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.
Generic domain for SEO versus Brand name
-
I am currently building a retail e-commerce site in a highly competitive area. We have a generic brand name; e.g. kitchen-knives.com and we also have another brand name, e.g. 'slycers.com'
We have 3 options that I can see and I would like to know which is better for SEO.
- Build generic.com as a blog site. Link to brand.com
- 301 redirect from generic.com to brand.com. Use generic.com as anchor text in all links
- 301 redirect from brand.com to generic.com . Use generic.com as anchor text in all links
Also, if there are other better options, then I would appreciate the input!
thanks
-
Most SEOs have the opinion that exact match domains are a bit too powerful in Google's current algorithm, and I think most of us would bet our money on this tactic falling out of favor in the future. Although admittedly, it has stuck around for longer than I think most of us would have expected.
Branded traffic, on the other hand, isn't going to be affected nearly as much by any sort of algorithm change in the future - and it converts insanely well. This should be the primary goal of anybody with a business.
Of course generic traffic is important, but in my opinion, it's not important enough to put building my brand in the backseat, or to affect the way I choose a domain for my company.
Now if this was an affiliate website or some kind of blog that I was launching in order to gain traffic from advertising, my opinion might be different. But because this is a company, and presumably one that you intend to be around for a long time to come, I think branding is the most important consideration.
If I had a sweet generic domain name in addition to my company domain, I might consider making a small microsite expressly for linkbuilding purposes, although I have to emphasize here that the vast, vast, vast majority of your effort should go into working on your primary domain.
-
Maybe I should have added - we already have both the brand and the generic domain names and this is an industry with many well-established brands already competing.
if we focus on building the brand; the question that I then have is what is the best use to make of the generic domain when link-building?
The reality is on a real google search today for 'kitchen knives', kitchenknives.com is the #1 result, and it's the same for many other products where the generic term for SEO ranks higher than brand names. Surely this is because of the anchor text/ domain name match rather than because 'kitchenknives.com' is such an amazing brand?
-
You know what's cooler than selling a million knives? Selling a BILLION knives.
Micah and EGOL are giving specific advice relating to choosing your domain name, but behind their advice is a much broader mindset: think big picture.
Why do you expect to get most of your traffic from generic search terms? Why not make it your goal to get most of your traffic from branded keywords?
Make Slycers a household name.
When you get into the link building phase, don't think about the link. Think about the brand. Think about the community you are reaching in building a link. Think about the exposure you are getting for your product.
When you're writing a press release, don't consider the links it might bring in. Consider whether or not this is really newsworthy content. Whether or not this could get picked up by national media. Whether or not your story is interesting enough to get the kind of exposure you're hoping for.
When you're creating content, don't think about optimizing it for Google or Bing. Write for your customers, for people looking for a better kitchen knife. Don't think about "keyword density" or "PR sculpting", think about engaging your audience and developing a website that visitors will find useful and entertaining.
When you're running your social media campaign, don't think about the traffic it could bring in. Think about engaging your audience and building a following. Think about turning influencers in your niche into brand advocates that are in love with Slycers and are telling everyone they know - not because you asked, but because they want to.
Do these things, have this mindset, and this whole SEO thing becomes dramatically simpler.
-
So are you guys saying, assuming slycers.com is going to be my brand name, to focus on that entirely and not worry about keyword-rich backlink building to the generic kitchen-knives.com domain name, even though I would expect most traffic to come through a google search for 'kitchen knives'? I would also add that the generic search term (kitchen knives in this example) is incredibly competitive.
-
You were asking the wrong question.... but PeterM22 gave a great answer.
I'd do what he says and forget about Options 1 2 and 3.
-
I would not do any of 1, 2 or 3.
I would pick one of those domains and put all of my efforts into it. Which one to pick? I would avoid hyphens and go with something easy to remember.
-
sorry, but that doesn't actually answer my question!
-
If you've got a great brandable domain, i'd go with that personally. A keyword domain definately does help with seo, but if long and cumbersome, it will be harder to remember, which could lead to less people remembering it and returning, especially if it has hyphens. Also, many people suspect the seo keyword domains will lower in importance over time, myself included.
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
-
titles length, URL length and meta descriptions on a subdomain effecting SEO on main domain?
Hi all, I am currently evaluating areas for optimization on my main domain. When doing this, Moz has identified multiple titles and urls that should be shortened and missing meta descriptions on my subdomain (a help center of sorts). As far as I am aware, we have not set up any "no-index" rules for this subdomain. Are these items affecting SEO on my main domain? Thanks,
On-Page Optimization | | annegretwidmer
Kasey0 -
How Do SSL Certificates Affect On SEO?
Does really a SSL certificate affect on SEO? How? Why? According to my hosting provider (ganje.host), "https" improves SEO! As I know, It decreases speed. So how does it improve SEO when my speed is slower than before?
On-Page Optimization | | MirzaeeMustafa0 -
Do Blog Tags affect SEO at all anymore?
We're trying to standardize the use of tags on our site amongst writers/editors, and I'm trying to come up a list of tags they can choose from to tag posts with - and telling them to use no more than 10 (absolute maximum) per post. We are also in the process of migrating to a new CMS, and have 8 defined categories that will all have their own landing page within our "News" section. TLDR: Do blog tags have any impact on SEO anymore? Are they solely meant to help users find articles related on popular topics, or does creating a tag for a popular topic help to improve organic visibility? Full Question: With the tag standardization, I want to make sure we're creating the most useful and effective tags; and the UX/SEO sides of my brain are conflicted. To my understanding, creating a tag about a high volume topic in an industry helps establish the website's relevance to Google/other search engines about that topic and improves overall relevance; but the tag feed page (ex: http://freshome.com/tag/home-protection/) isn't really meant for organic search visibility. So my other question is, is it worth it to noindex the tag pages in the robots.txt? Will that affect any benefit to increased relevance for Google (if there is any)? I'm interested to hear others' thoughts and suggestions. Thanks in advance!
On-Page Optimization | | davidkaralisjr0 -
The company brand name does not show in SERP
Our company is ranking no.1 for brand keyword, however, when you try to find it by two words(with space between) then all those shows up and the website is nowhere to find. Any suggestions on how to solve this without the need to be ranked for something related
On-Page Optimization | | GardenPet0 -
Is it SEO-wise to edit an already published article?
One of the pages on the website is #7 on the first page for a highly competetive keyword. Since I would like to improve rankings and the page is not optimized (e.g. keyword density is 0), is it SEO-wise to edit an article and create a good on-page optimization? Of course, the ultimate goal is to be in TOP 3 for a specific keyword.
On-Page Optimization | | zorsto1 -
Bullet points good or bad for seo?
Hi Everyone, After a body of unique content of say 50 words, will Google then penalise you for adding bullet points which will then be duplicated across all those products (say 100 products)? http://www.polesandblinds.com/acacia-teal-roller-blind/? Look forward to your comments, good or bad, Thanks Jonathan
On-Page Optimization | | JonnytheB0 -
SEO for luxury brands!?
Hi all, It is widely known fact that you will be a bit in trouble if you will need to do SEO for luxury brand that is not willing to sacrifice design, layout etc. for SEO purposes. So basically - there is no content to optimize and there is almost no keywords to rank! 😉 Just wondering - how would be the best to approach such kind of terrible situation? Regards, Jungle
On-Page Optimization | | Jungles0 -
Optimizing for another keyword than the menu name
Hi I would like to hear if someone could help me decide whether or not it is important regarding SEO that the menu name is the same as the keyword we want to rank for. The site is a static site and one of our most important keywords. To give an example. Our menu name is "cars" and we want to rank for "cheap rental cars".
On-Page Optimization | | KennethK0