Domain Name Considerations and SEO

Article by Jeff Palmer

When choosing a domain name there are some important considerations to think about in relation to marketing and promoting your web site. The name that you choose for your web site can have an impact on how well your web site is found by search engines, how well it is remembered by your prospects and how well it relates to your business.

The name of your web site in many cases will be the same name as your businesses and this is perfectly logical. There may be times when you might consider registering a domain name for your business web site which differs from your actual business name. For example, a few years ago a client of mine was considering domain names for his small business web site. The business dealt with reducing the energy costs in the home.

This client?s business name was somewhat vague and gave only the slightest idea of what the business was actually about. After conducting some research we found that the client?s potential prospects were searching online for particular terms which had nothing in common in with the actual business name. It became clear that these search terms could be incorporated into the web site?s domain name and we did just that.

Why was it important to use the popular search terms in this client?s domain name and not the actual business name? For starters, the business name gave people only a vague notion of what the business was all about. The name that we chose for the web site left no doubts in people?s mind as to what the business consisted of. Secondly, by incorporating relevant search terms into the web site?s domain name we made it easy for people searching online for this particular service to find the client?s web site.

Search engines use several complicated calculations to offer up the web sites that appear in search results pages but the main thing that most search engines consider is relevance. If a search engine determines that the content of a particular web site is relevant to a particular search term it will rank better in search results pages. By incorporating relevant search terms into the domain name we gave our client an advantage which wouldn?t have existed had he simple used his business name as the web site?s domain name.

Another consideration in choosing a domain name is how easy it is to remember. Long and complicated web addresses are easy to forget and this is definitely worth thinking about. Many people will visit your site and find interesting content, they might forget to bookmark your site but want to visit it later. A short and memorable domain name will serve your well in such cases.

Many people type the domain name of the site that they wish to visit directly into their browser?s web address window. A long and complicated domain name might discourage people from doing this and you certainly don?t want that to happen. Choose a domain name that is as short as possible and easy to remember.

A third consideration to choosing a domain name is determining how relevant the domain name is to your business. A web site for a business selling shoes online with a domain name like ?insertartsyreferncehere.com? probably wont be seeing the same results or drawing qualified traffic like ?onlineshoes.com? Be clear about what your website is all about and reflect this in the domain name that you choose for your web site. You don?t want to be confusing your online prospects when they see your domain name listed in search results and wonder why your website is relevant to what they are searching for. You want them to know right away that they have found what they are looking for when they see your domain name.

Choose a domain name that is short and easy to remember. Make sure that your domain name is relevant to your business. If your business name does not clearly portray the nature of your business consider incorporating relevant search terms into your domain name.

About the Author

Jeff Palmer is an internet marketing specialistand owner of Semultra, an Australian Web Promotion agency.

visit semultra.com.au for more details.

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