza

tim

 

[eBranding.com.au]

I don't like past tense terms. 'Painted' and 'Baked' are both bad options.

If you're a painter, then 'painter' would be the best term ('painters' if you run a business with employees), if you're a baker - you would actually want 'bakery' to describe your business. If you sell paint, you would want 'paint' E.g. 'paintshop.com.au', if you sell baked food though, you would want 'bakery'.

As to whether singular or plural is best, it depends on the terms. 'Whisky' is commonly used to refer to both singular and multiple products, it's the same for 'wine' and 'beer'. For example: commonly used terms are 'wine shop' and 'whisky bar', not 'wines shop' and 'whiskies bar'.

In other cases, you would use the plural given you sell items, not 'an item'. For example, if you sell books, then 'book.com.au' would not be as good as using 'books.com.au' (putting aside the fact that they're both great names, and book.com.au could be used for accommodation bookings etc).

It's all about context - there is no golden rule of plural, tense etc that applies across the board. It all comes down to the intended users/buyers and the commonly used terms to describe the industry, business or product in question.

Basically, it's common sense. What's the phrasing that people use? That's the term you should be using.

 

[snoopy]

Would regard "painting" as the best term,

Painting has fairly good commercial focus and fairly popular as a term.
Paint is very popular with low commercial focus.
Painter is is not that popular but very strong commercially.

 

[auAppraisals]

I don't like past tense terms. 'Painted' and 'Baked' are both bad options.

I agree...I can't think of a past-tense option that works for me, other than perhaps 'sold' as a brand choice.

 

[Data Glasses]

i don't mind baked, but don't like painted, but then again it is nearly lunchtime ??
~
i think each situation is different , tyms response seems about right