Importance of Your Domain for SEO
Categorized in: SEO
It’s true that search engine optimization is an important part of digital marketing. When most of us think of SEO, we cling to the obvious – content marketing, keyword analysis, and other traditional activities related to SEO. Yet, we don’t necessarily think about the little things, such as the domain. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s actually a big deal – not just for SEO, but for your digital marketing as a whole. Here’s a look, though, at why it’s specifically important for SEO:
Make a Good First Impression
Do you want to make a good first impression as a brand? This is what your domain is all about. Your domain needs to be easy for your audience to use, share, and navigate. It can’t be clunky. It needs to make sense. It needs to relate to your business and your industry in a logical way.
Search engines know this, and that’s why domains that check all the boxes are often favored. It’s not technically considered a ranking factor, but in an indirect way, it really helps. If anything, it creates a positive first impression on your audience, and this can help you go far (indirectly) in the search engines.
Represent Your Brand or Business
Several years ago, it was fairly common to receive a domain that had an exact match keyword in it. This is not considered best practice these days. Search engines prioritize your content and the usefulness of your website to your audience. So, it’s best to reserve a domain that directly correlates to your brand or business name. Don’t worry about “ranking” when making this choice. Doing well in the search engines will follow if the content is good.
Audiences don’t want to see you “trying to do well” in search engines, either. They want everything to make sense. Things make sense to them when your domain is the same as your business name or your brand.
Encourage Good Domain Authority
How old is your domain? How long have you been in business? As soon as you open your business, you should reserve a domain that reflects your business name. The longer your domain age is, the more authority you’ll build up in the search engines. As your domain age, so will your authority in the search engines.
However, it is important to note that this is something that is also very nuanced, and an aged domain is no guarantee that your website will perform well in the search engines. You need to have the other pieces of the SEO puzzle fall into place too, such as site speed, excellent content, ease of navigation for your audience, and more.
As you can see, the domain is important for SEO. However, it’s not the only thing that makes a difference. Yes, your domain is important, it is important to get it right and reserve and use the one that makes the most sense for your business and brand. It’s much better to stick with using your business name than trying to do anything else.
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