URL for a new website
-
Hi, I am creating a new website for a client.
Is it best to include the keywords from the most common search in the domain name, they would like:
but should I be recommending:
Does it make much difference to search rankings if the keyword is in the domain name?
Thanks v much
-
My advice is to purchase a domain you can/will build a brand around. Stick to the brand URL/domain as exact name match domains have been flagged by Google for top rankings. Optimize the site for both targeted traffic and local and national/international search traffic. I'm a big believer now of brand domains, and developing links to those sites with links that reflect, brand mentions, KW mentions for correlation, social mentions and inbound related marketing content development to strengthen the domain's total overall market presence.
Another reason to keep the domain 'brand related' is about the UI/UX for recalling it. If it's some crazy long typed domain name with KW's and brand mentions, it becomes tedious to remember and type out
Using the brand name as the focus and URL will keep it straight to the point for the user and marketing behind it. NOTE: Make sure to research out the social profiles of any URL you are looking at, to build up around as you want to ensure you can lock them all up prior to purchasing anything 
Either way, your best bet with a completely new domain will be to focus on developing out a local SEO strategy and supporting that with targeted content and social media profiles. This way, when you are ready to gain and target a larger audience (national?), you have the backbone profile on the site to reinforce the effort.
Hope some of that helps
-
I agree with Erwan. There is of course another option which I think would get you the most results and that would be combining the brand with your keywords. I don't know if that is a possibility, but you could try to figure something out. If the company is focused on makeup let's say, then what if the brand was called "themakeupcompany", "perfect makeup".. you get the idea. Again, I do not know about your possibilities and my examples were written in about 2 seconds so I don't expect them to work, I just used them to make my point.
-
1/ Short term answer : EMD.
2/ Long term answer : forenamesurname.com
I vote for 1/ if :
-
You have a limited budget / a limited time to rank.
-
Your client is not able to help you to produce great content.
I vote for 2/ if your client is patient and willing to build his brand.
According to MOZ ranking factors, EMS is 7 or 8% advantage and I read that partial EMD is useless.
IMO, weddingmakeupbyforename.com is too long anyway.
-
-
Just don't make it exact match. I like the name you picked because it includes your keywords and the brand name. The only suggestion I want to make is that I would go more general. Include just your primary keyword which is "wedding. What about weddingneeds.com. I would lose the word makeup. Do you specialize more in weddings or makeup? Just include that primary keyword and that will create a great base for your clients Seo needs.
-
Thanks for your reply thats helpful.
Could a compromise be:
Do you think that helps a bit with Google but also not too bad for the users trying to find a site?
Thank you
-
Hi,
it really does make a difference if you have keywords in the domain name. The problem, however, is not that simple. You have to take into account the users that need the website. How easy is it for them to access the page? You do not want to only stuff keywords in your domain name and let the users satisfaction and ease of access apart. This would not be a good marketing decision.
That being said, my advice would be to try to find out the best way to please the users and Google as well. Per general, I would think about the users more, since Google is trying to update its algorithm in order to please the users.
Cristian
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
-
Virtual URL Google not indexing?
Dear all, We have two URLs: The main URL which is crawled both by GSC and where Moz assigns our keywords is: https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/ The second one is called a virtual url by our developpers: https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/ This is currently not indexed by Google. We have been linking to the second URL and I am unable to see if this is passing juice/anything on to the main one /banksy/ Is it a canonical? The /banksy/ is the one that is being picked up in serps/by Moz and worry that the two similar URLs are splitting the signal. Should I redirect from the second to the first? Thank you
On-Page Optimization | | TAT1000 -
Is the URL Matching the Page Title Important?
Hello I have tried searching for an answer on this but I can't get a clear answer due to the results when searching for URL title. I have just launched our second Shopify site for one of our brands. My first site launched in 2014 but when I launched I didn't pay much heed to SEO for page titles, URLs, etc so have retrospectively fixed this over time. For my Shopify site just launching I want to get it as right as possible from the start (learning from mistakes). My question is regarding URLs and what my approach should be for better SEO. So, I have a page with a Title of Newton Leather Wallets, Purses, Card Holders & Glasses Cases and the URL is https://www.tumbleandhide.com/collections/newton-leather-wallets-card-holders It was my understanding that I should try and make the URL reflect the Page Title more accurately. The problem is that this takes the character count to 77. On other pages it can be in the 80s. Will the above link be better for SEO than say just https://www.tumbleandhide.com/collections/newton I am just wary of the URL's being too long as my Moz Site Crawl is returning a lot of URLs that are too long. Thanks in Advance.
On-Page Optimization | | lukegj0 -
URL Keyword Variations?
I'm aware that keywords in the url aren't as effective as they used to be, but I'm still convinced that they do have a significant impact (based on results in one of the niches I'm in). My question is, will variations of keywords and "hidden" keywords have as much value as an exact keyword? For example, let's say that I'm trying to target the keyword "day." Will including variations like "daily" in the url work just as well? What about a brand name that includes the keyword hidden in its name, like "Dayest"? And, as a followup question, does including "stop" words have any effect? For example, if I'm trying to target the keyword "Day of the Month", would including "day" and "month" in the url be just as effective as including "day of the month"?
On-Page Optimization | | JABacchetta0 -
800 number on website
Hi, My client just sent me an 800 number that he would like to use to replace his number on the website. I know that it is best to keep a local phone number on the website and across all citations for NAP/Local SEO reasons. Is there anywhere that I could still incorporate the 800 number and not have it affect SEO? Thanks, Erin
On-Page Optimization | | HiddenPeak0 -
Should ".html" in the URL or not?
Does URL like /wedding-dresses.html/f/price/2,100 with "html" in the middle do harm to SEO? Should I drop the ".html"?
On-Page Optimization | | StevenRoland0 -
Should I be afraid to launch new website?
I have been redesigning my website in the last 2 months. I'm almost ready to finally launch it. Now I wonder how it will effect my rankings. I have taken a few measures to avoid problems such as: I kept the page names as they are. I kept the structure of the website Optimized the structure of my pages which should benefit my SEO rather then harm it. Yet, if I would experience a drop in rankings, could I regain my rankings by switching to the previous website?
On-Page Optimization | | wellnesswooz0 -
Can Other Websites You Own Affect Your Rankings?
Let's say you own three websites. One is low quality and Google frowns upon it, another is moderate and a third has stellar unique content. Would Google penalize the third website because you own the first website? On a related note - If you were banned from Google AdWords, would registering a site in your name potentially harm your rankings?
On-Page Optimization | | DerekP0 -
Meta refresh - nojavascript url
seomox is telling me that I am getting a page that is not being indexed or crawled and since the crawl status code is 200 and there are no robots the meta-refresh url must be the problem. the meta refresh url is different than the on page report card url as it's the nojavascript url which my developer says should be ok. see his comments below. The is redirecting to http://mastermindtoys.com/store/nojavascript.html only in case if the JavaScript is disabled in the client browser. This is the right way to do it, I don’t understand why this might be a problem, otherwise MM has to implement Noscript pages that have a real content. I didn’t get what’s wrong about accessibility. The code 200 means it is accessible, and yes there is nothing to access if JavaScript is disabled on browser. I think there are no modern retail sites that would do any sensible business with the scripting disabled in browsers.The H1 is really present 2 times and second occurrence can be removed, though I highly doubt about importance of this change.Regarding duplicates – what URLs are considered duplicates? Can you please send me examples?I am not aware of canonical URL problem for MM site unless we consider old .asp links as duplicate links of the canonical product pages. I would appreciate if SEOMoz gave us an example what they mean.I suspect that the page is not getting indexed as a result of this or I'm just not getting a good score. Which is it?
On-Page Optimization | | mastermindtoys0