A good domain is important to the success of your website. Therefore, spend time selecting one with all the right elements. There are several things to consider that will make it effective and contribute to higher rankings on search engine results pages. There is nothing wrong with picking your company’s name as your domain. Lots of companies do, but others select focus keywords instead. I often get asked, “Is your company name, or is a keyword a better domain?” Read on to find out and learn how to select a good domain for your website.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
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Real World Example
I work with a company called Wood Works Tampa Bay. Their current domain is woodworkstampabay.com. They recently had an opportunity to buy “woodworkingflorida.com” and asked me if I thought replacing their current one was a good idea. It was the third time a client asked me this question this year. I considered the pros and cons of such a move before recommending against the switch. Since a lot of people want to know what makes a good website domain, I decided to write this article.
Why a good domain is important?
A good domain name for your business is very important. Most importantly, it helps visitors find your website and search engines understand what your website is about. Additionally, it helps to establish your company’s credibility. The more credible your company appears, the more prospects will trust your brand. And the more trustworthy your brand, the more likely other sites will link to it. These links, known as backlinks, are strong ranking factors. Therefore, earning one from a strong website can help your rank rise on the page. To learn more about backlinks, read my article, “How Backlinks Build Trust and Boost Your Ranking.”
Take your time to research available domains. Find one relevant to your brand, like your company’s name, and make sure it contains elements of a good one.
Elements of a Good Domain
The primary goal of any website is the user experience. And since the domain usually starts the experience, it’s best to select one that contributes positively to that experience. Here are things to consider.
Always Buy a .com
In America, the most trusted domain extension is .com. Always select a domain with a .com extension. If not, your site will be harder to find, and you’ll spend your days reminding your prospects that your site ends in .net, .ai, or .somethingelse. I’ve seen my share of clients who originally selected a .co or .net extension. Then, they spend a lot of time and resources buying the .com version of the same or similar domain, redirecting their website, and revising their marketing materials. Buy a .com from the start, and you’ll never regret it.
Make it Intuitive
Another important thing to consider when choosing a domain for your website is your audience. People will be searching either directly for your company or things related to what your company does. The best domains are intuitive. Selecting your company name is good, but make sure it’s the name people will call you, not necessarily your legal name. Always look for the root-level name, and leave things like “inc” or “llc” off. For instance, the legal name of my company is Sand Key Ventures LLC. I chose “sandkeyventures.com” for the domain because no one will think to include the “LLC” when searching for it. Additionally, avoid anything that uses numbers and hyphens. Neither is intuitive.
Keep it Short
Finally, try to keep your domain short. A short one is easier for your customers, prospects, and employees. I recommend anywhere between 8 and 14 characters, including the extension.
Is There an Advantage to Keyword Domains?
Not too long ago, there was a big push to use a domain that included a website’s primary keyword. Companies across the country rushed to stop using their company name and switch to a keyword instead. Domains that sounded like “carcrashlawyer.com” and “sedationdentist.com” popped up on search engine results pages. And for a while, Google considered domain names an important ranking factor. But in 2021, Google decided they were not as important for ranking. An article in Search Engine Journal titled “The Ultimate Guide for an SEO-Friendly URL Structure” quoted Google’s John Mueller saying, “Keywords in URLs are overrated for Google SEO. Make URLs for users.” This clearly indicated that the user experience is more important than focus keywords.
Landing high on the search engine results page depends on many ranking factors. Your website must present a great user experience and contain helpful, relevant, and original content. If you focus time and resources on that, your page will rank where you want it, regardless of the site’s domain name.
Conclusion to Selecting a Good Website Domain
A good website domain is important, and selecting a good one takes time and should not be taken lightly. An effective domain adds to the user experience, is relevant to your brand, is between 7 and 14 characters, has a .com extension, and is intuitive. Your company’s name is fine, but don’t include any legal designations like “LLC.” Finally, don’t be too concerned about using keywords instead of your company name. Google doesn’t consider domains a major ranking factor. If you use a keyword, make sure it describes exactly what you do. Something vague or close to what you do will not cut it. For help selecting a domain, call Sand Key Ventures. We’ve helped companies find the right domain and negotiated with domain brokers on behalf of our clients. We will be happy to help find the one that creates a great user experience and helps your website rank higher.
Sand Key Ventures is a website company that focuses on user experience. We build new websites and provide SEO services to keep websites running clean and Google happy. Plus, we create content that establishes our client’s expertise and trustworthiness. Call us at 727-249-2749 to discuss what Sand Key Ventures can do for you. You can also send an email to michael@sandkeyventures.com. If you prefer to copy and paste the email link, it is michael@sandkeyventures.com.
Thanks for your time, but now we’ve gotta run. We have websites to build and audit, blogs to write, eCommerce to manage, and photos to edit. Until next time, take care.