Domain Names and SEO

A keyword rich domain name is one of many important factors in building an SEO friendly website. By having a keyword rich domain name it is possible that the process of search engine optimisation can happen much easier.

Even with a keyword rich domain name you still will need to follow other strategies for SEO. If the only thing that mattered in SEO was your domain name it would be far too easy for spammers to dominate Internet.

It can be difficult to build a website that both customers and search engines will love. On top of this, choosing an effective domain name can also be a challenge.

By doing a simple Google search you will find that there are many sites that rank on the first page that have keyword rich domain names. What many fail to realise however, is a domain name will work only as a catalyst in the SEO process and the benefits of a keyword rich domain name are in direct.

Outlined below you can find some of the benefits to having a search engine friendly domain name.

SEO Friendly External Links

External links are an important part of SEO and everyone wants to have anchor text that contains major keywords. With the fact that the majority of people who link to your site will do so through your domain name, creating a keyword rich domain name you can also create SEO friendly incoming links. Although this is an indirect benefit it can help out quite a lot.

Increased Click through Rate

When you have keywords contained within your domain name it can help to improve your click through rate (CTR). If you conduct a search on Google you may notice that any words found in a domain name that match your search query will be highlighted. With this in mind keyword friendly domain names will help to make people believe that they are on the right track. This in turn can give you a far better click through rate which in turn will allow you to make more sales.

An Edge over Others

More often than not a search engine will seem to think that a keyword rich domain name is more relevant for the search query. A direct effect of this is that such sites will often be placed towards the top of search results. By creating a keyword rich domain name and following other SEO strategies you can gain an edge over similar sites in the search results.

Clear Definition of Business

This would have to be one of the best benefits of having a keyword rich domain name. It is possible that a keyword rich domain name clearly defines your business. This will allow people to take one look at your domain name and know exactly what you provide. However, creating a long domain name can hurt more than help. It is recommended that your domain name is no longer than three words as this will help with SEO visibility while not looking like a scam.

Who Shouldn't Use the above Strategies?

A keyword rich domain name can benefit many businesses, but others will be better off using their company name. For example, a company such as Jim Beam is going to get better results from people searching for the term ‘Jim Beam' rather than something else. If a company like this was to use a keyword rich domain name it would in fact hinder their performance. If your company has a strong brand name it is usually best to use that.

Shout is one of the fastest growing online marketing companies in Australasia. Shout specialises in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Marketing, website conversions, usability testing and social media marketing. Not only do Shout SEO achieve top search engine rankings for the most competitive keywords, they deal in all things web that help maximise ROI on your website.