According to earthweb.com, there are over 9 billion of Google searches per day, and top of these results get 45% organic clicks. That is for Google alone, not including other search engines.
As a domain investor, your goal is for your domain to belong to these top search results. This increases their value and will ensure you that your domains will have more potential buyers. It is important for a domain investor to be knowledgeable in SEO for it is one of the components that will help determine the value of the domains you will be purchasing or selling.
But what is SEO and how do we know that a domain name is SEO optimized? Let us define SEO for you, and help you know the basics of knowing if a domain name is optimized for SEO.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
The goal in creating a website, whatever your business or purpose is, is to have people visit your site. The more visitors you have, the more potential customers and readers or subscribers you will have. One way to make sure that a website generates clicks is to have it positioned high enough in the search engine results page (SERP) to increase its visibility to searchers. And this is where SEO comes in.
Search engine optimization or SEO is the means of enhancing a website to make it more visible and accessible to visitors. It helps in making webpages searchable, relevant, and most importantly, popular among searches. It leads to more organic clicks on a site that will then put it in a high-ranking placement in search results. An effective SEO leads to an increase in website traffic, which of course, is good for any business.
SEO can be used for the webpage itself. By using keywords, it creates relevant content to improve SEO rankings. However, the domain name is also one important aspect to bear in mind when it comes to SEO. Although indirectly, it also helps the site to gain higher rankings in search engines.
Domain Name SEO
Now that we know that SEO is a way to have a high-ranking placement in search results, what is domain name SEO? How do we choose a domain name that is SEO-friendly?
As you may already know, a domain name makes people recognize what a certain company or website is all about. It also assists in building the business and its brand. But an SEO-optimized domain makes it stick out from search listings. It leads to a particular targeted audience and improves ranking in the SERP. That is why domain buyers tend to look for a domain name that is already SEO optimized.
Although some search engines have altered their algorithms that domain names do not directly affect the SEO rankings, there are still other factors to consider in selecting a domain name that may benefit your click-through rate that will help you increase visitor traffic. Elements that you should take into account in finding the right domain name that is SEO friendly are TLD (top-level domain), domain length, keywords, and backlinks.
TLD
Domain extensions establish the trustworthiness of your domain. One type of these domain extensions is a top-level domain or a TLD. Examples of these top-level domains are “.com”, “.net”, and “.org”.
Having a top TLD is vital in having a valuable domain. It builds domain trust and authority. The “.com” TLD has been the most credible TLD for years, even decades. And most domain names with this TLD are usually taken.
So having a good domain name with “.com” is already an advantage for domain investors because of its value. Although there have been debates on whether top-level domains matter in rankings for some search engines, the credibility of using top TLDs still affects the number of clicks a domain gets.
The reason for this is that domain names with uncommon TLDs are not usually clicked on due to the fear that these sites might lead to phishing and other scams. Another type of a good TLD is the ccTLD or the country code top-level domains. It is best used for domains with a targeted audience in a specific country or location.
For example, “.us”, “.au”, etc. This type of TLD is still used by search engines in international SEO rankings. Since the intended market is already indicated in the domain, search engines already know who among the billions of searchers worldwide the domain may be relevant to.
Domain length
In choosing domain names, it is recommendable that they have 3-4 words, or not longer than 15 characters. Short and simple domain names are favorable because they are more user-friendly. They are easy to read and remember.
Additionally, these names must not be difficult to pronounce or say. Having this kind of domain makes it easy for visitors to share it, which leads to an increase in clicks. Though other sites include hyphens to separate terms in their URL, using a hyphen is a bad idea. It does not, in any way, help in SEO.
In fact, it may also lessen domain web traffic. Users tend to forget about hyphens, and this may point them to other domains with the exact name, but just without the hyphen. For instance, if the domain name is Home-Appliances.com, users may overlook the hyphen and will be directed to HomeAppliances.com.
Keywords
Using keyword-rich domain names was once considered important in ranking high in terms of SEO. But Google and other search engines have eliminated the use of keywords as a ranking factor on a website’s SEO. However, it is still notable that using keywords related to your domain is still beneficial. It is just a matter of how you use the keywords.
However, your domain shouldn’t be filled with keywords. As discussed earlier, domain length is also vital. You can’t just put in the exact search term users may use, like for example, how-to-find-the-right-domain.com. Although using an exact match domain (EMD) used to be advantageous in SEO, it may still be effective if it is related to your niche, brand, or to the business that your domain is associated with.
Google has been skeptical about keyword-rich domains and EMDs for they tend to lead to spam or may just be irrelevant to the domain itself. You may use a broad or a distinctive keyword, just make sure that it is relevant to the domain itself. This will provide clarity to users on what the domain is all about and would assist you in building more credibility for searchers to click to.
Remember, the more traffic you get, the more authority your domain achieves. And this may lead to a higher ranking in SERP.
Domain Backlinks
If you are going to own a pre-existing domain name, checking the number of its backlinks is also important. But what is a backlink? A backlink is a hyperlink from an anchor text from another site.
For example, if an interior design site is recommending an appliance for your kitchen, their site may use an anchor text like “click here to find the best appliances for your kitchen”, which will then lead to the website HomeAppliances.com.
It is the often-underlined clickable text in the website that leads to another website. A domain with a number of backlinks suggests that it is credible. Search engines assume that websites with backlinks are more worthy than those that have none.
Moreso if the links came from popular and authoritative websites. Just make sure that these links are credible and are related to the domain as well. A domain with fewer, but high-quality backlinks are more valuable than a domain with more, but low-quality backlinks.
The reason for this is that search engines check the backlinks as well. And if they find them trustworthy and reliable, your domain may end up higher on the search results page and increase your domain visibility. One of the tools you can use to check the number of backlinks a domain has is Ahrefs.com.
To sum it all up, while domain names are not directly an SEO ranking factor, there are still factors to take into consideration in selecting domains that are more SEO-friendly. As stated above, some of these are the TLD value, the domain length, keywords used, and backlinks. TLD use should be credible like .com, .net, or .org. Country code TLDs or ccTLDs are still advantageous for international SEO.
Domain length should be short, memorable, and easy to pronounce. This makes them easy to share with visitors as well. Since Google and other search engines do not consider keywords in domain names anymore, it is still beneficial that keywords used should be related to what the domain is offering.
This is to establish the trustworthiness of your domain and of your brand, which in turn would lead to an increase in clicks. Having a number of high-quality backlinks can also raise your domain’s ranking position.
These factors influence your click-through rate and domain authority. Knowing how to work around these elements will lead you to higher visitor traffic which may drive search engines to rank your domain higher in the SERP. And as you know, the higher you rank in these search result pages, the higher the value your domain gets as well.