Trying to decide on best domain

[rozier]

I am trying to decide on a domain for a real estate site in Utah where the area code is 801.

My choices are utahhomes801.com, the search term "utah homes" get 3600 exact matches, utahrealestate801.com with "utah real estate" getting 22,200 exact matches or forget the 801 and go for a shorter domain Utahnow.net or utahhomeboy.com.  Is there any reason to stay away from 801 in the domain? Any thought or direction would be appreciated.

Scott

[matbennett]

If I was starting out now I would opt for a branded domain every time and not worry about the keywords in domain.  You don't get the initial advantage, but it';s the better long term approach both on and offline.  The 801 could work well for that. However when I see "utahrealestate801.com" it just looks like a spam result to me. I'd rather see "801living.com - the Utah real estate specialists" or something similar that sounds more like a "real business".

(I'm not saying use that one - I only spent 10 seconds on it. However I wanted to include a real example that was available)

[rozier]

thanks for the insight