forum or forums?

[deronsizemore]

Better to have just "forum" in the domain name or forums with an "s"? Or probably doesn't matter, but thought I'd check.

[Kyle]

If you're wondering this for search popularity, (whats searched on more) It's pretty tricky depends on the topic and the first word in the domain name.

I believe, overall, the singular is more popular.

But the plural is often just as good. I have MMORPGForums.com and it receives 100-200 type-ins a month, undeveloped.

[Kyle]

By the way... for optimization, if you name your site "Widget Forum", throw in a / Forums so it looks like this:

"Widget Forum/Forums"

Or just have some quick phrase after your title that includes both.

"Widget Forums - Interact with others in our Forum!"

I don't think any search engine will think you're keyword stuffing if you use example 1 above.

[deronsizemore]

Well for my specific site topic, "forum" is searched for more...because "forums" are not searched for at all...but to me it makes more sense with the "s". All forum sites really have more than one forum. Like here at SWP, a Design Forum, Development forum, Promotion Forum, etc... ya know?

Thanks for the SEO tip

[Chris]

What are you using for keyword research?

Understand that some engines list singulars and plurals together (stemming) with their statistics. So you might not be getting accurate information.

[Kyle]

WordTracker, compressed search, entering "forum" and "forums".

forum - 1539
forums - 968

But that's why I said "i believe", cause i really don't know. And I don't take these WordTracker values as the written word.

It seems tricky when looking at the limited data available.

What do you think Chris as far as whats more popular overall?

[Kyle]

More data...

I entered in some generic terms with forum/forums following.

sports betting forum 280
sports betting forums 50

adult movie forum 62
adult movie forums 40

dvd forum 50
dvd forums 16

motorcycle forums 80
motorcycle forum 69

honda motorcycle forum 27
honda motorcycle forums 15

car forums 83
car forum 16

lol, just target both. :)

[deronsizemore]

What are you using for keyword research?

Understand that some engines list singulars and plurals together (stemming) with their statistics. So you might not be getting accurate information.


Using Overture http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

[Giles]

Damn.
My country specific forum site is called:

The Forums

And i've registered the domain. Oh well, you live and you learn, plus wouldnt the plural show up if you searched the singular, just not the other way around.

[Cutter]

Whenever you use the plural in a domain or file name, the singular is included, where as if you use the singular you don't get the plural. I wouldn't be too worried about forum vs forum, but instead the main keyword such as yacht vs yachts. The reason is usually "x forum" or "x forums" just doesn't get enough searches to be significant, plus the keywords aren't competative. You are basically dealing with a search volume that you can capture all of with PPC for under $100 a month; in some cases under $10.

[etech-martin]

I think 'forum' would be better than 'forums'. There are a lot of forums with 'forum' in their domain. Also I think the keyword in the domain before the word 'forum' or 'forums' is more important.

[CreationNation]

If you decide to get without an S, register the alternative as well (may go without saying?) so nobody capitalizes on your domain name. I always do this when possible. I even do it with alternative sayings (mind4hire, mindforhire, food4hire, foodforhire, etc.).