An SEO-friendly domain name creates a solid online presence. There are millions of businesses online today, so developing a distinctive brand name might be challenging. Many excellent business names have already been taken. If you use a more generic term, you will be up against stiff opposition.
You might need to invest more time and effort into choosing an SEO-friendly domain name. And if you pick the wrong domain name, you incur the danger of losing search traffic, money, or, worst-case scenario, having search engines flag your website as spam.
But don’t worry. We’ve got you covered!
This article will show you how to pick an SEO-friendly domain name that fits your business.
What’s The Relationship Between SEO And Your Domain Name?
Without a doubt, Search Engine Optimization affects your domain names. You want to create a domain name that generates many leads and increases brand recognition for your business.
Also, you want a domain name to help customers remember your brand, whether you’re focusing on keywords or brand name. Furthermore, the typical click-through rate for the top organic result in Google Search is 28.5%. Therefore, use every possible measure to boost your ranking on search engines.
Although the worth of your domain SEO isn’t the most effective way of improving your position, its total impact might be quite significant.
Consider the case when you have a well-known brand or domain name that matches a user’s search criteria. Your visits and click-through rate will be high in such instances. And this tells search engines that your website is significant and worthwhile.
If you choose a domain name that promotes traffic to your website, it may greatly benefit other aspects of search engine optimization. In summary, the importance of SEO-friendly domain names are;
It Establishes Your Brand: An SEO- friendly domain name attracts visitors to your site and raises brand recognition.
It Gives Your Website More Credibility: Your domain name is usually the first thing a visitor will notice. An SEO-friendly domain name will show your website’s credibility, professionalism, and trustworthiness.
It Improves Click-Through Rate: A major perk of an SEO-friendly domain name is that it aids in boosting search traffic and click-through rate (CTR).
Now that you understand the importance of an SEO-friendly domain name, let’s dwell on how to pick one for your brand.
Tips On How To Choose An SEO-Friendly Domain Name
Below are some ideas on how to choose an SEO-friendly domain name for your business. Also, we will provide excellent and relevant real-world examples.
1. Make Your Domain Name Brandable
An SEO-friendly domain name needs to be branded to catch your customers’ attention. Some companies choose not to include their brand name in the website’s domain name, and such a strategy is wrong, particularly for SEO objectives.
The brand is the primary good or service you offer on your website, and it implies that domain names serve as a marketing tool for the brand.
Thus, making your website’s domain name the same as your brand name is the best approach to ensure that people will remember your business name. Another factor is uniqueness.
So, a brand name or business name should often remain distinct, and this will cause greater domain name accessibility and higher user acceptance. When you think about it, phrases like TheBestSearchEngine.com don’t seem as good— or as unique— as names like Google and Yahoo.
Having said that, let’s look at Amazon and Apple. Amazon is so branded that people frequently use the phrase “I’ll just Amazon it” to refer to immediate purchases, even though it has nothing to do with purchase shipment. Yes, it may sound absurd, but people say “I now use an Apple.” This is a method to show that they own an Apple computer.
Now, the above (Amazon and Apple) are perfect examples of branded domain names.
2. Use Words That Are Easy to Spell
Fage, a Greek yogurt brand, lost market share to Chobani in 2012, although they launched nine years earlier than their competitors. One of the key causes of the brand’s downfall was confusion about the pronunciation of Fage.
Given this, avoid complications by using words that are easy to spell. Aim to avoid tough names when picking an SEO-friendly business name. This will help to prevent misspellings while inputting the website URL.
Do you know that numbers and hyphens are one reason domain names become hard to spell?
People who hear your website URL may not understand if you are using the digit 5 or the word 5 written out. Or they may even misplace or forget the dash in the name. Though it may not be a severe issue, many readers still overlook hyphens while inputting a website’s URL.
Therefore, check your name with a vocabulary score tool if you are unsure about its pronunciation rate. This tool assigns a score between one and ten, with a higher number stating easier reading.
3. Geographical Domain Extensions
One of the main advantages, aside from coming up with some pretty cool domain names that are unique to your company, is increased SEO (search engine optimization).
The only domain extension that affects search engine ranking is national top-level domain names. Geographical-based domains may boost your company’s credibility while also leading your consumers more effectively to your site
Examples of these are .ca, .nl, .uk, and .de. As expected, these will have a significant impact on how visible you are in search engines from different nations. So, here is how it works. You could only receive a small amount of live search traffic from the United States if you use a .uk domain. In essence, you’re telling search engines that your website is intended for a specific location and won’t show up in other search results.
In the end, location-based domains let your audience connect and interact with you by reducing user confusion. Your clients, your community, and yourself will all be happy!
4. Choose From Top-Level Domain Extensions
Research which domain extension is best for your business before picking one. The domain name system offers over 1,000 domain extensions. So, selecting one might be rather difficult. W3Techs estimates that the “.com” suffix appears on 52.6% of all domain names. You may use additional well-known domain extensions, such as “.net,” “.org,” “.edu,” and “.info,” among others.
The most common TLDs are “.com,” “.net,” “.org,” and “.edu.” However, we strongly advise you to choose the .com domain extension if you plan to launch a blog, company, or any other profitable website. You might wonder if selecting a .com domain has any SEO advantages. These extensions were developed to distinguish between various website types.
For instance, the .com extension is for profitable websites. The .net which signifies “networking,” was developed for network-related websites like slideshare.net.
Similarly, most education-related blogs or websites use the .edu domain names. An example of this is harvard.edu. Also, the .org is for non-profit-making organizations like Wikipedia.org.
Now, you know what kind of domain extension is best for your website.
5. Avoid Exact Match Domains (EMDs)
Exact match domains (EMDs) are domain names that contain the precise keywords you want to rank for in Google’s search engine results pages. In a nutshell, EMDs used to be excellent for search rankings. Examples include clothes.com, carinsurance.com, buygroceries.com, and webhosting.com.
So, what is the issue with EMDs when picking a domain SEO?
As search engines have developed and the system is widely abused, it is no longer as successful as it once was. CarRepairsInLondon.com, a domain name registered with the precise search term used to look for a vehicle repair shop in London, might serve as an illustration of EMD.
Search engines no longer favor this form of a domain name very much. And if your domain name is inferior, Google may even penalize you.
EMDs are linked with spammy websites attempting to manipulate search engine algorithms by precisely lining up the keywords in the domain name with the searcher’s query. It is a smart option to fully cancel your plans for an exact match domain because the domain name world is dynamic and the worth of EMD is declining.
Thankfully, there are more effective approaches to obtaining an SEO-friendly domain name.
6. Make Use Of Keywords
When going for an SEO-friendly domain name, integrate a primary keyword and brand name to help search engines achieve their goals more quickly. For instance, go for “nicafashionshoes” or “Macgoldjewelry.”
SEO tools like Keyword or Google Trends can help examine the demand and level of competition for a few of your potential keywords.
Additionally, speaking with some clients will help you discover how your brand is associated with a term or phrase. Write down their responses and use a keyword research tool to determine the market’s viability.
To avoid further misunderstanding, avoid combining terms if your goods or services are new to the market. Also, be cautious when using slang terms because they could make others giggle.
7. Avoid Following Trends
It may be quite effective to use SEO and content marketing trends. However, picking a domain name that fits in with the current fad might eventually mar your business. Your brand’s durability and sustainability may be seriously jeopardized if you don’t understand your market.
Therefore, it is important to establish a unique name and not an imitation of a competitor or a current trend. While most fads are fleeting, using odd and trendy spellings might have expensive long-term implications.
8. Simplicity Is Key
As earlier mentioned, people have chosen many domain names. And to get a good name similar to your initial idea, you may be forced to take harsh actions. However, you could get a bad domain SEO if you complicate matters too much.
Shortness may keep a domain name simple and memorable, but extending it might hurt.
For instance, PastaScience.com and PastaSci.com are alike. Despite having fewer letters, the latter is more difficult to say and recall because of the abbreviation. The first version is way better.
Simplicity wins out in all aspects of domain name selection. You can stand out from the background noise on the Internet because it is clear. Also, limit the length of your domain name to 15 characters or fewer, because shorter URLs are usually preferable.
Final Thoughts
Selecting an SEO-friendly domain name could be overwhelming. It can take some time, or it might happen right away. There are several factors to consider. Selecting a compelling domain name can boost search traffic and start building your brand immediately.
However, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and want to find an SEO-friendly domain name, we can help you. We guarantee you that finding the ideal SEO-friendly domain name is not difficult; just keep it clear and don’t overthink it.
Having offered you the tips on how to pick an SEO-friendly domain name, now is the time to get your creative juices flowing!
