The domain name of your website, called the URL in geek-speak, is termed as the 'web address' of your website. And therein lies its primary importance. It is the primary address of your website, and that is how the readers and users are going to find your website. So, what are the characteristics of a 'good' web address? How should you go about choosing a suitable domain name for your upcoming website? And most importantly, is it possible to derive any SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits from domain names?
Selecting the domain name for your website is a bit of an art, and a bit of science. It is indeed possible to derive significant amount of SEO benefits from a suitable domain name. It is very important, especially if your website is a business website, and it is supposed to act as an online aid to your business. Moreover, a URL remains constant over the life of the website, unless you purchase a different domain name, and transfer your site altogether to the new domain. But this involves all the attendant problems of a change in address. You will lose all the traffic that you built up till date, plus you will have to inform your readers and customers about the new web address. Building traffic over the new domain name is also going to take time, not to mention costs.
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How to Choose a Domain Name for SEO Benefits
If you want to get SEO juice out of your domain name, the following points are to be kept in mind:
1. Put the main keyword of your business in the URL. For example, if you are a freelance writer, then a website address such as freelance-writer[dot]com will obviously be a better choice than yourname[dot]com. In this way, even if other websites link to your website using your business name as anchor text, you will get SEO benefits. Well, that is easier said than done, as all the keywords seem to be taken up, in almost every field. Yet, do not limit yourself to .com names, you can also explore TLDs (top level domain - e.g., .com is a TLD) such as .net, biz and .info. Some country code domains are also becoming popular, such as .co.uk.
2. Short is sweet. This is for a simple reason, that shorter names are easier to remember. If readers remember your domain name, they are more likely to type it correctly in the address bar, and reach your website easily.
3. Do not stuff the domain name with too many keywords, for example web-content-freelance-writer[dot]com. Be careful with words such as 'cheap', 'free' and 'sale', especially when used in combination with other keywords. This looks spammy, and even search engines have learnt to avoid such domain names. This might sound like a direct contrast to #1, yet it is important to strike a balance. Moreover, longer names are tougher to remember.
4. Do not forget to brand your website. Again, it is important to strike a balance between the two extremes of choosing a domain name with generic keywords and a domain name with no keyword. The best idea is to strike a fine balance between all the key requirements, that is - keyword in domain name, short name, not too many keywords, and brandability- that is, having a unique element in your URL. This unique element can be anything - your name (e.g, seo-by-james[dot]com), your geographical location (canada-news[dot]com) or any other element that will inject exclusivity in your URL. Be creative!
The importance of choosing the correct domain name to get SEO benefits is clear. But it also important not to get overboard with too much optimization in the domain name itself. SEO for a website is a function of numerous variables, and domain name is only only one such variable. If you already have a URL which does does not fulfill all the criteria, all is not lost. You can concentrate on the other variables, such as adding fresh and unique content, backlinking and use of social media. After all, the URL google.com does not provide any indication of what the company does!
Selecting the domain name for your website is a bit of an art, and a bit of science. It is indeed possible to derive significant amount of SEO benefits from a suitable domain name. It is very important, especially if your website is a business website, and it is supposed to act as an online aid to your business. Moreover, a URL remains constant over the life of the website, unless you purchase a different domain name, and transfer your site altogether to the new domain. But this involves all the attendant problems of a change in address. You will lose all the traffic that you built up till date, plus you will have to inform your readers and customers about the new web address. Building traffic over the new domain name is also going to take time, not to mention costs.
Learn more on how to make money
How to Choose a Domain Name for SEO Benefits
If you want to get SEO juice out of your domain name, the following points are to be kept in mind:
1. Put the main keyword of your business in the URL. For example, if you are a freelance writer, then a website address such as freelance-writer[dot]com will obviously be a better choice than yourname[dot]com. In this way, even if other websites link to your website using your business name as anchor text, you will get SEO benefits. Well, that is easier said than done, as all the keywords seem to be taken up, in almost every field. Yet, do not limit yourself to .com names, you can also explore TLDs (top level domain - e.g., .com is a TLD) such as .net, biz and .info. Some country code domains are also becoming popular, such as .co.uk.
2. Short is sweet. This is for a simple reason, that shorter names are easier to remember. If readers remember your domain name, they are more likely to type it correctly in the address bar, and reach your website easily.
3. Do not stuff the domain name with too many keywords, for example web-content-freelance-writer[dot]com. Be careful with words such as 'cheap', 'free' and 'sale', especially when used in combination with other keywords. This looks spammy, and even search engines have learnt to avoid such domain names. This might sound like a direct contrast to #1, yet it is important to strike a balance. Moreover, longer names are tougher to remember.
4. Do not forget to brand your website. Again, it is important to strike a balance between the two extremes of choosing a domain name with generic keywords and a domain name with no keyword. The best idea is to strike a fine balance between all the key requirements, that is - keyword in domain name, short name, not too many keywords, and brandability- that is, having a unique element in your URL. This unique element can be anything - your name (e.g, seo-by-james[dot]com), your geographical location (canada-news[dot]com) or any other element that will inject exclusivity in your URL. Be creative!
The importance of choosing the correct domain name to get SEO benefits is clear. But it also important not to get overboard with too much optimization in the domain name itself. SEO for a website is a function of numerous variables, and domain name is only only one such variable. If you already have a URL which does does not fulfill all the criteria, all is not lost. You can concentrate on the other variables, such as adding fresh and unique content, backlinking and use of social media. After all, the URL google.com does not provide any indication of what the company does!
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