Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Helpful to utilize long-tail keyword URLs to point to parts of your website?
-
Does it help, hurt or do nothing for SEO to utilize long-tail keyword URLs to point to specific pages of your website.
For example, you're a vet and have your business name website, but what if you bought:
CharlotteVeterinarianforCats.com
CharlotteVeterinarianforDogs.com
etc. and pointed them to specific pages in your business website.
-
These are long-tail keyword domains. Yes, I would allow them to expire and allow my competitors use them in a strategy that is ineffective.
-
Let the domain names expire? Why? So the competition can pick them up and use them against you? You might not agree with my methods, but to let the domain names expire would be a mistake given the current weight google gives to exact match domains.
-
Agreed. And focus on best practices for local or regional optimization. If your business is only really focused in Charlotte, for instance, there are many other things you can do to help with this geo optimization.
-
I would let those domains expire and buy beer with the money savings. Then spend the time savings improving my primary website.
-
You are very welcome. If I could also suggest checking out the article "The Beginner's Checklist for Learning SEO"
It is under the "Learn SEO" tab. This might help you organize your to-do's and set up goals for your efforts!
-
Laurie,
I agree with Inhouseninja and would add this: When you buy the domain, try to purchase it so that it is under a different name, on a different server. Minimally, have it on a different C-block. I am not sure how much from a percentage point of view it can effect link evaluation, but we know that it does.
So, if both of the new domains are on the same server, owned by the same entity, you will not get near the weight from the search engines (if any).I do this in a couple of verticals but we the sites are actually fully related, have contact forms and other mechanisms for customer contact, etc. These sites are about 5 pages (not sure that any more would improve our lot) and we are able to use them for linking to the main site. If our main site did not exist, these would be real functioning sites that could be affiliate sites, etc.
Best,
-
The Whiteboard Friday video was perfect to help me start at the very beginning - thank you for suggesting that (I can't believe I missed it on my own!). There are a million things to do and consider and being overwhelmed and trying to piece it all together was the biggest problem. After the video, I'm starting at square one so I really appreciate your answer!
-
I can't tell you what the best approach is for you. For me, I look for domination of a niche when it comes to local search. The above posting is how I do it, but it might not be the best method for you. I haven't had success with simply redirecting a domain name. I have had great success with the method I've mentioned above - linking from the keyword domain to a page on my main site with the exact keyword phrase after the keyword domain has been established in Google. In fact, what I often see is the #1 ranking for the keyword domain (exact match keyword) and a #2 or #3 ranking for the page I link to from the keyword domain on my main site.
Hope that makes sense. lol.
-
I think you would be better off optimizing those pages for your target keywords instead and optimizing your current URL's to include your keywords.
For example: www.compnayname.com/cat-veterinarian
You should watch the most recent Whiteboard Friday. Rand does a great job of showing how to optimize website content based on the keywords you are trying to rank for.
-
Gotcha - so redirecting the keyword domain to a site on the main website with related content is probably not the best approach?
-
I have had extensive success with this method. The catch is that you need to make the long-tailed keyword URL a site that is actually useful to the world. Don't just put up a 2 page website and link like crazy to your site. You need to make it useful with good content. I'd say 10 pages minimum of quality content. You can do this in about 3-4 days with a wordpress. Also, don't link to your MAIN site for a few months so that google trusts your other domain.
Some will argue with this, but it has worked very well for me in some niche markets. Also, you hold a domain name so that a competitor can't get it. Considering the weight google puts on domain names its worth the extra effort to hold and use any domain names you can find.
Again, be careful not to turn the site into a doorway site. Make the site useful with new articles and fresh content.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
German Keywords
Hi I wanted to check the volume of a keyword in German but unfortunately, it shows no data available.?
Keyword Research | | Raymonda
Is this actually possible to research German keywords with your tool?0 -
Finding less competitive keywords
Hello, How Moz can help me in finding less competitive keywords for a site based on omega masticating juicer. I had tried other tools but i am not satisfied with it. Kindly tell me the process to find it. Thanks.
Keyword Research | | romanjames0 -
I have two keywords. If I combine them do I get credit for both keywords?
For example I have a keyword - IPA Beer, and I have a keyword - IPA Beer Kit. If I use the keyword IPA Beer Kit will I get the benefit of the IPA Beer keyword as well as the IPA Beer Kit keyword? Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for the help!
Keyword Research | | brewngrow0 -
Paid vs Organic Keyword Optimisation
Hi Im wondering whether I should optimise my site with Organic search terms that drive traffic to the site or the paid terms i use in Google search ads?
Keyword Research | | aplnzmarch180 -
Setting Up a Keyword Matrix
Greetings MOZ community!! My real estate web site contains about 500 pages with perhaps 70 pages targeting low volume, somewhat valuable but not very competitive keywords. Three to four URLs target very competitive terms. The following terms are among the most valuable: New York City office space,
Keyword Research | | Kingalan1
New York office space,
Manhattan office space,
NYC office space Such variants as: Office space in New York City,
Office space in New York,
Office space in Manhattan,
Office space in NYC
ETCETERA convert really well How would I match different terms to different URLs? For example I have just re-written the following two critical URLs: www.nyc-officespace-leader.com (home page)
http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/commercial-space/office-space (product page) Would it make sense to use "Manhattan office space" and variants on the home page while excluding "New York City office space" variants? At the same time I would use "New York City office space" variants on the "office-space" product page while excluding all mention of "Manhattan office space". Is this logical and does it conform to SEO best practices? For the "NYC office space" terms I would add them to http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/listings. This URL has almost no text but a strong potential to rent because of a high number of incoming internal links. Is this approach sensible? In general what measures should I take to prevent URLs from competing for the same keywords? Also, is there a software package or tools that I can use to come up with keyword variants? As a non SEO professional, can I create my own keyword matrix or is this really in the realm of a professional SEO consultant? Thanks, Alan0 -
The same keyword on multiple pages, but not all (combined with other relevant keywords) for products.
Hi Guys, I want to get an opinion/advice on this. My client has a site that have all their products (I am working on expanding the product descriptions, benefits and how they differ from each other) listed and I just want to know if I can use the term 'gear oil' for example on multiple pages as one of the keywords. The product range (among others like transmission fluid and anti-freeze) is gear oil (with the different types of gear oils available described) and I can't really change what the product is. I do have different variations (such as gear lubricant, automotive gear lubricant, car gear oil etc.) but will it do damage if I use the same keyword (like gear oil) on multiple pages (along with another relevant keyword that does not involve the words gear oil)? Any help on this will be greatly appreciated!
Keyword Research | | annabel.schoeman0 -
Keywords + Country?
Hey guys, Let's say that I'm doing on-site SEO for a website that sells football shirts. This website targets 5 different countries. We only have a .com domain and no other country specific domains will be added at this point. When I choose the keywords, do I opt for product name + country or only product name? football shirts france or football shirts? Some info: Countries have been added in the title of the pages. Countries appear in the footer. Thank You.
Keyword Research | | BruLee0 -
Help finding some decent keywords
Anyone care to help a SEO Newbie find a couple of key words that would be easier to rank for for my website that provides kayak fishing information? mysite: yakangler.com The key words that I've identified are as follows: best kayak
Keyword Research | | mr_w
fishing from a kayak
fishing kayak review
fishing kayaks
kayak and fishing
kayak fishing
kayak for fishing
kayak reviews
kayak rigging
kayak weight limit
kayaks fishing
kayaks for fishing But I'm worried I'm missing the point, I don't see hardly any traffic from most of these. I've really tried to rank for "kayak fishing" but seem to be totally lost in the Google Panda abyss. Any advice on a different word or strategy would be greatly appreciated!0