The most important decision when creating a webpage is likely to be the domain name. When the time comes to make this selection, there are two schools of thought. The first is creating a domain that comes close to a popular search term people use to find a companies product or service. The opposing concept is to brand a company by creating a domain name that is company specific. This article talks to both approaches and weighs the benefits of each.
For example, a hypothetical company called Creature Feature offers pet grooming in Seattle. A customer searching for this service might use different search terms but let’s say that, through keyword research we find that ‘Seattle pet groomer” is a typical search. Do we create a matching domain or do we want to create a customer brand? If we not restricted to a domain name, perhaps a good matching name would be seattlepetgroomer.com. Since this domain names matches a potential client’s target search they will likely see an initial jump in page position over a non-matching domain since the search engines give relevance to the URL. This benefit can often be short-term. This is because a URL is only one factor the search engines consider. A site’s age, for example, has a large impact. So as a non-matching site’s age grows, they may rank similarly .
There are also negatives associated with domain matching a search phrase or term. For one they’re somewhat limited to the audience they gain. “If a customer with a matching name wants to expand and the new service may not make with the existing name,” says Francis McEwan with a New Jersey SEO Company. “It’s also not possible to create a brand name with an matching domain.” Also, domain names are sometimes associated with sites that display advertisements.
The choice also exists to create a non-matching branded domain name. For a company named Tiny Treats, the obvious choice is tinytreats.com, the name of the company. This creates a clear brand name for a customer who visits the site or wants to visit the site again. Think of companies who have huge branded domain names like Amazon or Google. These names have nothing inherently associated with the services they provide, yet they create a clear brand image. There are also methods of overcoming the non-matching nature of a branded domain name. Typically, a customer may create internal search-matching URLs. For example, tinytreats.com/nyc-cupcakes. Here the URL can still provide some search benefit but the domain still creates a brand name.
Creating a brand presence is usually what customers want to go with. However, don’t underestimate how powerful a geography combined with a service domain name can be. Many customers find what they want on the web. They search for what they want and if you come up as a match or close, you may become more relevant. Of course the key is being relevant for your domain name as a close match. Often customers use a wide array of search terms and a directly targeted approach may fall short. It’s also obvious pretty quick that most of the keyword rich domain names are already taken. Ultimately, base a domain name decision on the long-term goals of your customer.
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