What shall I call my site?
-
With all the google changes and social media focus on seo, I am in a bit of a dilemma and any opinions welcome.
My husband has a very small horseback riding company based in a tiny mountain town of Costa Rica and I cannot decide whether to call it by the company name or by a more generic name that is likely to be picked up by the search engines ( I do believe the importance of domain name is less than it used to be in terms of search with all the new google changes).
The two names are www.horsetrekmonteverde.com (bear in mind that his customers come from the States and horse trekking is not commonly used)
and www.horseridingcostarica.com
One mentions Costa Rica, the other not as you can see. Also not many people have beard about Monteverde. However I am trying to do some strong branding! What would you do?
-
when you say the local keywords you mean horse riding costa rica or horse trek monteverde?
The company name is Horse Trek Monteverde
There are other companies with more general names such as horseback riding costa rica and costa rica horseback riding,
-
Yes, indeed there is another web site that a friend started called www.costaricahorsebackridingvacation.com years and years ago. The name is way too long (!) and she does not do anything to do it, in fact she has moved from the area and does not reply to my letters. But the site ranks so well!! She never really knew anything about seo or linking, she started doing it for a hobby.
Hence I decide to start a new web site and link tripadvisor and horse trek monteverde facebook to that.
I wanted from the start to use horsetrekmonteverde.com as the company is called Horse Trek Monteverde. But as soon as I started asking around and mentioning that I also own a domain called www.horseridingcostarica.com most people advised I should use this as more customers will put that in a search.
Horse Trek Monteverde is known only by people who do a search on tripadvisor and by the local hotels in Monteverde.
My gut feeling is to go with Horse Trek Monteverde as I could market/brand it better but maybe I am wrong? I feel that Costa Rica and horseback riding will be mentioned so much in the site's content that the actual domain name won't be too significant. But others are telling me different!
-
I don't agree that 2 separate websites is the best way. It would mean double the costs and effort - would there need to be 2 logos because there are 2 websites? It's definitely not "strong branding". It could be potentially confusing to customers and you'd be competing against yourself. Would it stop at 2 websites if another market opened up?
Which is the biggest market?
I wouldn't be sure about calling yourselves horseridingcostarica.com as a horseridecostarica.com already exists - so if you're giving the URL out/printing it on leaflets etc. there's more potential for confusion e.g. as the latter is already established, Google AutoSuggest might autofill the latter URL as people are typing and you're giving business to a competitor.
I've also noticed a "Horse Trek Monteverde" on TripAdvisor and a standalone website with the same name - I'd guess that's you? My gut feeling is to go with your company name (although you're small, are you well established?), though not knowing your company name I can't be 100% sure (for example if it's difficult to spell).
Edit - and safeserps makes a good point - what if your business expands? How big do you aim to be?
And I've heard of Monteverde! I'm hoping to visit Costa Rica in the next few years.
-
''In theory, it is better to walk before you run - so depending on your aims and targets, you should start with targeting the local keywords.''
That is unless, you are prepared to fork out a lot of money for PPC.
-
Dilemma indeed!
In theory, it is better to walk before you run - so depending on your aims and targets, you should start with targeting the local keywords.
Once you have got all hooves on the ground, you could then start to incorporate wider, unlocalised keywords to help with the growth.
To make use of this, I would find a domain that makes use of a search query as well as a localised keywords. You want to find a combination where it is obvious that you are based in this location, but so that you aren't tied to it when you try and take off!
Hope it helped.
-
ok, then both domain names are "appropriate" ...
the best way would be to take one to target the "tourists who book last minute" and the other one to target those who book from the States in advance ... You would gain a very good range then and ensure to use two good domain names in the right way...
-
We have 2 markets..... dedicated horse riders who are looking for a multi day horse riding vacation and book from the States well in advance.
The other market is tourists who book last minute once they are in Monteverde and for short rides.
-
Have you answered yourself the question if you want to advertise more local or within a wider range?
I would use the 2nd one... I like that more because it seems to be "accurate" ...
You might be very right that the name of a domain is no longer "the most important thing" according to all those changes which already took place and all those changes that might take place...
BUT
It is still a relevant ranking factor if you can use a domain name that fits for the proper keywords... and it CAN help you to make things a little bit more easier.
Experts will tell you that you should focus on unique content and all those things closely associated with that and they are absolutely right!
AND in addition to that It won`t hurt and it will have a significant impact if you choose the right domain according to the content you will focus on... do a keyword research and take the results into your consideration...
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
-
Article marketing sites
Hi, I'm looking for article marketing sites in English. I have searched and analyzed over 50 sites but I have not find any with the specifics I'm searching to: high/average DA, dofollow, and the possibility to have an anchored text, any suggestions? Thanks!
Industry News | | eriksatie0 -
Best Site or Place to Hire Mid Level SEO Specialists
Hello Mozzers, Our digital agency has been continuously growing which is a good thing BUT recruiting for Junior or Mid Level SEO Specialists is getting harder in our area (we are in Orlando Florida). We post on Indeed.com but the level of knowledge and also the amount of candidates is not a lot. Do you know any other site that only pertains to our industry? Any suggestions? In fact, its been hard , we are even thinking of developing a job board site just for our niche. Your recommendation and thoughts?
Industry News | | ChatterBuzzMedia0 -
Getting started with E-commerce sites
Happy new year, Mozzers We are about to take on our first E-commerce client which will be something new for us as we expand in 2014. Being a small outfit, we've never taken on a type of site like this before, which is great for new experiences and challenges. Do you have any advice, recommendations, suggestions, things to look out for etc, etc when working with E-commerce sites for the first time ever? thanks M
Industry News | | Martin_S0 -
What's an example of an SEO firm's site that lists their SEO packages excellently
Hello, I'd like to make a packages page on the site I'm still building bobweikelseo.com What's an example of a firm or SEO that lists their packages in a way that is appealing, useful, and all around excellent? I'm thinking of having a first package for analysis at $440, a second package for analysis and on-site SEO for $880, and a third package for analysis, on-site SEO, and link building for $2000-$4000/month depending on how fast they want the link building to go. Looking for some input on how to create a packages page, if my prices are appropriate (I want to be affordable), and an example of a website that does an excellent job at presenting their packages.
Industry News | | BobGW0 -
How do I ascertain how/why a site appears higher/lower in search results, based on different search terms?
The site in question is www.bullethq.comHere are the search terms I used, and what position Bullethq.com appears in the SERP's: <colgroup><col width="188"><col width="58"><col width="95"></colgroup>
Industry News | | PeterConnor
| Search-term | Position | Page returned |
| irish payroll online | 5 | Home Page |
| irish payroll online software | 20 | Home Page |
| online irish payroll software | 20 | Home Page |
| online payroll | 75 | (Blog post) | Could someone be so kind as to help me figure this out?0 -
So, Google is the best site on the internet.. Right? Or is that just what most people tend to think off-face?
LOL woah, put the guns away. I'm not about to rant, I just have a question and wanted to present it well. Then again, I might have actually found some easy fixes to some of Google's tools that they could make. So here's the thing. I noticed how annoyed I always getting when I have to sign in every time I go to the adwords keyword tool, or analytics. Why do you have to sign in a million times? I think it is a problem that can be fixed because if you go to check your webmaster tools, you go straight into your account, where you can then select which site you want to explore. It knows that I am already signed in to Google Accounts when I go to webmaster tools, but it doesn't recognize that fact when I go to my Analytics account, or to use the Adwords Keyword Tool. Now, every site has things that they need to work on, but not necessarily that need to be 'fixed'. Google being so commonly accepted as the best site on the net, I thought it was funny/interesting at the least to point out the problem. Even funnier is the fact that I could submit it as a problem to see if they could fix it or not, but they do such a good job of making it hard for people to contact them, that A) I don't feel like wasting my time trying B) I don't even really know if it is possible to do that. Also, why is there no official Google Analytics App / Mobile site?? Google has been pushing how important mobile is to us webmasters, but then it doesn't seem to be very high on their priority list for the tools that we use. I mean you can't view graphs on phones / tablets (mine at least), in webmaster tools, OR google analytics. Also, its a pain in the but to click the sign in button on Google Analytics when using my phone / tablet, it disapears really fast for me (needs more research from others to see if everyone has the same problem) Thanks for the interest / answers everybody. Look forward to hearing from you guys. Also, tips and help would be nice if anybody knows a solution to my sign in issue
Industry News | | TylerAbernethy0 -
Google Will Penalize Sites Repeatedly Accused Of Copyright Infringement
Has someone filed a large number of DMCA “takedown” requests against your site? If so, look out. That’s the latest penalty that may cause you to rank lower in Google’s search results. It joins other penalties such as “Panda” and “Penguin.” We’re dubbing it the “Emanuel Update” in honor of Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel, who helped prompt it. Read more here: http://searchengineland.com/dmca-requests-now-used-in-googles-ranking-algorithm-130118 What do you guys think MOZERS?
Industry News | | Chenzo0 -
Alexa Site Audit
Hello All, I run an Alexa Site Audit report for my client. Is it normal that my Alexa site audit report will be public i.e. S3 URL for downloading the PDF file was open to anyone knowing the URL. No re-direct to login etc was there? Yes the S3 URL is funny but Google bots have ways to find this funny URLs so is this normal? If you have tried Alexa can you repeat the problem i.e. typing your S3 report URL? can you get it to? or is it just me. I have asked Alexa about it. I think there should be some security. Thanks.
Industry News | | SEO_Z0