Weighing costs & benefits for domain name change.

[dickslee23]

I've got a site that is under consideration for a domain change, however I have plenty of concerns about our particular situation. I'd love to explain my scenario and then get some feedback!

The domain in question is beverlys.com and has been up and running since 1996 (almost 16 years), so it has advantages in that it's a long standing trusted domain.

For the majority of that time however, the site was mostly a simple static informational site to accommodate a brick and mortar business. Then starting in 2009 the site underwent the change to become an e-commerce site.  Since then we have been working to compete with other sites in the same industry and attempting to rank well in organic results. In particular our business sells fabric, so "fabric" is one keyword we measure in various way to get an idea where we stand with the competition.

Over time we have had ups and downs while ranking for "fabric", specifically. At our peak we ranked 16th in Google in September 2011, and 18th as recent as January 2012. However since that time we have fallen off the map in Google's results. Currently we are around the 100th result! Though in Yahoo! and Bing we continue to show strongly with organic rankings hovering between 15-20.

I can only theorize that something in the last few rounds of Google's algorithm updates has punished us and thus far have not been able to identity the issue or find any resolution.

So, in response, one of the options on the table is to use a new domain name that specifically incorporates the keyword that is important to us. Unfortunately our current domain does not use "fabric" so we would use something like beverly-fabrics.com or what-have you.

There is so much potential for disaster in switching domain names that I'm having a hard time considering this as a viable option. But at this point I don't want to close any doors. We want to have the best chance at long term success and if a domain name change would help in that we would do it.

I'd love to hear anyone's opinions, recommendations or advice about our situation!

[dickslee23]

I think you are correct about those back links and it is a source of concern. We never got any notification in Google webmaster tools about it, but I don't think that means it's not an issue. Outstanding point!

Also great thinking about the bad links following us even if we switch domains. That would have been a disaster!!!

We really love the beverlys.com domain name and have no intention to switch to something else unless it's going to be a benefit, which so far does not sound likely.

The input has all been very much appreciated!

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Lots of good answers here. If I understand the question correctly, you're wondering if you should move to a keyword-rich domain in order to rank better for the "fabric"

One thing I noticed is that you seemed to have paid links in your backlink profile (or at least highly suspicious

Examples are:
http://www.squeezethestone.org/making-purchases-from-an-internet-fabric-store/
http://www.turkhukukenstitusu.org/category/fabric/

Although links like these might have helped Beverly's to rank well in the past, it looks like Google has identified these as part of a network, and devalued them. Did you receive any warnings in Google Webmaster Tools. If so, you might make an effort at cleaning these links up and filing a reconsideration request.

The problem is, if you migrate domains, and you 301 redirect your old domain, you carry your link profile with you. This means if any algorithmic actions were applied to the old domain, they could likely carry to any new domain you chose, where they would again inhibit you from ranking for your chosen term. The only other alternative would be to start over.

So here's what I would do...

• work on your backlink profile.
• Work with Google to clean up any potential penalties.
• Build new, clean, relevant links
• Check your title tags and internal link structure. To my eye, the word "fabric" seemed a little keyword stuffed, both in your titles and internal links.

I really like the domain name beverlys.com. It's an awesome name that a lot of marketers would die for! Don't let it go!

[dickslee23]

Great feedback so far, thank you everyone. We definitely understand that fabric is a generic term and more challenging to rank for. But since we have ranked in the top 20 before, we know we can be competitive on it. We just need to lay good groundwork and strategies to get back to where we think we should be.

[TakeshiYoung]

Just echoing the other responses, don't ditch the domain (unless you've used any black hat tactics that may be penalizing you).  Keywords in the domain help, but they aren't the be-all-end-all of SEO.

Fabric, as others have pointed out is a pretty broad keyword, but if you want to rank for it, focus on creating more high quality content related to fabric, and go after high value links in your space.  Avoid anchor text over-optimization.

Since you already have a high authority domain, adding more content could bring you more traffic for a whole host of keywords related to fabrics.  Consider starting a blog or create a tips page or Q&A for fabric-related issues.

[deltasystems]

Emphasis on keywords in the domain name was actually reduced. You definitely don't want to switch domains, as that alone comes with a lot of SEO problems.

I would instead suggest focusing on keywords that have less competition than 'fabric.' You can still focus on the keyword while doing other campaigns. You'll find as you build more links ranking for the tougher goals becomes much easier.

If you Google your brand name 'Beverlys' and look at the cached page, and then switch to text view, you see that a lot of your homepage content is links. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but the lack of content is working against you.

How are you handling link building? I didn't look at the OSE data, but just using PageRank as a quick metric, the #1 result for 'Fabric' has a PR8, while you are PR3. Look at OSE data for ideas on link building, as well as looking at the link building section of the SEOmoz blog.

Here is a particular link building with eCommerce article I enjoyed:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/creative-link-building-for-ecommerce-sites

As an addendum to that, focus on getting customers to build content for you with reviews. Decide how to create a community around your niche and build it. You would be surprised at how willing customers are to give you free content.

[Highland]

First and foremost do NOT ditch your domain name. At best I'd say launch a new site in parallel and see how that goes but you'd basically be admitting defeat and starting over from scratch.

Second, buy some PPC. You're a chain so leverage that and get some PPC going to raise your traffic. PPC is also a great way to identify long-tail keywords you're missing. But don't just buy them. Take time and groom them daily. Pair them with Analytics. Suck the marrow out of them. Live them for the next week.

Third, realize you've set the bar really, REALLY high. You're chasing a generic keyword, and a massively competitive one at that (506M results in Google for the word "fabric"). In the post-Panda world, I'd say that's unrealistic. And why are you so obsessed with that one keyword? I've found single word terms are some of the poorest to go after. Lots of traffic, but major bounce rates and poor conversions (I would assume you want to sell, fabric, not just have people come look at it). Fabric could mean cloth, but it could also mean reality. Do you sell camo fabric? Google wants relevance above all and if people are bouncing out of your site, it will fall for that term. Generic terms, as a business model, are horrific.

What you need is to understand who your audience is and what they're looking for. Are they looking for bridal fabric? Maybe woodchipper macadamia fabric? Before you laugh, consider that maybe there is such a thing and a rich person who is buying a lot of it right now... somewhere else. I've found that owning a dozen smaller, niche terms that convert well beats the generic term any day. See #2 for how to find these juicy terms.

Then what? Content! You have a pretty site. Lots of things to interest. But you need to diversify. Your front page alone is way too busy. You have 6 banners stacked like one of those crazy subs at Subway. Each has value, but crammed in they have no value. And your deal of the day... uhm, they're sold out. I can find more in 19 hours??? Do you think I'll come back tomorrow to see what 3 fabrics sold out? Stagger them. Let me know there's another deal coming in 4 hours, 32 mins 23 secs, not 19 hours.

And your titles... ugh! Your main page is titled "Best Selling Fabric" but it's a lie! Thank you for visiting, Mario, but the best selling fabrics are on another page (just click past the Mushroom Kingdom patterns from the 1980s at the bottom). And what site did I visit? Hmm... the title doesn't tell me. Is this Beverly's? Fabric.com? Hobby Lobby? They're descriptive but they still miss the mark. You need your name at the end. Even Amazon does this (and they sell fabric too!).

Last but not least, fire your moving company. They've packed you in a box. Get out of there. Watch my swinging spoon tied to a string (I don't own a pocketwatch. Work with me). You are no longer an SEO. You are a marketer. You must convince me why I should buy your fabric. Show me the money fabric! Put it out! Make your site scream it. Right now your site is struggling to sell fabric to naked people (why naked people would be using Google is your problem to solve).