Making your Website Easy to Remember for Search Engines and Customers
Picking a Domain Name that will have the greatest effect on your visibility to users should be a carefully thought out process. Domain names are part of the Google ranking system, and taken into consideration in most search engine algorithms. They are also the name that your customers remember you by. A domain name should be included in your branding and keyword strategies. The history of your domain name is also an element in Google’s information retrieval system, so it is important not to change domain names frequently. Google’s patent number 20050071741 specifically states it considers the expiration date of the domain, the domain server record, and the name server associated with the domain when analyzing domains that are associated with your site. SEO bloggers tend to agree that a five-year residence is beneficial to Google results. Hence, think of deciding on a domain name like buying a house that you are going to settle down in. Not only are you going to be there for a while, but your neighbors might have something to say about you.
The primary objective of a domain name is for customers to find you. Customers are either going to find you by directly typing in your domain name, clicking on your site from search engine results, or clicking on your site from a link associated with another site. The name should be friendly and relevant. Users do not want to type in numbers, look for strange characters on their keyboard, or type long names. They don’t want to remember if you are a .com, .net, or .biz. The majority of users are only aware of .com as an extension, so use this knowledge to your advantage. Visitors should not need a map or a tour guide to get to your site.
Any name that starts with all letter “A”s or has “top” or “best” will receive less attention from Google and the user. Give your target market the credit they deserve, and acknowledge that they know what they’re looking for. Have your domain name tell your target market that you are what they’re looking for. Putting well thought-out keywords in your domain name will not only increase your rankings in search engine results, but will also increase the chances of visitors remembering your website. Make sure the keywords in your domain name are relevant to your web content. If you do not have keywords in your domain name, then you better have a heck of a branding strategy like Amazon.com or Monster.com.
One more thing to remember, you can’t just move into a house where somebody else is living unless they invite you. Check the copyright availability at www.copyright.gov. Research the availability of your domain name, make sure it’s not overused or underused, make sure it’s relevant, keep it user friendly and keyword friendly, and stay in one place - then let the visitors in!
