KUJ Project: Step 1 - Choosing a Name / Hosting

[KUJustin]

For those who didn't see, this thread describes what I'm trying to accomplish.

I know it'll be slow traffic today(I'm headed out myself soon), but I'm committed to moving this project as fast as possible, both for my benefit and your gratification. I'll be using deadlines to keep this moving at high-speeds.

Choosing A Name
Ideas:
<font color="green">dailyprojections.com</font> - simple, memorable, says what I do, but kind of plain/cold
<font color="green">intheballpark.com</font> - nostalgia would be nice to incorporate and ballpark is a "nostalgic" word in my mind. also has the double use of poking fun at my own accuracy, but will users get the joke?
<font color="green">tomorrowsbox.com</font> - I don't like this but just throwing it out there for brainstorming. Basically playing on the idea of me putting out tomorrow's box scores today.

Basically I want to: convey high accuracy, get the user excited (through the value of these numbers or through a nostalgic connection), and be memorable.

Hosting
This is a weak point for me, so I'll need help. I want cheap and easy but it also needs to be able to host whatever forum software I choose as well as offer secure connections in the future for subscription sales.

Please post your ideas for domain names and hosting. Please comment on others' ideas and explain your position so that others can learn from this.

<font color="green">Deadline: Thursday night, 9pm server time </font> <font color="green"> </font>

[KUJustin]

Also if you think it might be instructive we could quote and add to a list of...
Attributes of good domain names: Describes what you do, gets the users' attention, makes an emotional connection, is memorable, is short/easy to spell, is worthy of building a brand on.

[Tupacia]

Justin,

Although I mentioned in the other thread that choosing a domain name/hosting package seems to be jumping the gun, I'll chime in with my thoughts here.

First, you need to tell us what language and form your prediction program will take. Will users simply enter names into a web form to generate projections? Or will they download a program that requires a subscription to access? Because of these considerations, you need to select your software solution first and not your domain name. The software solution I chose for my membership site comes with hosting, for instance.

That being said, I think your domain choices aren't very compelling. If your target market is fantasy players, you need to include relevant keywords in your domain for search engine optimization. You can use the Overture Keyword Tool (just google that phrase and it will pop up) to see how many people use particular search terms. Let's say that people who search google for "fantasy baseball projections" would be very interested in your site. As you can see, none of your three suggestions include any of those highly relevant keywords which will kill you in the search engine rankings.

I would try and play around with terms like "fantasy" "rotisserie" "baseball" and "projections" to see if I couldn't find a two-word combination that describes exactly what you do and will help you in the search engine rankings for the life of your site.

[JoshK]

Keyword in domain is not a big deal if you know what you're doing in seo.

If that's the only knowledge you have of seo than sure run with.

I'm sure I could make a domain www.aaaaaaaaaaaaa.com rank well for plenty of fairly competitive keywords.

[JoshK]

Sorry for the double post but I feel like I failed to make my point.

Domain name for an seo basis is / can be great.

I feel that type in, easy to remember domain name would be more effective for this site. Without a doubt by far outweighing the good that would come from having keywords in the domain.

[Tupacia]

All other things being equal, having target keywords in your domain name can make a big difference. Of course it's not a necessity, but it helps. Also, the ease with which people will remember your name is usually directly tied to its relevancy to the keywords they're searching for. Having a domain that can be easily remembered and have relevant keywords aren't mutually exclusive.

[KUJustin]

Thanks for the ideas guys. The set-up will be basically a spreadsheet with full daily projections for each player every day. This will be either emailed or hosted on the site with a log-in, probably the latter.

I like your ideas about doing some surveys/research and you're absolutely right. At the same time for reasons I won't go completely into I'd like to get this up ASAP.

In fact turning this into a forum project with the kind of time frame I'm shooting for might have been unwise. But for now at least I'd like to see where it takes us.

[Maulik]

Hey,

Isura and I are working on a website and are contemplating Joomla &amp; http://drupal.org/ for our CMS. Without delving specifically into your project, do not count on reaching your deadline.

[Tupacia]

Justin,

Without knowing the time frame you're thinking of for the project, you should probably multiply it by a factor of 3 to get the actual time it will take you.

[KUJustin]

The big thing for me right now is just to get up and running. The details of the product offering, on the other hand, don't need to be finalized until about next March.

Maybe I'll get the base site up and then restart this as a site/product development project rather than a start-to-finish project because I don't think my current time frame is conducive to learning (for me or for the community).