How Your Domain Name Will Impact SEO And Social Media
When starting a new website, one of the first and most important decisions you have to make is choosing a domain name. That choice will impact the website’s success in nearly every area, included search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SMM).
Choose A Keyword Domain
Online marketing professionals have often purchased domains that contained their targeted keywords in order to increase CTRs and to help gain higher rankings on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. We recommend you purchase exact match domains (EMDs), which are domains that exactly match the keyword phrase they are targeting.
- The presence of the keyword phrase in the domain is itself a ranking factor
- The keyword phrase will be in the anchor text when linking to the site
Recent Google updates (especially the “EMD update”), have demoted the value, but it does not mean they are are no longer helpful. This does not mean that you should necessarily avoid or abandon keyword domains, but it does mean that keywords shouldn’t be the primary factor you consider when choosing a domain.
Premium Keyword Domains
Owning a premium keyword domain can increase click-through rates on ads and SERP listings. Consider these factors:
- What is the search volume?
- What is the cost?
- Is it a .com?
Choose A Brandable Domain
Having a domain name that matches your target keyword(s) does offer some benefits, but there is a bigger factor you should consider: the brandability of the domain. Your brand is important, and your domain name is the foundation upon which your online brand will be built. Your domain name is how users will find, remember, share and identify your company online. In both social media and search engines, the domain name is the primary way by which users can identify to “whom” the link will lead.
While some marketers think that SEO is only about keywords and links, the reality is that Google likes brands. Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said that “brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool. Brand affinity is clearly hard wired. It is so fundamental to human existence that it’s not going away.” The first step to building a brand is choosing a brandable domain.
7 Tips for Choosing A Brandable Domain
- Pick a .com extension
- Be memorable
- Be relevant
- Easy to spell
- Sound authoritative
- Shorter is better
- Be unique
Find A Great Domain Name
Choosing a domain name can be hard. In many cases the most obvious brandable domain names are already registered and would be expensive to purchase. Set up a brainstorm session with your team to develop a few ideas. If it helps, use these three formulas to brainstorm possible domain names.
- Use existing words AcmeWidgets.com
- Create new words like Google
- Create portmanteaus like GroupOn
![11 SEO tips to improve your site [Infograph]](http://bijoumind.com/wp-content/uploads/11-SEO-tips-to-improve-your-site-150x150.png "11 SEO tips to improve your site [Infograph]")
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