branded keyword competition, is it worth it?

i am trying to rank a mns branded keyword and have a few concerns. yes i know branded keywords are taboo but i was a noobie when i got it and will try to rank it til someone tells me not to.

with that said, how hard is it to outrank poorly optimized and low backlink branded sub sites?



comments and tips are appreciated.

It's kind of an impossible question to answer as there are so many variables. Even keywords that look easy often aren't, and the opposite is also true. It also comes down to the strategy you use.

The biggest issue is with your brand MNS keyword. If it's a major brand (big company with lots of lawyers) then you need to accept that at any point they can sic a lawyer on you with a cease and desist, but that's not the real worry... What if they go after damages? Do you have the funds to fight it? It's just not worth it for the sake of a $6-10 domain reg' fee.

Saying that, I have several, so you have to weigh up your options and be prepared to dump all the hard work if it happens. And I have them as part of literally hundreds of associated domains, so losing it would only cost me 1% of my network.