Websites with extreme SEO search marketing resultz, Resultz Digital!» tweets

Selecting a Domain Name for SEO and Search Marketing Maximization

Marc — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:47:20 +0000

Later this week I am working with two different clients to select new domain names for websites that have been up for about a year. Both are small businesses.

In one case the domain name seems huge. It is 30 characters before adding any of the http:// or .com which is another 11. All together, that’s almost 1/3 of a Tweet just to text the domain name!

The other business has a pretty useful domain name. Their name follows good small business practice of using at least one keyword in the domain name, it is fairly short and is also a .com. But new state regulations are soon to make the keyword used obsolete.

As I review their websites and at look at their online business opportunity I have some ideas for new domains. So I go to Google so see how it is indexing domains and keywords in context. I also click through to potential competitors listed in the search listing to see how they use the keyword in their domain. A couple of observation I am really surprised how it seems that Google includes common abbreviations for the tested keyword in the returned search results. And how effective Google is parsing out at contextually almost any form of the keyword term from domains. Use the abbreviation as a keyword and Google even returns the full word as a keyword. Bing not so much. (Sometimes I worry that we are risking becoming a search marketing mono-culture.)

Searching for some other thoughts on selecting a small business domain name I came across these considerations/ideas.

Most small businesses do not have the money and good luck to create a new term and make it useful. Names like Xerox or Google or Bing take a lot of both. We only hear the ones that succeed or have big fails. There are a lot of others.
“.com” is still the most valuable TLD. The most common usage assumption is that a business domain name will end in “.com”. There is thought that .biz, .info and similar are not as well indexed as .com, .org and .net. I don’t know.
Hyphens or dashes are not needed to help the search engine parse out a keyword. But they do seem to help the search engine some parse out an abbreviation. (I may be wrong, but that is what I believe I am observing this weekend).
Two keywords are better than one.
Military and government websites use a lot of almost cryptic abbreviations and subdomains in their domain name. This may be a consideration if military/gov is connected to your target market.
Shorter domain names can be more useful than long ones.

Not sure how all this will impact the new domain names. In the end a domain name is personal influenced by a lot of factors. It is after all the domain name often becomes the name of the business for a large market segment. Here are the typical limitations for what a domain name can be -

Use only letters and numbers
Hyphens are ok, but not at the beginning or end.
No special characters, such as ! @ # $ % _ ^ & * ( ) ? are allowed
And “only” 63 characters from dot to dot.

If you want, the Wikipedia has all the domain name details

And I think this article from SEOmoz provides a great 12 point domain name picking run down. I use it often as a check list. You may not cover all 12, but have a reason for when you don’t.

Lastly if you find just the domain name you love and it is available, get it that minute! It is only about $15 or less to register most domain names and if you don’t get it when it is available, you may end up paying a lot more or never get it. For a little background on why that is, read these blog posts on domain name poaching or kiting.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-21

Marc — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:40:00 +0000

A story of a donkey's survival and success – http://www.websitement-tm.com/Darwin/Content/xq/asp/qx/A_Donkey_Story.htm #
Why is the word "genius" used so rarely as an adjective for/with women? It's a shame. Smart is sexy! #
New website prices for Small Business, Real Estate and Photographers – new options, improved SEO, better service http://marcfuller.com/1091 #
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy, age 4 #
Gosh it is a beautiful day! Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, sunnier! #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-13

Marc — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:40:00 +0000

Google announces camera-based Web search – http://rawstory.com/2009/12/google-announces-camerabased-web-search/ #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-06

Marc — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:40:00 +0000

My Newest WordPress Based Real Estate Website. Check it out – http://marcfuller.com/1050 #

Maximize Cyber Monday and all of December – Use Twitter

Marc — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:04:22 +0000

Last December Dell reported over $1 million in sales for their Dell Outlet through using Twitter. They don’t have anything in the way of amazing programming and functions for this, they just announce deals and respond to potential customers.

Twitter has been so successful for Dell, that recently it was estimated that Dell has somewhere around 40 employees worldwide involved in Tweeting and responding to Twitter communication.

To a lot of small business owners, Twitter does not make sense or seems trivial. I can understand those feelings, but it doesn’t really matter … because Twitter works for small business. Twitter can produce revenue for you!

Anything that Dell does, any small business owner can do. You don’t have to understand it, just do it. Want to know what Dell Outlet does on Twitter? Just follow their Tweets – http://twitter.com/delloutlet. And adapt their actions to your own business.

I set up all my clients’ websites so that Tweets are made automatically with out any additional steps and are linked to their website using their own domain name. This gives maximum results for the little additional time they have to Tweet. But it doesn’t need to wait for a website, even a few Tweets a week about your products and services will produce results.

To learn more about how Dell Outlet is successfully using Twitter read this excellent article by Neville Hobson. And more important, just Tweet!

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-22

Marc — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:40:00 +0000

How Google Wave is Changing the News – http://mashable.com/2009/11/22/news-media-google-wave/ #
Facebook goes after uSocial – V3.co.uk – formerly vnunet.com: http://bit.ly/5ZtGaq via @addthis #
Here’s a First: Man Arrested For Not Using Twitter http://bit.ly/6LEJIe #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-18

Marc — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:40:00 +0000

Just noticed my dog has eyes that look almost exactly the same as Vikus the Prawn's. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-27

Marc — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:40:00 +0000

Beware: Network Solutions 1-Click WordPress install stops you from ever using phpMyAdmin. Friends don't let friends use Network Solutions #
My dog just ate a peach! Who knew dogs like peaches? Or maybe I have just been listening to too much Allman Brothers …like that's possible #
The last day of Summer … it is snowing #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-20

Marc — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:40:00 +0000

Favor? My new Facebook Page is coming together, consider becoming a fan? Thanks in advance. Here's it's link – http://tinyurl.com/l3xn4s #
These days, I don't think your website can "viral" without using WordPress and having it fully leverage all the social media channels #
@treasuredpages OUCH in reply to treasuredpages #
@WordPressWizard agreed in reply to WordPressWizard #
RIP Mary Travers, gone … thank you for all the great music, loved it all She taught us harmony. Blowing in the wind #
This is kinda neat – My website http://marcfuller.com now has a 99th percentile SEO score, or the TOP1%! http://tinyurl.com/marcfuller #
Check this video out — Trollbeads, Friends and Harleys http://bit.ly/N90ob #
So sad – Patrick Swayze – Thank you for all the great movies – RIP #
Really loving my new Flip! #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-13

Marc — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:40:00 +0000

It seems that Network Solutions has finally gotten its act together for hosting WordPress. They now allow WordPress to auto update itself. #
Why do they call it SEO? Its not optimizing the search engine, it's optimizing the website for the search engine. #
How to bend the internet to your will. A quick lesson from Anthony Bourdain http://bit.ly/DrJRE #
"Where did all the flowers come from?". Seems a blessing that they evolved are are now so many. http://tinyurl.com/NYT-flowers #
Check this video out — Robert Reich explains the Public Option in 2.5 min http://bit.ly/3m1LYC #
Technorati: Discussion about “WordPress Just Made Millions of Blogs Real-Time With RSSCloud” – http://shar.es/1mYLR #