One predicament that I'm finding myself in is whether to use forum or forums in my community domain name.

For example, exampleforum.com exampleforums.com .. which ones better.. for SEO-purposes.

Disclaimer: This thread is exempt from feedback from Chrishirst and his ranting opinions on this type of subject

As IF I'd make some sarcastic comment about something so trivial

<walks off in a huff and goes to sulk in a corner feeling maligned>

Hahaha

It really shouldn't be high on your list of things to sort out mate. It makes a difference depending on whether you are trying to optimize for a specific keyword - because they count as two different KWs. It may well be that one receives more searches than the other, or that there is more competition for one than the other.

I wouldnt say it matters buddy if you look at many peoples URL so many dont have it in the main word they just have it before example.. http//:forums.yoursite.com etc i would work more on the keyword if that is what you are aiming for then as not many people IMO dont put forums/forum into the search they end up there by searching for keywords just my opininion.

I agree to 4ums. do a keyword research first for that keywords and based on the result, you can now decide which one to use.

I'm with 4ums comment, If it was me I'd be going the subdomain way.

I would go for "forum." I think it most singular keywords generate more traffic than plural ones. But that's not the case always. I would look into the stats (search volume) from Google keyword tool.

http://www.seoconsultants.com/clueless/seo/

Most of webmaster forums uses forums but even digital point forums using with S but I guess it is much more necessary to do some research about it first before buying some domains for your forum

And of course some don't even mention forum in the URL but seem to do quite well regardless!!!!!!!

The only time you'll get a significant boost from having keywords in your domain name is in the event that your domain name EXACTLY matches the search phrase. Partial matchs in domain names don't typically seem to carry any more weight than having the keywords in the folder and page name portion of the URL. So at most, the domain name that you pick is going to have a big impact on exactly ONE search phrase.

If you really want to use "forum" or "forums" in your domain name then I would simply check Google's external Adwords keyword tool to see which of the two phrases ("example forum" or "example forums") get the most search volume and go with that.

But as Chris said, having "forum" or "forums" in you domain name is NOT a requirement to rank well.

Originally Posted by ishie

I would go for "forum." I think it most singular keywords generate more traffic than plural ones. But that's not the case always. I would look into the stats (search volume) from Google keyword tool.

My vote is the same - go for "forum" it might still get picked up by searches for "forums" anyway.

I don't think forum or forums will not affect your SEO .
I suggest you to use forum for easy remembarance.

Originally Posted by Canonical

The only time you'll get a significant boost from having keywords in your domain name is in the event that your domain name EXACTLY matches the search phrase. Partial matchs in domain names don't typically seem to carry any more weight than having the keywords in the folder and page name portion of the URL. So at most, the domain name that you pick is going to have a big impact on exactly ONE search phrase.

Nope!

The ONLY time it will give any "boost" is if the domain name is used as ANCHOR TEXT

It will depend on what keyword you'll link build is. Whether it has S or not, it's all up to you on how you'll use it.

It wont matter much. No matter what you do, buy both version.

I did the mistake not buying the forum version of the domain, now I do regret little as somebody else bought it!

it doesn't matter in terms of seo, but I like the shorter url
so my vote would be forum
I don't care for 4ums, seems like something a 15 year old gamer would do. (no offense if you have this in your URL)

Originally Posted by Brandon

it doesn't matter in terms of seo, but I like the shorter url
so my vote would be forum
I don't care for 4ums, seems like something a 15 year old gamer would do. (no offense if you have this in your URL)

Haha thanks Brandon but where in this thread did anybody ask for an opinion on the word 4ums??
I have had many an expierianced domainer on dnforum say what a clever play it is on forums and how the owner of dnforum sold forums for $xxx.xxx now i know it will never achieve this standing but people seem to like it and you are the first negative... but it was never bought for the intention of keyword richness etc it was just something easy to remember for people. Now i know you have the expieriance of been around/owning forums *lol* so maybe try reading the threads a little better.

Good day Brendan. HONCHO @ 4ums.com

i can't see any difference. but forum is better it reduces a letter

In my opinion I will also go on forum rather than forums.