In short, yes, your domain affects SEO and where you appear in the rankings. At some point in the life cycle of your business, you will likely choose a domain name if you want to have an online presence. Whether it’s a startup that’s building a website or adding a spin-off business, it’s important to consider SEO before committing to a domain.
How To Maximize Seo Benefits For Your Domain
To maximize the benefits of SEO, your domain name must say what your business is about and be recognizable. It is essential that your domain mentions your brand. If a user is searching for your business, you want them to easily connect to your site.
The easier it is for a user to visit your site, the more likely they will return for future searches or purchases. Simply typing in “your brand.com” saves additional clicks and thus lowers barriers to entry.
Also, because they know exactly what they are looking for, your site’s bounce rate is lower, which is one of the indicators in Google’s algorithm that they are showing the user the results they want to see.
The next time a search is done, your site may rank slightly higher. Using your brand on your domain name is an effective way to get ingrained in the customer’s mind.
Keep It Simple
Imagine that you are selling products within your Bob’s Auto Parts store. When registering, a customer asks your site to search for another product or learn more about your business. The name of your website is “bobsautopartz3.com”. If you say it out loud, the customer could get confused and never reach your site.
Do you spell three? Is it a “z” or an “s” in parts? Our advice is to keep it as simple as possible. No original spelling, no numbers, the easier to pronounce and remember, the better. If the domain name you chose is already in use, consider adding its location, such as “bobsautopartsames.com,” or use an acronym if that makes sense for your business.
Domain Extensions
Your domain extension is what comes after the main body of your name, most commonly “.com”. According to website.com, “Your domain extension has no effect on the ranking of search results. The only exception is country code top-level domains, such as .us, .ca, and .UK.
These domain extensions will significantly affect your site’s ranking on a geographic search level. For example, if you have a .ca domain extension and your users are searching your site in a Canadian city, your site will rank higher.
But although domain extensions have little or no meaning, there is a psychological effect that cannot be ignored. Users are more familiar with .com, .net, and .org domain names.
These domain extensions project more trust and credibility than other extensions. Unfortunately, extensions like .biz and .info are often preferred by spammers. In other words, choosing the wrong domain extension can associate you with low-ranking sites. People will be more skeptical about clicking on your link. This can negatively affect your SEO. “
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Keywords play an important role in directing search results users to your website. However, it is best to keep the keywords on your domain to a minimum. Too many keywords can make your site look fake and prevent users from clicking, such as “cheappautorepairshopinames.com”.
It is important that your keywords clarify the purpose of your website and align well with the rest of your content and business, for example: “bobsautorepairservice.com”. In short, be careful what keywords you choose to use for your domain if any.
Check to See if the Domain Has a Negative History:
Many domains have already been owned and used by other sites, and if you end up buying one with a history of spamming tactics, such as links or keyword stuffing, Google or other search engines may have penalized the site, even blacklisting it entirely from search results. This negative history can carry over to your site and make it difficult to rank.
For this reason, it is important to ensure that the domain you decide to buy has a clean history to avoid the headaches and additional costs that can come with cleaning up a spammed domain.
