Niche or Umbrella Domain Name?

[Lindsay]

Suppose you create your website focused on a niche, but plan to expand your topic. What do you think is the best domain name strategy? Would you opt for a niche domain appropriate to your current site or an umbrella-topic domain name that could be a one-size-fits-all?

[Catherine]

Any business will grow only if it gets success initially. If you choose a niche specific domain, the chances of getting success in business are higher and you will then be able to expand it. Therefore, choosing a niche specific domain is always a better option.

[webwanderer]

A niche-oriented website would also be likely to include keywords that were not as competitive. One of my first websites had very specific keywords in the domain name and even with a handful of pages, I was getting regular traffic within a week or two of publishng the site.

[LaNino]

I vote for a niche specific domain name also. In the past I used to buy generic domain names, create personal blogs for the domains (I am still updating some) and blog about anything there. But they didn't get so much traffic as I expected.

[MattBarthorp]

It depends on what business you intend to start, if is somewhere related to your main business you might not want to register a new domain and start from scratch.

Since eUkhost is known to us lets consider using it as an example. As we all are aware Eukhost is into offering affordable web hosting services, tomorrow if they decide to start offering Web Designing and Development or Data Center services, they might think of creating a sub-domain and start promoting the business from there.

Registering a new domain and starting a business would be similar to starting from grass root level. Unless ofcourse you want it to be known as an entirely new brand, else you may make use of your pre-established reputation by creating a branch of business under the same hood.

[Lindsay]

I believe you're right about the niche domain offering the most advantages. Now, I only need to decide on a single topic to focus upon initially. In thinking more about it, the best course of action is probably to force myself to stay within a niche as long as possible. Later, I can add supporting topics without losing the niche label of my website. Does that make sense?

[MattBarthorp]

I believe you're right about the niche domain offering the most advantages. Now, I only need to decide on a single topic to focus upon initially. In thinking more about it, the best course of action is probably to force myself to stay within a niche as long as possible. Later, I can add supporting topics without losing the niche label of my website. Does that make sense?

Oh yes absolutely, you definitely seem to be heading in the right direction.

[webwanderer]

Once you really delve into a niche, you can sometimes develop it into a much larger site than you would think of as a "niche website". I like staying within a niche, but also want to keep developing and growing the site rather than starting from scratch with another niche.

I'm learning to stay very focused in writing any single page. When I find myself starting to go off on a related tangent, I try to stay totally on topic and use that related tangent for another page. Sometimes, I'll find myself with ideas for 4 or 5 other pages by the time I finish the one I'm writing.

[Joshie]

It depends. I usually choose easy to remember domains over keyphrased domains. This way, you get an "umbrella domain name".

PS: never heard about this expression, heh