Is it okay to shorten your website name in the url?

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

• 
  Cassandra Tyler: Hey I have an SEO question for the experts!
  Is it okay to shorten your website name in the url?
  
  For example:
  rcstories(dot)com vs. reallycoolstories(dot)com ;
  
  Does it affect SEO?
• 
  Rotimi Orimoloye: Yes it does! But only slightly these days.
  
  I'm not an expert, but i guess I can take a shot at this.
  Generally speaking the shorter the better. ;
  
  however consider that your example is not really a long url. It is fun and catchy, and I would say very useful.
  I will also say it is wise to consider your brand (for the long term) - i.e. what would you like your business to be known as?....and what if you got really popular?
  People tend to search for the names that they remember in their heads (not urls). ;
  The seo value of spelling out your brand name in your url is higher than abbreviating it. However, I understand that these things are getting increasingly irrelevant as Google continues to evolve.
• 
  Cassandra Tyler: Thanks for the advice! My current struggle is finding a name that isn't already registered. Abbreviation was one of my options.
  
  Do you know if it matters whether a site is dot com/org/net?
• 
  Rotimi Orimoloye: Whether it matters to the engines? To be honest, my knowledge is a tad limited there. But my guess is yes.... A little.
  
  But one thing I do know is that when it comes to humans (and that is more important in the long run) many people, as a reflex action  ;would search for a dot com version of a site, even when you tell them over and over again that it is a dot net.
  
   ;
• 
  Rotimi Orimoloye: by the way, if you already have your business name, and it is already taken, then you might have to go with the abbrev.
  But if you haven't come up with the business name yet, then you have an opportunity to search for what urls are available, and build your name from there.
  
  e.g. mycoolstories(dot) or yourcoolstory(dot)
  or even use slightly rarer adjectives like dazzlingstories(dot)
  
  Just thinking here......:)
• 
  Cassandra Tyler: Yeah I'm sort of at a crossroads. I've had the name for a year without hosting. Now I can either continue with a less than ideal domain name or rethink the name all together. Thanks for all the advice!
• 
  I M SEO GUY: It does matter. I will suggest you try instantdomainsearch(dot)com ;
  Secondly to search for the right domain always use www.thesaurus(dot)com look for synonyms, if the word you are looking for is not available try synonyms :)
  Hope that helps!
  Cheers!
• 
  Edwin Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 01:06:31 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/is_it_okay_to_shorten_your_website_name_in_the_url +Cassandra Tyler
  
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