Memorabledomains.co.uk, A UK based company, released a study (pdf) today, on the performance of using a top generic catergory killer domain in a PPC campaign and compared it to the the results to, using a lesser quality domains.

Although the study is just a case study limited to one situation, it is still interesting, especially in the absence of a larger study.

According to memorable domains:

They tested three domains in an AdWords PPC campaign for electric bicycles.

Ads featuring a generic domain name with an exact match to the product (ElectricBicycles.co.uk) and found that those ads  performed significantly better than identical ads featuring an alternative generic (YourBikes.co.uk) or non-generic (InAHurry.co.uk).

The CTR of ads using the ElectricBicycles.co.uk domain name was 15% and 42% higher
than the two alternatives.

The ElectricBicycles.co.uk ads produced 45% more clicks than the YourBikes.co.uk ads and
105% more clicks than the InAHurry.co.uk ads.

“””We conclude that the strong performance of a generic domain name is driven by factors such as:

· the close match between the domain name and the product searched for (irrespective of the
search keywords used)

· automatic bolding of search terms in the domain

· the potential positive impact of the domain name on ad quality score

Marketers should consider using generic domain names for dedicated PPC search engine campaigns
for specific products, services or advertising initiatives.”””

Nothing surprising about the results to domainers, but how many of us have tried this and then reported on it?

Another little fact to point to when educating non-domainers on the value of generic category killer domains.

- The CTR of ads featuring an “ideal match” generic domain was between 15% and 42% higher than either of the generic and non-generic domain name alternatives.

- The winning generic domain name also produced between 45% and 105% more clicks than the alternatives, across the same timeframe and keyword set.

Edwin Hayward, owner of Memorable Domains (who undertook the study) said, “We finally have some hard numbers to back up the long-standing belief that generic domain names attract more clicks in search engine listings.”

Hayward says the click boost likely comes from:

- the close match between the domain name and the product searched for (irrespective of the search keywords used)

- automatic bolding of search terms in the domain

- the potential positive impact of the domain name on ad quality score

“Businesses looking to improve CTR and clicks from their PPCSE campaigns now have a proven and simple technique for doing so: use a targeted generic domain name in your ads.”

Hayward also notes that even companies with well-established brand name websites can benefit from the study’s insights, by matching generic domains with appropriate keyword groups and driving traffic to product-, service- or campaign-specific minisites

A challenge for online marketers is getting more clicks out of their pay-per-click search engine
campaigns.

One approach is to use a generic domain name in PPC ads, since product- or service-related
keywords in the displayed domain name and landing page should attract more clicks from people
searching for that product or service.

We tested this theory using an AdWords PPC campaign for electric bicycles.

Ads featuring a generic domain name with an exact match to the product (ElectricBicycles.co.uk)
performed significantly better than identical ads featuring an alternative generic (YourBikes.co.uk)
or non-generic (InAHurry.co.uk) domain.

The CTR of ads using the ElectricBicycles.co.uk domain name was 15% and 42% higher
than the two alternatives.

The ElectricBicycles.co.uk ads produced 45% more clicks than the YourBikes.co.uk ads and
105% more clicks than the InAHurry.co.uk ads.

We conclude that the strong performance of a generic domain name is driven by factors such as:

· the close match between the domain name and the product searched for (irrespective of the
search keywords used)
· automatic bolding of search terms in the domain
· the potential positive impact of the domain name on ad quality score

Marketers should consider using generic domain names for dedicated PPC search engine campaigns
for specific products, services or advertising initiatives.

Go to Source

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!