All You Need To Know About Domain Name SEO

Regarding the effect domain names have on search engine optimization, we get a lot of inquiries. Does any connection exist? Should you use product names as part of your domain name? Is there a regional variation in domain names’ ability to influence online behavior? And why register multiple domain names when only one will do? All of your questions about domain name SEO and more will be addressed in this article.

What Is A Domain Name?

Let’s back up a bit and start from the beginning. One can use an alias in the form of a domain name. It’s a simple way to send visitors directly to your site’s online location. One or more IP addresses can be associated with a domain name. GrowCes.com is our website’s address.

While some may find our inclusion of “.com” here unnecessary, please note that we did so purposefully. This TLD is synonymous with “domain name” in most contexts.

One thing to remember if you’ve been online for a while is that older websites typically have the “www” prefix before the domain name. The correct web address for Growces, then, is www.growces.com. The domain name in this context remains growces.com, while www serves as the subdomain. People no longer commonly preface domain names with “www.” It’s superfluous, makes your URL ridiculously long, and, let’s be honest; no one even says “world wide web” anymore.

What Is TLD (Top Level Domain) And What Does It Have To Do with Domain Name SEO?

The top-level domain (TLD) of our website address is “.com,” and the “growces” portion of our brand name is the obvious brand name (or top-level domain). When the internet was first started, the.com extension was created for for-profit businesses. In contrast, the.org,.edu, and.gov extensions were created for nonprofits, educational institutions, and government agencies.

However, this is an article from 1985. A lot of progress has been made since then. When referring to the Netherlands, the.nl extension is always used. However, many businesses today opt to use the more generic.com extension in situations where the preferred.nl option was already taken.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) updates and maintains the official TLD list. Generic Top-Level Domains are the term for these domains.

What’s Better for Multilingual Websites: a top-level domain (TLD) or a Subdirectory Based?

You may wonder about the best course of action if your website supports multiple languages. You might have thought about every aspect of domain name SEO but it’s not over yet. Which is preferable: domain.com/uk/ and domain.com/de/ (both subfolders) or domain.co.uk and domain.de (which use country-specific TLDs)?

An SEO-friendly strategy would be to use a subdirectory. A subdirectory will ensure that all outbound links lead to the same website. Having just one domain to promote simplifies things. This primary domain is also credited with the credit for all the links you earn. Use the hreflang tag to inform Google of any language-specific subdirectory structures on your site. Right internal linking will help this too.

*A subdomain, such as “www,” differs from a subdirectory.

Domain Age And SEO

Domain age, or the length of time a website has been online, was a major factor in search engine optimization, but this is no longer true. Some people might argue that it’s completely irrelevant. These days, it’s not just about having a website; it’s also about the quality of the content, the ease of use, and the accuracy with which your site responds to a user’s search query. To come up first in a search, you must provide users with the most value.

Domain age is irrelevant, as Google’s John Mueller confirmed in 2017.

There is some assumption that domain age may not be a ranking factor. But established names often have established backlink profiles, search engine rankings, etc. That could affect the rankings.

Domain Name SEO And a Better Page Rank using Exact Match Domain (EMD)

When Google released what is now called the EMD Update in 2012, the term “EMD Update” was coined. Google adjusted its ranking system to prevent sites from ranking highly simply due to the presence of a keyword in the domain name. Before the revision, that was the case.

Does it still make sense to use a keyword in your domain name now that this change has been made? The answer is usually negative.

You can use whatever term you like for your domain. You can outrank a site with the exact keyword in its domain name if you create a site on a different domain, optimize the content for that keyword or topic, and publish it.

But if you’ve established your brand with an EMD and continue to attract a sizable audience, then by all means, keep doing what you’re doing! Be sure your brand’s image is flawless.

Choosing Domain Name For Website

After the implementation of the EMD change, brand recognition became increasingly vital. Including your brand name or some other identifying feature rather than just a keyword in the domain name is a much smarter move.

You’ve probably heard of some popular ones, like LEGO.com, Amazon.com, and Google.com. The brand is everything. It stands out from the crowd and makes you memorable to customers. Your company’s name will endure (always look on the positive side of things).

John Mueller at Google agrees it’s best to choose a domain name that acts like a brand and can be expanded upon.

Changing domain names is often a big NO. It can damage marketing and reduce the effect of all the digital marketing services you paid for. So if you haven’t chosen yours yet, get some counseling from a digital marketing agency or even an SEO company.

Choosing More Multiple Domain Names For One Website And SEO

Does it make sense to register several domain names and then 301 redirect all of them to one primary domain? Marketing-wise that is not the case. If we’re talking about how well something does in search engine results, then probably not.

Multiple domain names for the same website are only justified for offline and occasionally online advertising. A second domain name can help direct people to the correct page on your site if you’re running a separate promotion for a specific project or campaign.

The word “actively” stands out most in that final paragraph. Register as many domain names as you like, but remember to distinguish Google from them. In addition, spreading out the links to your website can be accomplished by actively using multiple domain names for the same website. And as stated in the subdirectory section, that’s not what you want either.

What Are Domain Authority, Domain Ranking, and Authority Score?

Domain Authority: Moz created Domain Authority. Indicative of how well your site will perform in search engine results.

Domain Rating: an Ahrefs invention. Using this metric, you can see how powerful a website’s backlink profile is.

Authority Score: Semrush has developed a score for authority. A website’s or domain’s overall quality and search engine optimization performance can be evaluated using this metric.

They attempt to determine how good a website is in various categories. A site’s backlink profile is used in all of them to determine the final score.