In real estate, the adage is “location, location and location”. On the Internet, the equivalent might well be “relevance, relevance and relevance”. The Internet is all about information. Internet users (or at least those that matter commercially) are looking for information. The vast majority of information is sourced via keyword searches and although there are many critical elements in achieving high rankings, the user browsing the SERPs results can hardly fail to be influenced by the domain name, site title and description or “snippet”. In essence, this defines the identity of the site and should help in establishing credibility in the mindset of this user, encouraging further examination — and those all important clicks.

Identity
Market positioning is one of the most important considerations. A combination of science, art and sheer luck are needed when selecting a domain name. While it may be desirable to have the name of the product or service being marketed as the main arbiter of choice, this can sometimes result in a generic name and it is a near certainty that competitors will have already have registered that version. The longer term view is also essential. Today, the business may sell only industrial engineering components, but next year may wish to expand into lawn mowers, washing machines or any number of different product areas. www.engineeredcomponents.com might be suitably generic and appropriate, but www.thermalcontrols.com might be more relevant to the desired search terms. A balancing act.

Search terms
Let us not forget that search terms should be one of the main drivers in the selection of a domain name: the search engines are still highly sensitive to the presence of keywords in domain names, with highly ranked sites of fairly questionable quality enjoying a level of exposure that must surely be largely as a result of a well chosen domain name. Acronyms are also tricky. Although they can often be more readily purchased, they can also be meaningless, unless they are widely recognised (and searched for) in the industry. FBI.co.uk may be memorable, but who would immediately recognise it as the identity of “Fred’s Boat Insurance”?

Top level domains (TLDs)
It may be possible to obtain an attractive domain by opting for a .biz. .net or similar variation, but there is inherent danger in creating confusion between two competitors. The major players will, in any case, have instigated a land grab for their primary domains by registering all of the common variants. Additionally, this trick is ethically questionable and may even see you answering a lawsuit for “passing off” or trademark infringement! In the UK, a simple free of charge check using the Companies House online system will allow you to search for companies of the same (or very close) name as your proposed domain. If they exist, choose another.

If you operating specifically within one region then choosing the top level domain relevant to the country in question is generally the best option. If selling to UK customers, for example, a.co.uk TLD would be beneficial and those targeting foreign markets should apply the same rule. The search engines are sensitive to this when it comes to ranking you in the relevant in-country results. It is also worth noting that they are sensitive to the geographical location of your IP address so you should always physically host the site in the country that matches your top level domain.

If your target market is not geography specific then a .com, .net, .biz or any of the ever-growing set of location-independent top level domains should suffice and can be hosted in the location of your choice.

The long and the short of it
There is a widespread preference for shorter and punchier domain names. They are easier to remember and are more likely to be directly entered into a browser address bar. However, when it comes to SEO and affiliate marketing, short may not always be best. Sometimes it’s advisable to go for the longer, more specific domain name in order to tap into the right kind of traffic – traffic that will result in commissions from conversion. For example, you could go for cheapholidays.biz and you may, with good SEO and a lot of work, get lots of traffic in time. However, if you are more specific with your domain name, opting instead for something along the lines of cheapgreekpackagetours.com, then the traffic should be that much more focused. Once again, it is worth emphasising that your choice of domain name should be driven by your keyword focus.

The second advantage to choosing longer, more specific domain names is that it will generally be far cheaper to buy them. However, memorability cannot be ignored. www.bustoursforseniors.com is a pretty good indicator as to what the website will do but who will remember www.bustoursforseniorsrus.com? In competitive sectors, look for a good combination of domain name and TLD and be prepared to use dashes.

Dash it!
We have also explored the use of dashes within domain names elsewhere here at lammo.net, with a general conclusion that dashes in domain names of sensible length such as cheap-greek-package-tours.com may be advantageous as it is easier for the search engines to break these down into their constituent keywords. Similarly they are easier for the user to read and to understand. Clearly the madly long domain names we see with umpteen words separated by dashes are seen by search engines and users alike as being rather spammy so some balance is required.

Finally, the relationship between the domain name, the keywords and the site content must be valid. Human searchers and the search engines alike will react badly to weak content, poorly organised information or simple lack of relevance of the domain name and keywords to the site content itself. Conversely, getting the combination right will pay dividends and should be well worth the considerable effort involved.

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