Domain Names & SEO

Domain names are a valuable part of your business and web presence. Most of the time people tend to view domains as a branding tool and overlook the SEO potential that the right domain can deliver. Domain name selection should be considered an important part of your web strategy. Here are some things to consider when thinking about domain names and which one you choose.

 

  • Does the domain name contain my keywords? – This is the emphasis of this article. The benefits of this are many. You can see more traffic, more links and more rankings to name a few.
  • Will it receive type in traffic? – Domain names that are generic or short in nature sometimes get a very good deal of direct navigation traffic. Meaning the user went to the browser and typed the word followed most likely by .com
  • Does it appear trustworthy or link worthy? – This can be in the eye of the beholder, but something to consider. For instance I may have credit-cards-low-rates.com and creditcards.com. Which one would you rather go to or link to based on the name? Likewise if you saw lowinterestcreditcards.com as opposed to credit-cards.com. Opt for credit-cards over the long version, and in the first example, choose creditcards.com over the longer version. This also directly relates to type in traffic. Which one do you think is more likely to get a direct navigation?
  • Is the .com available? – Everyone knows .com is king, but there are plenty who disagree, however, that is for another discussion. It is a fact that more people trust, remember, search, and navigate for .com’s.
  • Is the keyword domain available without hyphens or dashes? – It is always a good practice to look for the most basic version of the keyword for example creditcards.com. If you had a choice between creditcards.com and credit-cards.com opt for the no hyphen version.
  • How old is the domain name? – The more generic the domain name the older you can bet it is. The age can benefit you in a number of ways ranging from previously developed sites where you can capitalize on pre existing traffic, as well as the pre existing number of inbound links. You can check a domains age in most whois services. I recommend DomainTools.com
  • Are there any links pointing at the domain already? – If the domain you are considering already has a number of inbound links this can help jumpstart your SEO and increase traffic.
  • Is it listed in the internet archive? – The Internet Archive or Way Back Machine is a great resource for checking what your domain used to be before you owned it. The Internet Archive can be found at http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
  • Is it in DMOZ? – DMOZ.org, the internets granddaddy directory, is an ideal location to get a link to your domain. The weight on this may have diminished over time, but it is still beneficial for you to have your site listed in the DMOZ.org directory.

Can the user spell it? – A domain name that cannot be spelled is likely to never be found. Unless you really educate the marketplace on your new “IN” term.

  • Is it a memorable domain name? – Will people remember it? Will it be a flash in the pan?
  • How long is it? – The shorter the better. However don’t sacrifice a great name for a shoddy shorter version.

Tools

You can determine a lot of the above information with some basic research tools and some common sense. To find out more about a domain and its history you can try DomainTools.com. You can find the links pointing to a domain by using a simple query in Google and Yahoo. Type in the search as follows substituting domain for your URL. link:domain.com

SEO Advantages

Ranking

When other webmasters link to your site the probability of them linking back to you with the business name or web address is pretty high. Domain names that contain the businesses keywords automatically create inbound links to your site with the keywords in the anchor text. The domain name also gives the search engines something to think about. If you choose a domain name that is relevant to your site and if it contains a keyword, then you will be that much more likely to rank for the term in the search engines. Take the following examples into consideration for a moment. This is a search breakdown for the terms on Google and Yahoo. The terms are broad search and not exact match. Notice the trend among the top ranking domain for these keywords.

Google Examples:

1. Query: Makeup

#1 Result: makeup.com

2. Query: birthday cards

#1 Result: birthdaycards.com

3. Query: action figures

#1 Result: action-figure.com

Yahoo Examples:

1. Query: Makeup

#1 Result: Sephora.com

(however look at the next few results. They are all domains that contain the keywords.)

2. Query: birthday cards

#1 Result: birthdaycards.com

3. Query: action figures

#1 Result: action-figure.com


Notice how all the top ranked sites except for makeup on Yahoo have domain names that contain the keyword we were looking for. Now this does not mean this is the case every time, but you can see a strong trend among search results that indicate the advantages of having keywords in your domains.

In the above example, a quick check of the back link anchor text shows that there are a large number of links pointing to the domain makeup.com with makeup.com as anchor text.

Even though people linked to them using the business name or domain name if you will, the domain happens to contain the very keywords they are seeking to rank for. You can check the back link anchor text for your website with this handy tool www.webconfs.com/anchor-text-analysis.php. Simply type in the URL in question and let it start its search. When it is done you will have a pretty good view of how people link to your site.

Site links

In addition to the above benefits, keyword and exact match domains tend to get Google site links. Google site links as defined by Google “The links shown below some sites in our search results, called site links, are meant to help users navigate your site.” Although the exact algorithm is unknown there is some consensus on what seems to work for obtaining site links. All of the following situations can be created with the right domain name and good website structure.

  • Site ranks first for the keyword – Domains that contain keywords have an easier time ranking for that term
  • Easily spiderable website – Well structured website and navigation with a sitemap
  • High click through rates from the search results page – Well formed titles and descriptions can compliment a solid domain name to gain user trust and increase the CTR
  • Inbound links from relevant sites – Domain names that contain keyword will get more inbound links with anchor text links that contain keywords
  • Relevant outbound links – Link to someone important in your field
  • Natural search traffic – The domain appearing in the top results will increase the traffic especially for an exact match domain

In case the value of site links is not immediately obvious to you here are a couple reasons why you should want to get them.

Site links help increase your traffic and further suppress your competition by pushing them down below the fold on the search results pages. An example of this can be seen when using Google to query the term credit card. Notice how the result for the number one spot creditcardguide.com has additional links below it? Also pay attention to how it pushes down the rest of the results on this page. This is just one more way to get ahead of your competition. Not only do you want a top result, but you want the site links too.

In addition to suppressing the competition, this can lead to lowered PPC spend on some keywords. Let us assume you are bidding on the term credit card, you rank for the term credit card and you have site links. The amount you have to spend to get the same volume is much less since you have spread yourself out among the top of the search engine results page. Suppose you appear in sponsored search, organic rankings, supplemental rankings and also site links. This alone could allow you to dominate the top section of the results pages, thereby stomping the competition and vastly lowering your ad spend for said keyword, while reinforcing your brand and positioning you as a leader in the mind of the consumer.

Put Some Thought Into It

I hope you have gained a little better idea of how the right domain choice can benefit your whole business and the impact the domain can have on your traffic volume and visibility. With a little work, research, and patience you will see the fruits of your labor in web traffic & revenue, while increasing the value of your domain name and your web property.