EngineWorks, a search marketing company, has an excellent blog post on the importance of domain names for SEO. EngineWorks debunks several myths that have lingered through the domaining and SEO industry until recently.
I assume that a large percentage of domainers have it etched in their minds that long domains or ccTLDs are worthless. I personally have a portfolio of near 200 short dot com domains, the majority of which are two-word names. Read over the following quotes from EngineWorks’ blog for some enlightenment on the effective use of domains for search marketing.
I’m long and I’m strong…
“Longer Is Sometimes Better For Conversions! Longer domain names tend to be significantly more specific than short domains. For example, ‘homeloan.com’ may be succinct; however it is also very generic. Whereas the longer domain name ‘portlandmortgageloan.com’ defines the type of loan and the geographical location.”
If you are a returning DotSauce reader, you may be aware that long tail keywords are the latest SEO buzz. A tactic which makes use of specific generic phrases to reach targeted customers and readers. This ideal can be applied directly to domain names. However, I do not recommend using hyphens if at all possible in your names. It may work, but I think it looks cheap.
Think Outside of the [.COM]
“When searching through a country specific search engine domain (for example ‘google.co.uk’), many times the results returned will include Web sites that feature similar CCTLD domains, such as ‘domain.co.uk’.”
If you own an internet based business or service you can make use of any number of ccTLD’s to optimize your search rankings on a specific localized engine. Google Canada seems to love DotSauce for some reason of which I am not sure, oddly enough I rank higher on specific keywords on Google.ca and therefore receive a small increase in traffic, I love Canada!
Build A Reputation Beyond Repute
“Companies can fortify their brand, and gain new business, by building trust through a generic domain name. As an example, Bank of America owns the domain ‘loans.com’. The company could chose to use this domain name separate from its primary domain to build-out a loan information site.”
Most of us can only dream of being able to afford a generic dot com domain name. These premium brandable domain names fetch prices in the millions. Where would companies such as Hotels.com, Register.com, & Buy.com be without their names? For those like myself who can’t afford “BadAss.com”, check out another of my articles entitled The Ten Commandments of Branding or read how some big companies are marketing and getting creative with domain names.
