Which Domain Name to Choose
-
A non-profit I run owns two domains - ChristianSimplicity.com and SimpleLivingWithGod.com.
I have just started producing content under ChristianSimplicity. These are long-term projects and we have resources to commit to them. They do not need an economic return and that is not going to be sought.
Ultimately I want the sites to rank high on the key words like -
Simple Living
Living a Simple Life
Living Well
The Good Life
Christian Lifestyle
Christian Simple Living
I have a two part question. . . I'll ask the first part now. The second may be irrelevant depending on the first answer.
**Which domain name of the two is best to start out the site? **
We already have some content on the first site, but are early enough in the process that it isn't a big deal for us to switch and I don't think we will lose too much with respect to rankings.
Will the second domain name partial match on key word phrase help significantly more in ranking for the harder term Simple Living? I already rank 14 for Christian Simple Living - and I'm willing for that to drop to have the longer term goal of ranking higher on Simple Living.
Thanks.
-
If I'm understanding you correctly you are suggesting the following . . .
<title>About | Simple Living with God</title>
simplelivingwithgod.com/about/<title>Guide | Simple Living with God</title>
simplelivingwithgod.com/guide/<title>Books | Simple Living with God</title>
simplelivingwithgod.com/books/<title>Consider the Birds of the Air | Simple Living with God</title>
simplelivingwithgod.com/consider-the-birds-of-the-air/<title>The Place of Praise in Simple Living | Simple Living with God</title>
simplelivingwithgod.com/the-place-of-praise-in-simple-living/<title></span><span>Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life | Simple Living with God</span><span class="webkit-html-tag"></title> simplelivingwithgod.com/books/compassion-a-reflection-on-the-christian-life
Would the above be ok? Any of them too spammy?
Wondering if I should add make books and guide Simple Living Books and Simple Living Guide or is doubling that with my Brand in the title too much?
Also does it matter if I use | or - as the separator?
-
I think SimpleLivingWithGod.com will help you rank faster for simple living queries. Titling with your brand name at the end is a best practice in my opinion but definitely not required. I never recommend leading with the brand name unless you are Sears.com or WalMart.com. Those brands are recognizable to the point it makes sense to lead your titles with the brand b/c the brand actually drives CTR. If you're brand isn't known and you aren't investing heavily in the brand they I think your keyword targeted approach is the best option. Just don't get carried away and spammy with it and make sure your page titles reflect the actual content on the page and you should be good to go.
Thumbs up if this helps!
Thanks,
-
Hi again
You can title your pages as you see fit, the example you are using :
<title>Simple Living in God's Care - About Christian Simplicity</title>
http://christiansimplicity.com/simple-living-in-gods-care/Is fine to use, you just need to make sure the content on that page reflects the title you are using. and that the content you do use is unique.
Personally i do not use the brand name at the end of every title, i see no need to do this, as your domain states who you are and there is no need to have it on the end of every title. I only have on a title what i want to target and whats on that page.
Others do tend to add the brand at the end, some use it at the start, and they rank too, so there is no " correct " way of doing that in my opinion.
-
Ok, if I go with Christian Simplicity. . .
Is it appropriate to title my pages like they are now?
<title></span><span class="webkit-html-tag">Simple Living in God's Care - About Christian Simplicity</span><span class="webkit-html-tag"></title>
http://christiansimplicity.com/simple-living-in-gods-care/That is what the "About" | "Christian Simplicity" menu item points too.
Also, since I'm not as much worried about Brand as I am about key words Simple Living and things like that, should I lead with the Keyword in the Title and put the brand at the end instead of the other way around?
That is
<title>Simple Living Guide - Christian Simplicity</title>
instead of
<title>Christian Simplicity - Simple Living Guide</title>
I'm surprised though - I thought if my goal is to ultimately make it to the first page in ranks for Simple Living, that having Simple Living in the url and every title (as the brand) would help it rank higher for that.
<title>Simple Living - My Favorite Post Title</title> http://simplelivingwithgod.com/my-favorite-post-title
Versus
<title>My Favorite Post Title | Christian Simplicity</title> http://christiansimplicity.com/my-favorite-post-title
Granted I am a novice and there is so much information online that is either confusing or contradictory.
-
In my opinion the domain name that is best is the one that reads best and is easy to remember. Having a keyword in a domain isnt as useful as it once was after the EMD update.
Personally i would use the first of the 2 as it is easier to read and remember. Which in turn has longer term benefits.
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
-
Is it feasible to try to compete with an established site with a fresh domain any time soon?
Currently I'm looking at a competitor who owns a site with the following metrics: Domain Authority - 39 /100
Branding | | chrisjimallen
Page Authority - 49 /100
Spam Score: 1 /17
93 Root Domains
2,199 Total Links
Page Social Metrics
Facebook - 431 Shares, 17 Likes I'm thinking it would take 12 months+ to become a viable competitor, but thats a complete guess. What are peoples thoughts on undertaking something like this?0 -
Linking new domain to existing domain or....
We have a client's domain that has been live for 8 years. truthbook.com. With the new changes to Google, no matter what we do, we cannot get the words Urantia Book to connect with the website and lift it's search engine returns to the first page where it was for the past 4 years.. It is clear, that no matter what Google may say, the most important factor is having the actual words urantiabook in the domain is imperative. We know it was that way before Google changes (they were always on the first page) but now the client cannot get back on the front page. The mission and theme of the site is Jesus in The Urantia Book. So it is not a stretch to acquire urantiabookandjesus.com and forward it to truthbook.com The question is, "will they get any bang for the change? If they considered changing the actual main domain to urantiabookandjesus.com or .org and forward truthbook.com to it, will they be hurt by that strategy? " Thanks, Jim
Branding | | jimmyzig0 -
Moving to a new domain
Hi, We are about to rebrand. This means we need to move all of our content on to a new domain. I want to make sure this process is as smooth as possible and we don't lose too much by way of rankings. I have read this page: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/best-practices-when-moving-your-site.html and plan on following the instructions to the letter, but was wondering if anyone had any additional tips? Also, the article linked above is OLD. From 2008, is there anything'new' that I should know? Thank you (in advance) for any help you can offer, it is much appreciated! Best wishes, Amelia EDIT: I forgot quite a big element when first posting this question! We are merging two existing websites into the new URL. The two sites are for two different products we offer, but we'll now be offering both products under the same URL.
Branding | | CommT0 -
Considering Switch to old Domain - Any Bad Karma?
So here is the issue. I am working with a company that used to have a branded domain. Then they split the domain into two separate keyword rich domains and tried to change branding to match the keyword rich domains. This made for a really long brand name that is difficult to actually rank for as it is mostly hi traffic key terms and also created brand confusion because all of the social accounts still operate under the old brand name. We are considering a new brand initiative and going back to the original brand name as it better meets our business objectives (they still get traffic from branded searches under the old brand) and the old branded web domain. My question is if there is any added risk in going back to an old domain that has been forwarded for the past 2 years to the new domain? I know the risks and problems of a domain name change, but I am not as certain about the added complication of moving back to an old domain and essentially reversing the flow of 301's. Any thoughts? Cheers!
Branding | | prima-2535090 -
Which domain would you choose?
This is more of a survey than anything. If your name was Jeremy Parker, and you were to start a personal blog/site. Assuming jeremyparker.com was not available, which domain would you go with? 1. jeremyparker.net 2. jeremy-parker.com 3. jerpark.com 4. Other. From an SEO standpoint it would be unlikely to make a difference. But from a branding standpoint. Which one would you perceive to be best? Thanks.
Branding | | scotennis0 -
A forum on your primary domain name (implications)
Hi there What are the pitfalls of putting a forum on an already busy ecommerce website from an SEO perspective?
Branding | | bfrl
I wouldn't use a sub domain, I would add the forum on the primary domain in an attempt to help build my inbound link portfolio. Some pro's and cons that come to mind... Pros - Lots of (hopefully) great user generated and relevant content - Lots of potential landing pages off the back of the above Targeted community Cons - Dealing with potential negative forum posts Constant moderation Possible issues with potentially 1000's of (what Google may consider) low quality pages on a domain name / site which currently fairs well in the SERPs The last con would be my primary concern.
Anyone have any experiences with this? Or any advice at all. Many thanks0 -
Brand Name searches: Low Click Through Rates in Google - What are your CTR in the SERPS for your Brandname?
Hello, Checking the Analytics part - Search Engine Optimization/ Queries - I found suprising results for my website: The website is no. 1 for my brand name but only has a 28% CTR on the brandname in the Google SERPS! Please see exactly what I mean here: http://screencast.com/t/GKjwliZ6GTF7 I'm looking for your experience of CTR of other websites in the same situation. Do you have similar low CTR? Some background info; The website is no1 for the brandname. Sitelinks are shown. Google Maps is shown on right. In the period are no adwords advertisments on my brand name as I know. I checked several times. I cant understand where 72% go after searching for my brandname. Thanks for sharing your experience. Best Regards Daria
Branding | | nmedia0 -
Domain Name Masking Redirect for Brandname to Keyworded Domain
Hi mozzers I have 2 domain names, brandname.com and keywordname.com and but have a question related to web vs print marketing on deciding which domain to use or redirect. We already have established unique content first on the Keywordname.com site over the last 6 months and it has started to climb well in google rankings. But now we'd like to do some print advertising and think it would make more sense to use Brandname.com when refering to our website. So the 2 question are: Should I 301 redirect brand.com to keyword.com (preferred as all content and rankings on keyword.com) or vice versa, as I realize I can only have one site to avoid duplicate content. And is it possible to use domain name masking on brand.com if redirecting to keyword.com to avoid risking our rankings, or is masking bad for seo? Thanks!
Branding | | emerald0