Today’s post is quite short, or at least I’m thinking it will be short.
During Mother’s Day Weekend, I encountered a domain name that made scratch my head for more than a couple of reasons.
Initially, the delivery van pictured below passed my family and me. We were on our way to visit my wife’s parents and spend the weekend with them.
When I initially saw the van, I couldn’t make out the domain name, but, using my content clues, knew it was a catering van for Mexican food.
Squinting and attempting to make out the domain name, I then noticed the words used were written in Spanish.
It’s not an everyday occurrence to encounter a Spanish domain name. Yet, it’s no secret that Texas is home to one of the US’ fastest-growing Hispanic population and demographic.
So, it’s not really surprising to see the use of a Spanish domain name, or at least it shouldn’t be.
Little did I know, HaciendaMisPadres.com is a Mexican Grill that is quite popular throughout Conroe, Texas and surrounding cities.
I’ve never been, or if I have been, I don’t quite remember the food or the occasion.
How well do Spanish domain names rank in search engines?
Nevertheless, many questions popped into my head after encountering the van:
- What does Hacienda Mis Padres translate too in English?
- Why did they include “www” and forget the domain’s dot on the van’s domain advertisement?
- Why did they not capitalize the first letter of each word?
- Why did they choose to use a mix of both English and Spanish on it’s catering van?
For starters, Hacienda Mis Padres translates to “My Parents Ranch” in English.
And of course, you know the very next thing that popped into my head, right? Of course, is MyParentsRanch.com a registered domain?
And the answer is no. It’s available or at least was available at the moment I wrote this post.
Moving right along, I had to know how well this Spanish domain name was ranking across major search engines.
I opened a web browser and performed a search and was quite shocked at what I found.
Before I continue, I typed in the domain name HaciendaMisPadres.com and was taken to a decent website.
But when I searched using “Hacienda Mis Padres”, there also appeared in the search results a listing for a MisPadresMexicanGrill.com.
I clicked the link, and arrived at a decent looking website… wait for it… for the same company!
Yes, HaciendaMisPadres.com and MisPadresMexicanGrill.com are two uniquely designed websites for the same company.
I was confused, still am.
Once again, I ventured over to GoDaddy to see if MyParentsMexicanGrill.com was registered. It’s available too.
Oh yeah, and wwwhaciendamispadres.com was available too for registration, and shouldn’t be registered.
Why? For one, it’s a horrible domain.
And two, whatever company committed the atrocious design error of including “www”, forgetting the dot, and not capitalizing the first letter of each word should be fired.
Let this be a lesson to NOT include “www” on any of your advertisement collateral.
Also, be sure to capitalize the first letter of each word.
Both mistakes are a sign that you’re not with the times.
Should I register the translated domain in various languages?
The fact that both domains, MyParentsRanch.com and MyParentsMexicanGrill.com, were available is not shocking.
I say this only due to the fact that most businesses, especially mom and pop shops, tend to not defensively register domains.
However, I ALWAYS recommend that companies register the english translation of the keyword term or terms when using foreign language .com domains.
After all, you can simply redirect the domain and track the how much traffic it’s sending.
In addition, the domain can also be used on various web and print advertisements to verify and validate ROI on ad investment.
Should you invest in Spanish domain names, or any other foreign language?
Let me start by saying that you should only register domains that you understand and comprehend.
As a follow up, stick to .com domains too when you do invest in foreign language domains.
The reason I make such a firm suggestion or statement is due to the high volatility we’ve experienced in the last few years with the China domain market rush.
It’s not to say that there haven’t been folks to make money investing in Chinese numeric, acronym and pinyin domains, because there have been many to profit from the domain buying frenzy.
Not that I should care, but there have been individuals losing their shirts left and right over Chinese numeric, acronym and pinyin domain investing.
These same individuals have been guessing across a multitude of non .com extensions. They truly do not understand with great clarity about what types of domains they were buying.
If you’re going to invest in any foreign language .com domain, then I suggest at least being fluent or knowing someone that’s fluent in the desired language you’re investing in.
For example, I own the following Spanish .com domains, and use both SpanishLanguageDomains.com and Google Translation:
- ACReparacion.com (AC Repair)
- AlertaDeHuracanes.com (Hurricane Alert)
- RegaderaReparacion.com (Sprinkler Repair)
- TechosComerciales.com (Commercial Roofing)
As for Google Translation, use it at your own risk. Just as there are various English dialects, foreign languages too can have their own dialects, slang and ebonics, if you will.
So, be careful blindly registering foreign language .com domains.
As a domain investor and business consultant, Alvin actively participates in daily domain auctions. Outside of auctions, he passionately shares his views, opinions, and vision for how businesses should and should not use domain names to generate greater customer growth and revenue.
