Domain name is one of the first things that businesses register when getting started. Finding the right domain name that matches your goals and covers the dimension of your business can be a tricky part.
In the digital marketing market, we are often asked by our clients, “Does domain name helps SEO?” or “How to pick a domain name for SEO?”. Well, it is a business decision and it depends on a lot of factors.
When you are just getting started with any business, you would definitely like to get much as possible. SEO is one of the major sources of free quality traffic. The visitors who come from SEO also trust you as a brand as ranking on Google is not easy to achieve for all.
The answer to the question will be finding a domain name that is both brand focused and is SEO friendly as well. This guide will take you through the things that you need to consider when registering a domain name.
What Is Domain Name?
Your domain name is the unique name of your website. The domain name is the URL where the website can be reached by people. For the recognition of one or more IP addresses, domain names are commonly used.
For example, for Nifty Marketing Australia, the domain name is https://www.niftymarketing.com.au. Here, https is the protocol. “www.” is the subdomain, “niftymarketing.com.au” is the domain name and “.au” is the country code.
Why Does a Domain Name Matter for SEO?
It is undeniable that you want people to know your brand, your organisation or what your website is all about if we look at just the domain name alone. A domain name that is SEO-optimized is one that shows users what the website is about, the goods and services it delivers, etc. The domain stands out further in the sea of search result listings in this situation and becomes more likely to be tapped.
Doman name impacts SEO in many ways. Having the right domain name can help you target the right domain, increase the direct visitors to your website, and also accelerate your search engine visibility.
Understanding the Domain Name SEO Value
There are two ways of bringing the most value our of domain names in terms of Google Search rankings:
Branding Domain
Keyword Domain
Branding domain is having your brand name or your business name as the domain name. Google loves branding domain and these domains tend to rank better in Google in the long run.
If the keyword domain had all the advantages, then google.com would have been bestsearchengine.com. Branding domain also comes with authenticity and trust as people look at them with a different vision.
Getting a branding domain means, you are going to focus more on building the brand rather than focusing only on the search engine rankings. For example, branding needs to have an overall marketing approach before they get ranked for a competitive term.
What Is Keyword Domain?
In the other hand, a keyword domain is a domain name that briefly explains the services, location, or specific term they want to rank higher for, in their domain name.
Some of the examples of the keyword domains are;
https://plumbersydney.com.au
https://applereviews.com
https://dallasguitarservices.com
How to Choose the Right Domain for SEO?
SEO should not be focused completely when registering a domain name. Instead, if you focus on what your website is offering or match your search intent, it is going to be better value for SEO.
If your domain correctly reflects your website and brand, then it can be considered at good SEO. As we have explained clearly, branding keyword has an edge over the competition it the overall marketing approach is complete.
Some of the other considerations that you need to keep in mind while picking the domain name for SEO is:
Involve your brand name in the domain name
Keep keywords that are relevant and reflects your website
Choose a domain that is memorable
Keep the domain name short and catchy
Consider your location (If you are from Canada, the .ca domain will be better for local business SEO)
Avoid using hyphens and numbers in the domain name