The domain name that you select, being aware of what your competition is doing, the settings you choose when setting up your website, and even where your website is hosted can have a major impact on your search engine positioning. Let’s get started.
Choosing a Domain Name
Choosing a domain name is a tricky proposition, and potentially one of the most vital to your success. Your domain is the store sign on the front of your building (in the digital/virtual world). There are some general rules of thumb to follow.
Keywords in the Domain
You should always attempt to have your primary keyword in your domain name, as in www.ATLWeddingPlanner.com. If you have already purchased one that doesn’t meet this criteria, don’t freak out.
While search engines dedicate a portion of their algorithm to whether the searched keyword is in the domain name, the content of the site is more influential. If you have not purchased a domain name yet, here is your chance to do it right.
If you can include the primary keyword or phrase for your business in your domain name, it can pay off. Your domain name can have a huge positive influence, especially when the rest of your SEO is operating successfully
Exact Match Domains
Some SEO consultants might disagree about its importance, but according to findings in multiple tests we’ve done with websites that followed the other proactive practices, Exact Match Domains perform better in the rankings even with other shortcomings.
Exact Match Domain means that the domain name exactly matches the word searched.
For instance, if a searcher on Google types in “Italian Dinnerware,” and your website is ItalianDinnerware.com, you can bet that the site will rank extremely well —as long as it follows the other recommendations I will be providing to you in this Post.
As previously mentioned, if you already have a domain that doesn’t contain your keywords, don’t stress. There are work-arounds and other elements that are far more important. However, if you haven’t built your website yet or your website is relatively unknown, it may be worth considering changing your domain name.
Your domain name should communicate what you deliver, whether it is a product or a service. A domain like ItalianDinnerware.com clearly describes what is sold on your site both to the user and Google.
It is also incredibly easy for a customer to remember, which brings us to our next point.
Make Your Domain Memorable
If you have to spell out or explain your domain name, you are immediately at a disadvantage.
For instance, if your website is Wedding Planning 4 U and you obtain the domain name WeddingPlanning4u.net, you’ll find yourself explaining to people: “The word for is actually the number 4 and the word you is just the letter U. Oh, and it’s .net, not .com.”
The probability that a person will remember those details one or two days removed from the discussion is slim.
Use the “say it once” test. Tell someone your website address and if at any point you have to spell something out or follow it up with some sort of explanation, you might want to consider a name change.
In some cases, it works to use a niche name you may have created like Punkapoo or Zulily, but keep in mind the potential challenges, particularly in your marketing efforts.
Do not include dashes or numbers in your domain name since some studies show that most search engines do not favor them.
Another hotly debated issue is domain name length. While you can buy domains up to 67 characters in length, the truth is— the shorter the better.
That said, short domain names have become hard to register in the common top-level domains (TLD) like .com and .net.
Domain names that contain popular words such as Toys.com or WeddingPlanner.com are typically acquired by resellers who purchase the domains when they become available and resell them to the “highest bidder” based on a value that they feel is appropriate, which is often exorbitant.
An easy-to-remember domain name can be key to your branding. Branding is the process of establishing a unique name and image for a product into the minds of consumers. You accomplish that through TV, radio, or online advertising efforts, which we discuss later.
Ebay, Facebook and Zappos don’t have descriptive domain names because they built the name and branding through mass marketing. Any hurdle can be overcome because, bottom line, it is about the overall website itself. A memorable website address helps your marketing dramatically.
TLD stands for Top-Level Domain. It is the part of the domain name that comes after the last dot. For instance, in www.DrRankwell.com, .com is the TLD.
There’s a lot of debate about which TLD carries more weight, and many say that .com has the edge because over the years, people have been conditioned to type .com for most websites.
According to Google, all TLD’s now have equal weight, so it won’t matter if you purchase .com, .net, .guru, or .ninja, (yes, those actually exist), they will be treated equally in the eyes of Google. Until people become accustomed to typing in different TLD’s, .com addresses will always have an edge though, but not from an SEO perspective.
TLD’s like .edu and .gov also carry more weight than lesser-used TLDs, since .edu is reserved for use by education sites and .gov is dedicated to government sites. Other more common TLD’s are .net (for networks) and .org (for organizations).
The .xyz TLD is gaining significant traction since Google moved a major part of its company to a website located at www.abc.xyz, which will direct users to the new TLD and begin to get them acclimated to the newer, less common TLD.
Additionally, the .xyz TLD has a large availability of in-demand domains for purchase that can’t be acquired on the top TLDs (like .com’s) or in the least would cost a fortune to gain otherwise.
For instance, you might be able to actually purchase the domain weddings.xyz, but weddings.com has been taken for many years.
My suggestion? You should always try to obtain a .com address if it’s available, but be sure to research what is available to find relevant domain names on the various TLD’s and pick the one you prefer.
While people have been trained to go to .com addresses first, that habit is slowly changing and for the sake of this book, Google says it doesn’t make a bit of difference in your SEO efforts.
Length of Domain Registration
Once you’ve locked in your domain name, you should consider purchasing that domain for at least 3 years. Some “fly by night” companies will typically only choose a 1-year option, since their goal is to set up a quick website to scam people and disappear.
Purchasing beyond 2 years sends Google a positive signal that you are investing time, boosting the confidence that Google has in your website. If you have a limited budget, however, there is nothing wrong with buying a year at a time. Just be aware of the positive signals Google notices so that you can take advantage of them.
TLD’s like .edu and .gov also carry more weight than lesser-used TLDs, since .edu is reserved for use by education sites and .gov is dedicated to government sites. Other more common TLD’s are .net (for networks) and .org (for organizations).
The .xyz TLD is gaining significant traction since Google moved a major part of its company to a website located at www.abc.xyz, which will direct users to the new TLD and begin to get them acclimated to the newer, less common TLD.
Additionally, the .xyz TLD has a large availability of in-demand domains for purchase that can’t be acquired on the top TLDs (like .com’s) or in the least would cost a fortune to gain otherwise.
For instance, you might be able to actually purchase the domain weddings.xyz, but weddings.com has been taken for many years.
My suggestion? You should always try to obtain a .com address if it’s available, but be sure to research what is available to find relevant domain names on the various TLD’s and pick the one you prefer.
While people have been trained to go to .com addresses first, that habit is slowly changing and for the sake of this book, Google says it doesn’t make a bit of difference in your SEO efforts.
Length of Domain Registration
Once you’ve locked in your domain name, you should consider purchasing that domain for at least 3 years. Some “fly by night” companies will typically only choose a 1-year option, since their goal is to set up a quick website to scam people and disappear.
Purchasing beyond 2 years sends Google a positive signal that you are investing time, boosting the confidence that Google has in your website. If you have a limited budget, however, there is nothing wrong with buying a year at a time. Just be aware of the positive signals Google notices so that you can take advantage of them.
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