Does the A1 name work as marketing?

[steveteva]

I see many companies that called A1something (someting =plumbing, carrepairs, flowerdelivery....) and have the same domain name.
This was because in the past year if you were in the Yellow page or any directories, you'll be ranked on top of it as alphabetic and numerical (A1) is first to be displayed. Also A1 is like saying Top, best, high ranked....

Is this still true today, do you recommend someone to have a company and website called A1-something? or end users (consumers) won't understand why and what is A1?

Because I'm planning to start a company with A1-something and have to buy the domain name (a1-something.com, with dash) from someone selling it, I need your advices.

How SEO will affected, will that bring my website high ranked if well seo or Google don't really like A1 stuff as I never see any A1-something.com on any 1 st page of google ranked from any keywords?

Thank you

[TechEvangelist]

Using A1 will not give you any SEO advantage. It shouldn't hurt either.

The reason why so many companies have used A1-whatever for their name is because the company will show up in the first position in Yellow Page telephone directories and other alphabetical listings.

[wige]

Think of it this way - as a consumer, would you trust a company named "A1 Widgets"? I kind of seems spammy to me, and especially with online consumers you have to establish trust throughout the customer experience.

[theengel]

Or you could get ahead of the A1 by going AAA or AAAA.

It's silly. Go with a good brandable name that's easy to remember. If you base your company name on SEO tactics, you'll probably never ghet off the ground.

[mjtaylor]

Depending on how a directory alphabetizes listings, A1 could come above AAA ... as numbers are often 'above' letters.

Frankly, A1 makes me think of Steak Sauce ... so I would find a more original name ...

That said, there *is* an SEO advantage to having your company name start with A where directories or other links are in alpha-order, as there is more PR passed to a listing at the top of the page than one further down.

And, of course, a listing at the top of a page is far more likely to be seen and clicked by a human, as well (which is why it gets more PR - the liklihood of the page being visited is higher).

[theengel]

Originally Posted by mjtaylor

Depending on how a directory alphabetizes listings, A1 could come above AAA ... as numbers are often 'above' letters.

Frankly, A1 makes me think of Steak Sauce ... so I would find a more original name ...

That said, there *is* an SEO advantage to having your company name start with A where directories or other links are in alpha-order, as there is more PR passed to a listing at the top of the page than one further down.

And, of course, a listing at the top of a page is far more likely to be seen and clicked by a human, as well (which is why it gets more PR - the liklihood of the page being visited is higher).

That's right...I wasn't thinking.

But still, from a marketing standpoint, SEO is just one of many strategies, and it's never a good idea to base a name on one single strategy. The real point of your name should be either something unique to you (so that it doesn't get confused with other names) or simply something more memorable to the public.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by theengel

But still, from a marketing standpoint, SEO is just one of many strategies, and it's never a good idea to base a name on one single strategy. The real point of your name should be either something unique to you (so that it doesn't get confused with other names) or simply something more memorable to the public.

Agreed ... *and* if I were starting a new company today, I would certainly consider a way to have my company name start with an 'A'.

[jtracking]

Originally Posted by mjtaylor

Depending on how a directory alphabetizes listings, A1 could come above AAA ... as numbers are often 'above' letters.

Frankly, A1 makes me think of Steak Sauce ... so I would find a more original name ...

That said, there *is* an SEO advantage to having your company name start with A where directories or other links are in alpha-order, as there is more PR passed to a listing at the top of the page than one further down.

And, of course, a listing at the top of a page is far more likely to be seen and clicked by a human, as well (which is why it gets more PR - the liklihood of the page being visited is higher).

this is true cause there are some directories that list their links alphabetically...

[deilenberger]

Originally Posted by jtracking

this is true cause there are some directories that list their links alphabetically...

There are? Amazing.. wonder why Google has wasted all this time on relevancy when a simple alphabetical order would have satisfied everyone..?

[mawells]

Google is not a directory - it's a search engine. It's directories that list things alphabetically and many of those have opted to use their own algorithms (usually based on how many advertising dollars the listed company is spending with the directory).

[willthegeek]

I wouldn't bother to pay for a domain name either. There are too many good combinations available. Just use a little ingenuity and come up with something unique.

Regards,

Will

[John Redfield]

If your company is web based, and not going to be listed in the Yellow pages, I would venture to say A1 is meaningless.

A1 was a "cheat" for directory based listings, but in the advent of search engines (and the web) it is all but dead.

Why not try to use a keyword phrase you aiming to rank for instead? It tells your vistors/surfers what they can expect at the web iste a whole lot more than A1 will.

my 2 cents,

Good luck

John

[ronlee67]

Aardvark Widget Company

"We dig deeper to produce a better widget!"

(Aardvark means "digging foot" according to Wikipedia

[John Redfield]

Originally Posted by theengel

That's right...I wasn't thinking.

But still, from a marketing standpoint, SEO is just one of many strategies, and it's never a good idea to base a name on one single strategy. The real point of your name should be either something unique to you (so that it doesn't get confused with other names) or simply something more memorable to the public.

Are we talking URL or company name? They dont have to be the same thing.

IMHO the URL should stand out as relevant to the service provided. Atleast for me, I find once the SE page comes up (page 1) I am looking at the URL for relevancy, since there are so many great SEO hackers muddying the integrity of keyword searches (or is it just bad SE algorithms )

If I am searching for Widgets I am more likeley to click the link on page one to "WidgetKing.com" even if it is number 5, than the first 4 with names like "wildblueyonder" or "fivestarweb".

[Linknz]

Originally Posted by steveteva

I see many companies that called A1something
Thank you

Hi from my side of this it doesn't matter at all what a websites name is because my search engine doesn't add anything for keywords or names within a domain name, so from my end of this it doesn't make any difference.
I am not sure about the other search engines because how they score sites is different to our methods but in general I would say that it doesn't make any difference.

When I was at school many years ago, it did make a difference if your name was in the first few letters in the alphabet because you would always end up getting called out first and often that could be a bad thing.
I ended up playing rugby because my surname begins with " A" which buggered up my soccer career.. Grin..

[DrTandem1]

"A1" means the top. "A1" is used as an adjective in the name, but its primary use was for alphabetical listings such as the original telephone book Yellow Pages, as was Aardvark and Aaron. The name beginning with the letter "A" would be listed first. As the letter "A" by itself is a word, such as the article "the" and thus would be ignored. If it wasn't, most of the titles would be found under the letters "T" and "A."

If a company called itself "1," the "1" would be listed alphabetically as "one." Therefore, combining the first number in the alphabet with the number one, a name was created that would be at the top alphabetically.

It has no value in SEO, unless you are speaking of directories.

[nipplecharms1]

Originally Posted by willthegeek

I wouldn't bother to pay for a domain name either. There are too many good combinations available. Just use a little ingenuity and come up with something unique.

Regards,

Will

Will, I have to disagree with that statement. Most of the one- two- and three-word phrases that make sense have been gobbled up by legitimate companies or those a$$holes that bought and are now sitting on them. then when you offer to buy them, they want thousands of dollars. Like they want to hit a home run off each site.

the A-1 thing, like everyone said, will help in alphabetical lists. But many directories will allow you to use a key word or phrase as the link text. That way you can use whatever “A” work you want to use. "All non piercing body jewelry"… SEE?

My inflated nickel's worth!

Michael

[sparky]

Personally as a consumer I shy away from anyone with the A1, First Class, Top Choice etc due to the fact they sound cheap and spammy. I mean lets face it, if everything goes wrong with the job and you have to go to court, how would you feel telling the judge you put your trust in A1clog removal? I put my trust in names that do not sound cheap or dishonest "especially if I never heard of them before". I understand why people use names like that, so they can be ranked first in the phone book, but honestly do you ever pick the first name listed you see or do you look closer at the ones with the bigger ads? I also look for the "since 19xx" in the ad. When picking a name I follow these rules

1. easy to spell
2. not too long
3. easy to remember
4. related to the business in some way
5. one that you like
6. kinda catchy
7. one that sounds trust worthy

A lot of you business will come from word of mouth, so pick a name that people will not mind saying "I used this guy".

Take your time in this for you only get one shot at a good name.

One last thing for you to think about. You asked if it was a good choice to use A1. This shows doubt and unsureness, two things you do not want in a name. Use your gut feeling...if you think a name just does not sound right than everyone else will also.


Now with all that said, I have to ask is this business a telephone / email business? To where all business is done across the internet where you never see your customer face to face? Or is this a call me, I come out and do the service you need, or is it a store front? I posted my response as if it was a 'call me, I come out' as you mentioned phone book. I am clarifying this as I see many people using the word directory, and this can mean phone book or online directory. I read some peoples replies and think they are referring to online directory.

If you are talking about an online scenario, it is a totally different marketing. You no longer have the traditional word of mouth, billboard type market. If it is an online business, your markets are different. But I still go by my naming rules, just word of mouth is no longer in play. I really bring this up because if you are talking online marketing, you don't look for a name, most people do not use directories. Most people use search engines and search for what they want, like painters, carpenters, etc. People that are ranked first are those which are rated first for that keyword, name does not play any part.

[CalgaryPix]

At the same time, if you can make a name that logically works, is kind of cute and places high in an alphabetical list, why not? Like "A2B Courier" would work both ways.

That said, if your stretching the point too much, you'll lose credibility - there's a lot of "Aardvark" companies locally listed.

But, as Speers Photography, even though I paid the for second highest listing class in phone directory's online edition, I was still three pages back because I was an "S" name. I know that directory actually worked (at first) because I was an early adopter and got many calls off it. Until, that is, it became popular and I got shuffled back.

[dharrison]

Hi Stevteva

After having to call a plumber out last year and seeing nothing but companies listed as AAA1 and AAAAA1 etc (and being very nearly stung by one), I would advise you to steer clear of naming your website the same thing just for the sake of a position. A's and 1's just look desperate.

IMHO A1 domain names won't benefit SEO-wise: it may have done 14-odd years ago when search engines were new and sites were listed alphabetically, but there's a myriad of other factors now and alphabetical is not one of them.

As whats already been covered here, I would say concentrate on making your company advert/website appealing and trustworthy enough that people would want to contact you for your service.

I am intrigued to know what the nature of your new company is.

Regardless, HTH

[doj464]

I get to listings for my website - About Results marketing. I agree that you should go for a name that is memorable, but sounds authentic

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by ronlee67

Aardvark Widget Company

"We dig deeper to produce a better widget!"

(Aardvark means "digging foot" according to Wikipedia

Actually, it is the Genus & Species name, Orycteropus afer, that means "digging foot."

The name "aardvark" itself derives from the Afrikaans/Dutch phrase meaning "earth pig" (aarde earth, varken pig.)

"Earth Pig Widgets?" Just might work!

[RichAtVNS]

I didn't want to chime in on this one (because it was one of my little guerilla marketing secrets I've used for years)

But you have outed me.

The reason for Arkahdia Arts Studio (Arkahdia Arts - Fine Casted Statues, Columns, Busts, Architectural Pieces) which is abreviated AAS, was exactly this reasons:
Many directories for shows we appear at are published on Web.

In every case we are near the top of the listings.

- World Market
- Highpoint
- AVN
- Traditional Home Building Show
- Blue Book
- Atlanta Gift Mart

are just a few conferences and shows that my company gets listed in front of Austin Studios and Forester Reeve. Companies I am in direct competition with!

One other thing many people may look at the first page or two or the top of a long listing, but rarely scroll down or page forward to the end. So if you are trying to get more name recognition when viral marketing this is by far one of the strongest techniques!

[RichAtVNS]

Originally Posted by dharrison

Hi Stevteva

IMHO A1 domain names won't benefit SEO-wise: it may have done 14-odd years ago when search engines were new and sites were listed alphabetically, but there's a myriad of other factors now and alphabetical is not one of them.

Actually almost all directory listings for off internet events list speakers and exhibitors alphabetically.... And since higher on a page equates to more importance on the page. this is not the case.

[billc]

A space is the highest rated symbol, higher then any # or letter. I have a few sites with an ! "exclamation point" because it rates higher then any other symbol (these are very old sites and I no longer use that symbol). This use to be very useful on Yahoo for their directory, also in newspapers to be listed at the top of your catagory. So A SPACE 1 or A 1 would rate higher then A1. Or A A A would rate higher then AAA.
I wouldn't buy that URL. Any name with a dash isn't worth buying. Like willthegeek said "Just use a little ingenuity and come up with something unique."

[RichAtVNS]

Originally Posted by sparky

Personally as a consumer I shy away from anyone with the A1, First Class, Top Choice etc due to the fact they sound cheap and spammy. I mean lets face it, if everything goes wrong with the job and you have to go to court, how would you feel telling the judge you put your trust in A1clog removal? I put my trust in names that do not sound cheap or dishonest "especially if I never heard of them before". I understand why people use names like that, so they can be ranked first in the phone book, but honestly do you ever pick the first name listed you see or do you look closer at the ones with the bigger ads? I also look for the "since 19xx" in the ad. When picking a name I follow these rules

1. easy to spell
2. not too long
3. easy to remember
4. related to the business in some way
5. one that you like
6. kinda catchy
7. one that sounds trust worthy

A lot of you business will come from word of mouth, so pick a name that people will not mind saying "I used this guy".

Take your time in this for you only get one shot at a good name.

One last thing for you to think about. You asked if it was a good choice to use A1. This shows doubt and unsureness, two things you do not want in a name. Use your gut feeling...if you think a name just does not sound right than everyone else will also.


Now with all that said, I have to ask is this business a telephone / email business? To where all business is done across the internet where you never see your customer face to face? Or is this a call me, I come out and do the service you need, or is it a store front? I posted my response as if it was a 'call me, I come out' as you mentioned phone book. I am clarifying this as I see many people using the word directory, and this can mean phone book or online directory. I read some peoples replies and think they are referring to online directory.

If you are talking about an online scenario, it is a totally different marketing. You no longer have the traditional word of mouth, billboard type market. If it is an online business, your markets are different. But I still go by my naming rules, just word of mouth is no longer in play. I really bring this up because if you are talking online marketing, you don't look for a name, most people do not use directories. Most people use search engines and search for what they want, like painters, carpenters, etc. People that are ranked first are those which are rated first for that keyword, name does not play any part.

Well put but there is still a benefit to choosing a name that starts with an "A" or other early alphabet letter such as B or C.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by DrTandem1

It has no value in SEO, unless you are speaking of directories.

Just to be clear ... since some directories do pass PR, getting your site's link at the top of the listings page does have some SEO value with Google and not just with directories themselves.

Cheers, MJ

[steveteva]

Wow, I'm very thankful for all your response that is important for me as the A1-widget.com (widget=example) will be for online and offline market, good point for the member who talk about listing on Exibition directories that can bring my company on top of listing and also on online directories and yellow pages.

But the cons is that many said it's not memorable, does not give enough trust for customers, will not help for SEO rankings.

But this domain name is a 1 word keyword that really describe the industry I'm with and have been registered since 1999 that could be a factor as "aged" domain name and Google takes into consideration when ranking a website. I've also forget to mention that it have a dash between A1 and keyword of domain name.

So to be honest I'm still hesitating as the keyword in the A1 domain name witch this business is hardly easy to find as all have alredy been registrated and really targets what I'm doing.

So I will wait for for advices from your side.

[bj]

Something I don't think anyone else mentioned is that dashes and numbers are reallyreally bad in domain names, since people forget whether or not the dashes are there (and end up at your competitor's site) or forget whether the numeral was an actual digit or spelled out, ie A1 or Aone or A-one. So I'd stay away from any of those.

Just come up with something that people will remember and use that. It worked for me!

[edhan]

That is the strategy used for offline business company name to have listing on the first few pages of the phone book or yellow pages. Btw, my company name starts with Y and I do have people search backwards in the phone book or yellow pages.

For Online business, I do not really think it will have any effect at all. Efforts have to be made before you can get results online.

[thebigdishman]

Nearly 20 years in hard copy advertising marketing and sales has taught me that A1 (or 0.aarvaak as I prefer) is of no benefit, and is frankly rather a bad idea these days.

All the comments about web listings not being relevant to A1 are fairly near or exactly on the mark, and there is certainly no benefit nowadays in most paper directories, as 80% of paper classified directories worldwide now use "size and seniority" to decide on advert order, simply to deter small businesses from calling themselves 0.aardvark just to get to the top.

Pick ten of the world's biggest industries (excluding computer manufacturers, airlines and broadcasters) and you will struggle to find a major household name whose name begins with an "A"; e.g. car manufacturers: Toyota, Honda, BMW, Citroen, Ford; or how about telecoms: BT, Virgin, Orange, Vodafone, O2; or chocolate: Lindt, Cadbury, Thorntons.

A friend of mine once started a babywear business and called it "Zebedees". It was, she told me, the best business decision she ever made. After all, if you thumb through a paper directory which thumb do you use? For most of us it is the left thumb, meaning we reach Z before A.

So, look at your product, look at your market and find a name that has that je-ne-sais-quoi as the french would say.

You'll find me o getafreelancer with the same handle.

Good luck

[Clarrie]

Originally Posted by thebigdishman

A friend of mine once started a babywear business and called it "Zebedees". It was, she told me, the best business decision she ever made. After all, if you thumb through a paper directory which thumb do you use? For most of us it is the left thumb, meaning we reach Z before A.

That must explain why Xerox did so well! Maybe they'd have done better as ZeroX!

[dharrison]

Originally Posted by RichAtVNS

Actually almost all directory listings for off internet events list speakers and exhibitors alphabetically.... And since higher on a page equates to more importance on the page. this is not the case.

Fair enough - if you are speaking or exhibiting somewhere. Thats why I am intrigued to find out the nature of the original poster's business.

But the original question was SEO-wise and I am afraid the answer to that (cetainly as far as major search engines are concerned) is no.

[datetopia]

Originally Posted by TechEvangelist

Using A1 will not give you any SEO advantage. It shouldn't hurt either.

The reason why so many companies have used A1-whatever for their name is because the company will show up in the first position in Yellow Page telephone directories and other alphabetical listings.

You could use something like aaa-whatever or 000-whatever and your domain will show on the first page in categories where domains are listed alphabetically.

[theengel]

The general rule of thumb is that any domain with a prefix or dashes makes that name practically worthless...except for a few end users who get conned into buying them. I'm talking domain investment now...not the use of a name for a website.

I wouldn't pay for that name because there are just too many other good domains out there. You can take just about any other name and it would be just as good in SEO value.

I realize that Google does give some weight to older domains, but I doubt it would help you a whole lot in this case.

[bobchrist]

There are pretty nice site like for example a1vacations.com, a1books.com which have good PR too, I don't think search engine will make any differences for using A1 in domain name.

[steveteva]

It will be really hard to find a domain name available with my business because it's generic and over millions domain names exist with this naming but in 2 or more words.

So A1-widget.com with is really something to think about it.

Also found some established companies with exactly same domain name but different TLD (.de, .ch, .net, .co.uk...)

I might buy it before it's not for sale anymore and see if I will use it or not, then I can resell it later or leave it to expired.

I'm really thankfull again with all your advices and will see if domain will work or not.

If anyone of you are interested about knowing what domain name was it by curiosity, send me a PM and let me know if it was worth buying or not as soon as domain will be in my ownership.

Originally Posted by dharrison

Hi Stevteva

After having to call a plumber out last year and seeing nothing but companies listed as AAA1 and AAAAA1 etc (and being very nearly stung by one), I would advise you to steer clear of naming your website the same thing just for the sake of a position. A's and 1's just look desperate.

IMHO A1 domain names won't benefit SEO-wise: it may have done 14-odd years ago when search engines were new and sites were listed alphabetically, but there's a myriad of other factors now and alphabetical is not one of them.

As whats already been covered here, I would say concentrate on making your company advert/website appealing and trustworthy enough that people would want to contact you for your service.

I am intrigued to know what the nature of your new company is.

Regardless, HTH

[DrTandem1]

Originally Posted by billc

A space is the highest rated symbol, higher then any # or letter. I have a few sites with an ! "exclamation point" because it rates higher then any other symbol (these are very old sites and I no longer use that symbol). This use to be very useful on Yahoo for their directory, also in newspapers to be listed at the top of your catagory. So A SPACE 1 or A 1 would rate higher then A1. Or A A A would rate higher then AAA.
I wouldn't buy that URL. Any name with a dash isn't worth buying. Like willthegeek said "Just use a little ingenuity and come up with something unique."

This is irrelevant for domain names as such punctuation and spacing are not allowed. Furthermore, most directories will edit out any space in the beginning or extra spaces as well as punctuation other than a possessive apostrophe. Hyphenating domain names appears to make little (no?)difference to the SEs, however, people often have a difficult time remembering to manually enter the hyphen or place it (them) in the wrong spot. So, avoid using hyphens, unless they are actually part of the name as in Harley-Davidson, which they have smartly obtained the unhypenated version that resolves to their intended domain.

[sparky]

I did not want to start a new thread for this question as it falls along the same lines as this topic. I recently purchased a few domains that start with the word 'the'. When doing a google search for lets say 'the flower shop network', flowershopnetwork.com is ranked number 1. The domain theflowershopnetwork.com is not listed. This is because google drops the word 'the' from its search. This has me scared for several reasons:
1. Will I ever be able to rank #1 for my domain name?
2. In this case, would hyphens have been a better choice (the-flower-shop-network.com)?
3. Should I keyword my page omitting the word 'the' from the name? "keyword it for flower shop network"
4.In google's eyes are these two domains the same since it drops the word 'the'? If you drop the word 'the', in your google search and just search 'flower shop network' you get different search results than if you use the word 'the' and let google omit it itself. I am also unsure why this is.

I do not own any of the domains I have listed. I used them to illustrate my point. My domains are parked at this point in time, so I was unable to use my actual domain name. I know google drops certain words and numbers from its search. Is there a place or a list of what these words are so I will know in the future?

[DrTandem1]

Firstly, I would not name a site with a name that only differs from another site with the article "the." Domain names are for humans, not search engines. Your site can be #1 for any keyword or words regardless of there being or not being in the domain name.

For the same reason, I would avoid hyphens, unless they are actually intregal to the name such Harley-Davidson. Even then, most people will enter the name without the hyphen. Hence, Harley-Davidson wisely has the unhyphenated version that resolves or forwards to their name of choice.

Some may argue that the article "the" is important, such as "TheBeatles." Yet, even thebeatles.com also has beatles.com. However, in most cases, "the" is not intregal and that is why Google says it deletes it from the search as well as why most alphabetical indexes also exclude "the" and "a" from a title.

Get more creative. Don't use copycat domain names. For some reason people refuse to understand that domain names are for humans. You can argue all you want that they are of some value to SEO. The fact is many sites are tops in the SERPs for keywords that are not found in their domain names.

[dharrison]

Originally Posted by steveteva

It will be really hard to find a domain name available with my business because it's generic and over millions domain names exist with this naming but in 2 or more words.

So A1-widget.com with is really something to think about it.

Also found some established companies with exactly same domain name but different TLD (.de, .ch, .net, .co.uk...)

I might buy it before it's not for sale anymore and see if I will use it or not, then I can resell it later or leave it to expired.

I'm really thankfull again with all your advices and will see if domain will work or not.

If anyone of you are interested about knowing what domain name was it by curiosity, send me a PM and let me know if it was worth buying or not as soon as domain will be in my ownership.

Is it A1-roadworks.com?

[steveteva]

Originally Posted by dharrison

Is it A1-roadworks.com?

No it's a one word and widely seeking for. I've PM you the domain name.

Please do not post any domain name here but PM me for privacy reasons.

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by sparky

I did not want to start a new thread for this question as it falls along the same lines as this topic. I recently purchased a few domains that start with the word 'the'. When doing a google search for lets say 'the flower shop network', flowershopnetwork.com is ranked number 1. The domain theflowershopnetwork.com is not listed. This is because google drops the word 'the' from its search.

Not true.

Originally Posted by sparky

1. Will I ever be able to rank #1 for my domain name?

It's possible ... and it will have nothing to do with the domain name.

Originally Posted by sparky

2. In this case, would hyphens have been a better choice (the-flower-shop-network.com)?

No, quotes are not easy to remember and as Dr. T said, domain names are for people.

3. Should I keyword my page omitting the word 'the' from the name? "keyword it for flower shop network"
[quote=sparky;354471] 4.In google's eyes are these two domains the same since it drops the word 'the'? If you drop the word 'the', in your google search and just search 'flower shop network' you get different search results than if you use the word 'the' and let google omit it itself. I am also unsure why this is.

Originally Posted by sparky

I do not own any of the domains I have listed. I used them to illustrate my point. My domains are parked at this point in time, so I was unable to use my actual domain name. I know google drops certain words and numbers from its search. Is there a place or a list of what these words are so I will know in the future?

I think you might be a little confused here. Google ignores stop words (the, a, an, and, etc.) but it does not see
theflowershopnetwork.com and flowershopnetwork.com as the same domains.

If you Google 'stop words' you will learn more about those and how the affect search ... but that's largely from the search point of view.

Find a brandable name, use that for your domain. Build unique content. Optimize your pages for relevant keywords. Build links. They will come.

[sparky]

MjTaylor again thank you for the reply. I agree again with everything you said but I think we missed each other on one point. I asked if I would ever be able to rank number 1 for my domain name. Yes you are correct in your reply, but what I was getting at is I have always been under the impression that you should be ranked number 1 for your own domain name. So since "the" is a stop word and is dropped from the Google search how could I ever be ranked number 1 for my own domain? If somebody searches the domain name itself, I understand and agree that I can be ranked number one based on keywords, content, etc., but since the is a stop word and a domain starts with the word the, can that domain name ever be ranked #1 if somebody searches the domain name? Hence the domain theflowershopnetwork.com should be pulled #1 for a search 'the flower shop network' and it is not.
Reading in your reply you stated that 'the', 'a', 'an' were stop words. If I search 'a flower shop network', Google does not drop the 'a'. If I search 'an flower shop network', Google only wants to change an to and, but it does not drop it. It only seems to drop the word 'the'

And to clear a point made. I only added the word "The" to the domain name due to if you remove it you get a redirect to a PPC type site page that is of little or no use in finding what you would be looking for so I added the word "The".
And yes I was also hoping on the extra points in having the search term in the domain name.

I am going to go back to reading more on stop words.
Thanks Again

[DrTandem1]

If someone knows the domain name, they wouldn't search using it, would they?

[mjtaylor]

Originally Posted by DrTandem1

If someone knows the domain name, they wouldn't search using it, would they?

Well, I see sparky's point, and I think they might ... lots of people who think they know the name of the site, but aren't quite sure might type what they think it is into a search bar rather than directly into the address bar ... but you are worrying about precious few searches ...

And, Sparky, if your site is well ranked for the most relevant terms, then it's highly, highly likely to outrank the domain name without the stop word ...

Still it all comes back to this: find a domain name that doesn't have these sorts of issues; that can be remembered easily ... and go with that.

Cheers, MJ