Plural of exact domain name

[EndeR-]

Hello,

I have the opportunity to buy the plural of an exact domain name in a niche I am interested. I would like to know if it helps to rank on the singular version of the keyword.

To illustrate, is the domain cars.com good to rank for the word car? Or online datings for online dating?

Thanks a lot.

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hi

I just answered a question like this the other day

http://moz.com/community/q/naming-a-brand-domain

Hope this helps,

Thomas

[danatanseo]

This is really a case by case thing I think. Clearly, "cars.com" is a great domain name to rank for the word "car." But who wants to rank for the word "car?" Certainly not someone who's selling cars. If you're selling cars you might want to rank for longer rail terms containing the singular "car" -  like "buy a new car." But let Wikipedia rank for the plain old word "car" because it's not going to bring you well-qualified traffic.

The second example you give "online datings" is just not what any person fluent in English would type in a search bar. In this example, I'd say definitely don't go for the plural.

You should be able to see the difference in search volume between the singular and the plural in Google's Keyword Tool. That should tell you a lot. For example, look at the search volume difference between "communion supplies" and "communion supply" - there's a big difference.

The last reason I would discourage you from buying a plural version of a niche you are interested would be if the existing company has made a brand out of the singular version. For example, Peet's coffee has the domain Coffee.com  - Some blogger has bought the domain Coffees.com...and it's totally lame...If you aren't careful with things like this you could get accused of cybersquatting or worse, trademark infringement. It's one of those situations where just because you "can" doesn't mean you "should."

Without knowing more details that's about as much as I can say. I hope it's somewhat helpful!