I have been watching a set of commercials that run locally and the lawyer Michael Mack behind the commercials uses two different domain names in the ad’s but the same ad. Basically one time you see one domain used, the next ad will have the different domain.
Since this is about as equal as one can get to judge an ad and how effective the domain name in the ad is compared to a different domain used.
The ad is about credit card help from a lawyer.
The two domain names used in the ads are CreditCardLawyer.com and TheCreditMan.com . The lawyer "brands himself" as the credit man, so my guess is that’s the reason for the credit man domain.
IMO, the better of the two domain names is the make sense generic domain CreditCardLawyer.com!
According to Compete.com, both domain names get about the same amount of traffic, but CreditCardLawyer.com get’s more.
CreditCardLawyer.com get’s approx 1,100 more monthly unique visitors then TheCreditMan.com and the reason behind it I think are:
- CreditCardLawyer.com is more trust worthy
- CreditCardLawyer.com simply makes sense
- CreditCardLawyer.com is easier to remember
You may notice that in the graph, I have The-CreditMan.com . The reason behind this is because TheCreditMan.com forwards (301 redirection) to The-CreditMan.com . The domain without the hyphen is used in the TV ad which is the right thing to do. The-CreditMan.com and CreditCardLawyer.com are two different sites, but are very similar.
Another thing that I think you will notice is the recent spike in traffic since around April! Yes, this is very likely because of the TV ads but keep in mind the amount of ads that are run without a domain name in it! I think this is further proof that it is vital to include a domain name in any advertisements that are run!
No two domain names are the same, but these two domain names used in the same ads but at seperate times, I think nicely shows the better domain will out perform an average domain name.
Tony
Nice analysis, Jamie. Only a small disagreement with you though. I think thecreditman.com is easier to remember. Otherwise, everything else is a good argument for using generic domain names in a competitive industry that is hard to distinguish yourself.
Jamie Zoch
Thanks Tony. I agree that each domain could be easier to remember depending on the person, but I think if you saw the ad which focused on a credit card lawyer, it would make that domain easier to remember. Either way, I think both domains make sense.