There is much more to a domain name than what meets the eye. Think of your domain name as your digital address or your nameplate, if you will. Your domain name carries the essence of your brand’s online identity. It tells the world who you are and what makes your brand special.
In SEO, investing in a memorable domain name is holding onto the winning hand. With skyrocketing global investments in SEO year on year, your domain name is really your ace in the hole.
In this guide, we will explore the role of domain in SEO. Let’s go!
What Is Domain in SEO?
Let us break down what we mean by domain in SEO.
Quite simply, your domain is your website’s address on the internet. It allows search engines and people to access and interact with your site easily.
Here are a few characteristics of domain SEO:
Uniqueness
Every domain should be unique. This is crucial as it ensures that when someone types your domain into their browser, they land on your site (and not someone else’s).
Relevance
Your domain should relate to what your website is all about. If you are a bakery, having “bakedgoods.com” as your domain is not only unique but also tells visitors immediately what they can expect from your site.
Branding
Your domain is your brand and what people remember of it. So, make it easy to remember and ensure it is a reflection of your brand’s key USPs.
Trustworthiness
Ensure that your domain name is professional and relevant. This is because a professional and relevant domain name immediately garners trust in the eyes of the visitors.
Keywords
To make the most of their domain name, businesses integrate keywords into it. If someone searches for those keywords, your website should show up on the first page of the search results – a gold mine for SEO branding.
Importance of Domain Name in SEO
Domain SEO can positively impact your website. It can make it more accessible to readers and search engines. Your end goal is to optimize the name of your registered domain and improve its reach as well as online visibility.
What’s important to remember is that there are several components of a domain name that can impact your SEO, namely: the length of your domain name, the extension, and the keywords being used.
Let us do a small experiment. Of the following domain names, which one are you likely to trust more?
- Option A: www.secure-bank-login-now.online
- Option B: www.best-online-deals-now.info
- Option C: www.TooGoodToBeTrueDeals.net
None, right? All these domain names look unreliable at best. They are sure to instill suspicious behavior in the customer, even if the website may not necessarily be malicious.
Pro tip: Include your SEO as a supplementary strategy for optimizing your domain name. Some other strategies you must cultivate within the content are on-page SEO, off-page SEO, etc.
Tips on How to Select an SEO-Friendly Domain
You want your domain name to inspire confidence in the reader or the search engine. Here are a few expert-approved tips on creating an SEO-friendly domain name:
- Time: Spend time and do your research on optimizing your domain name. You do not want the name to be irrelevant or worse, outdated.
- Keywords: Be mindful of the keywords to use. You want to choose the right ones that do not make your domain name look awkwardly phrased or spammy. Plus, maintain the right balance between generic words and keywords to prevent your domain name from losing meaning or sense.
- Length: Ensure your domain name is of a shorter length. While Google does not factor in the domain name’s length as a major criterion, it can hamper your brand’s memorability with your customers. After all, no one wants to remember or type lengthy website names! Ideally, keep the length between 7 to 13 characters at most.
- Simplicity: Use simple words and popular abbreviated terms to boost retention and familiarity. You must also:
-
- Limit the number of hyphens you add in the domain name to prevent penalties
- Avoid using repetitive vowel and consonant sounds to prevent slipping in search engine rankings
-
The more the number of characteristics and complexity, the lower your website traffic.
Sort Your Domain Needs with Crazy Domains
Getting your website on the first page of Google can not happen overnight. You can only achieve this by practicing good SEO throughout every piece of online content – be it your blogs, website, articles, social media, and more.
Another critical part of getting your domain name set up right is partnering with a seasoned Domain expert like Crazy Domains. We can help you get the desired extension for your domain name – be it .au or even the most coveted-yet-hard-to-get-one: “.com.”
If you want to boost your search engine rankings organically and gain customer trust along the way, we are here to help. Get your vision, and we will get the tools. Let’s make your brand (and domain name) stick together.