Web Hosting Geeks' Blog » keywords http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog Web Hosting Industry News, Latest Trends, and Analyses. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:48:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Dummies’ Guide To SEOhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/14/dummies-guide-seo/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/14/dummies-guide-seo/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:24:43 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=2305 Search engine optimization (or SEO) is an absolute jungle. Just like chocolate, cancer, and pregnancy, the rules for effective SEO management seem to change just about every other day, leaving most of us bewildered, slightly disgruntled, and all the way confused. Thankfully, there are a few trends you can be sure to capitalize on. Even more graciously, we’ve compiled them all here. Starting with the top, Pilgrim, enjoy your Dummies’ Guide to SEO Management!

Repeat After Us: “Keywords Are My Mates”

Seriously, though, keywords are just about the most important part of search engine optimization. If you haven’t got them, it’s like eating a BLT with nothing but chicken underneath the hood: You need a different foundation.

Keywords are what the major search engines look for when they spider your site. If you have the right density, those engines will start to favor your content over other articles that also feature the same keywords. The proper keyword density should be about 3 per-cent. This means that, if your article is about web hosting, the words “web hosting”—or some derivative thereof—should be included across 3 per-cent of all your total words. Any more, and Google might think your site is spam. Any less, and Bing might not know what your article is about.

Also: “Titles Need Keywords, Too”

Don’t forget to be snazzy with your webpage titles. If your page is about buttery spreads, and your keyword is some isotope of “buttery spreads,” then include the phrase in the title and perma-link of your page. Not only does this give Google some idea what to expect from your content, but it also helps clue in your readers, as well. The proper density for your title is somewhere between 30 to 70%. Just keep in mind that creativity is good, but only if the core keywords are there.

Finally: “Links Are More Or Less My Mates, Too”

Search engines like to see links, because links to other related pieces of content make it easier to form topic-based associations between sites. With this in mind, include as many appropriate links to other sites (yours or not) as you can. If your article is still about butter, include some links to buttery recipes, or the health of effects of butter. Try to keep to links that include your keywords, or are closely related.

However, don’t over do it: Many search engines are trained to ignore sites with too many links, so just be sensible. What would you like to see when booting a site for the first time?

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/14/dummies-guide-seo/feed/ 0 Common Advice in Search Engine Optimizationhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/10/advice-search-engine-optimization/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/10/advice-search-engine-optimization/#comments Sat, 10 Sep 2011 12:39:15 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=2249 Getting advice on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can sometimes seem like trying to get advice on, say, the stock market.  Everybody is trying to leapfrog ahead of everyone else, and as a result you wonder if, in the end, anyone actually knows what they’re talking about.

This is a fair objection.  The truth, though, is that there are some fundamental principles that most experts agree on.  The reason that they work is simply that not everyone tries to make their pages more easily findable by Google.  Some web site owners simply assume that all they have to do is put their page up, and Google will automatically pick it up.

This much is  accurate: they will.  If you don’t want to be on page 17 of their listings, however, then you need to do a few things to put you ahead of the people who are making no effort at all.  These are basic rules that anyone can easily follow.

Keywords are your best friend

There is a larger truth about search engines that is so obvious that is seems unfathomable that more people don’t intuitively realize it: search engines can only search through text.  This means that you need the text on your web site as relevant as possible.

Take care, therefore, to make sure that key phrases that you think people who would want to come to your site would search for are somewhere in the text of your web pages, word for word.  These are known as “keywords.”  For example, if you are selling “Victorian wall ornaments,” those are your keywords, and you need them used on your site in multiple places, especially your front page.

A warning, though: don’t go crazy.  In the past people created pages that had thousands of words consisting of nothing but keywords in invisible text.  Search engines are now trained to filter out these pages.  Use your keywords only in the appropriate context, but don’t be afraid to use it multiple times.  Make sure as well that you throw in a few synonym phrases (“Victorian ornaments”, “Victorian decorations”, etc.)

Links are your next best friend

Search engines catalog links as much as they do basic text.  Make sure that there are plenty of links on your site, optimally ones that contain in their URLs the terms that people are searching for.  Other good ways of adding links that users might find are by setting up external sites that link to yours, as well as getting into link exchange programs with the appropriate types of partners.

Don’t forget social networking

Most common social networking websites are business-friendly.  Be sure to setup an account on each of these, and optimally, keep them at least moderately updated.  This is one more route by which users can find you, and one more potential entry in a search engine’s top 10 results.

Keep up with the trends

Finally, don’t stop here.  Since everyone is trying to game search engine results, search engines themselves constantly revamp their formula.  Keep an ear to the ground on the latest trends, and remember that Google isn’t the only search engine out there.  Search engine optimization is a job that never quite ends, but one that the dedicated web users can easily keep up with, and are well-served by the effort.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/10/advice-search-engine-optimization/feed/ 0 SEO 101 : Focusing on Backlinkshttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/08/09/seo-101-focusing-on-backlinks/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/08/09/seo-101-focusing-on-backlinks/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:31:56 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1818 When devising a strategy for SEO, many webmasters place a huge emphasis on the website itself. They are typically concerned with Meta tags, keyword density, titles and headings. While these aspects of SEO are important (especially with regards to content), they are insignificant when compared with links. SEO practitioners spend their time obsessing over link building while site owners ignore them completely.

Creating an Equilibrium

This is due to the fact that a website is a tangible object that can be seen many millions of visitors. On the other hand, links are a vague concept that does not have associated tools. Therefore, building backlinks is usually secondary. Luckily there are several tools that will create equilibrium of website design and SEO.

Google Webmaster Tools

The first key point to consider is not use search operators to check your links. This method will produce inaccurate results and is commonly regarded as being used for entertainment purposes. Instead, utilize Google Webmaster Tools which provide a wealth of information about what exactly Google knows about your website, how it performs in the search engine rankings and, recently added, +1 statistics.

Independent Tools

There are two additional competing independent tools outside of Google Webmaster Tools, SEOmoz’s Open Site Explorer (OSE) and Majestic SEO’s Site Explorer. If your run your website through both programs you will find that they conflict with one another. Ironically, neither agrees with Google Webmaster Tools either.

The Collection Process

Although all three programs work by crawling the web, they are programmed differently and discover different links. Each then filters the collected links and remove those they see as spamming or lack relevance. Unfortunately, the three programs follow different criteria to make a judgment. You will also notice the two independent tools provide limited functionality for the free versions.

Viewing Trends

In the free versions of all three programs you are given two numbers for your sites that will usually differ. Always keep in mind that none of these figures is the absolute number, which would be extremely difficult to determine. Instead these figures should be viewed as representing exactly how other sites link to you. When viewing trends over a long period of time the numbers will begin to paint a picture of how your site is doing.

These three webmaster tools were developed to be more of a guide for focusing on backlinking than a concrete answer. A great way to use these tools is generate a report from each on a monthly basis and chart their change over time. If you see the numbers are increasing then you are on your way to success.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/08/09/seo-101-focusing-on-backlinks/feed/ 4 Two Basic Steps to Search Engine Optimizationhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/11/23/two-basic-steps-to-search-engine-optimization/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/11/23/two-basic-steps-to-search-engine-optimization/#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:00:54 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1242 Search engine optimization is ever evolving but with a little patient and effort a site can be quickly indexed in the major search engines.  The following is a list of two steps to get you started with SEO and your site.

Step 1: Choose The Right Words

Not all words are the same. First, make sure the words you are trying to target for searches are relevant to the content on your site. If you run a site about dog treats, it’s probably not a good idea to target lcd televisions as a keyword. Second, take a look at the amount of results already present for the words you decide on.  In all likelihood, the larger the result set, the harder it is to place well on the results of a search.   Third, don’t target too many words. It goes without saying; you should never have more words you are targeting than content pages on your site.  Fourth, choose words that are searched often enough that they are worth targeting. A good place to check out the relevance, competition and search frequency of words is Google Adwords.  Use the tool to identify potential words and find out what words you have decided to target look like. You might also find some good alternative words this way as well.  Once you choose a desired set of keywords, it’s time to start optimizing your site for these words.

Step 2: Keyword Related Content and Density

In the optimization community density is the same as frequency. So, a sites keyword density is simply the frequency it appears throughout a page and a site.  Search engines rate the relevancy of your site to a keyword based on the frequency it appears at in your site. So at first glance, most people think a higher density or higher frequency in the site or pages is a good thing.  While, there’s nothing definitive on what the optimal density is, there is a general understanding that anything over 5% is treated as spam by most search engines.  So, how do you check the density you have?  Take a count of all the words in the text on the page. Then count all the occurrences of a keyword in that text and divide that by the total words and you get your density for the page. If you don’t want to go through this process, there are a couple of tools for basic keyword density analysis like live-keyword-analysis.com.

There is another, more used method for keyword density analysis that takes in to account all the text a potential viewer can’t see.  Take for instance your Meta tags, image tags and hyper link anchors, these all have textual components as well, and in most cases they are only seen in the html portion of a site. More complex tools take in to account this text and keyword density, producing what is generally known as a more accurate projection.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/11/23/two-basic-steps-to-search-engine-optimization/feed/ 0 Understanding Misspelled Domain Nameshttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/09/16/understanding-misspelled-domain-names/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/09/16/understanding-misspelled-domain-names/#comments Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:46:16 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1114 The domain name industry is rapidly expanding, and every word and phrase in the English language is slowly but surely being used. Eventually, it will be nearly impossible to find a domain name that makes any kind of sense at all. Fortunately, those days are decades away, and contrary to popular belief there are still many amazing domain names available. However, for those that cannot come up with new and original domain names there is a solution – misspelled domain names.

Why Would I Want a Misspelled Domain Name?

In the domain name industry even a typographical error equals potential traffic. In essence, every term or phrase that is entered into the address bar of the a visitors web browser is an entrance to the internet, and a possible traffic gateway. If you can buy a domain name that is likely to be typed into the address bar of a user’s browser inadvertently, then you can access that traffic. In most cases,this traffic is targeted, because you know what they were looking for when they misspelled the domain name.

Stealing Traffic with Misspelled Domain Names

For example, if you buy a domain name entitled “godadfy.com” then there is a good chance that anyone visiting that site was actually looking for godaddy.com, which is a domain name registrar and hosting company. Based on this information you could drive this traffic to your own hosting web site that is similar to Go Daddy’s. Of course, Go Daddy has taken the necessary precautions to prevent such nefarious competitive action, but this is just one of example of the benefits of misspelled domain names.

How Do I Find The Best Misspellings?

It can be difficult to figure out what the most likely misspellings are when searching for a good misspelled domain name. Fortunately, there are tools available online that will give you long lists of misspelling, and you can even find traffic information about some commonly used misspellings within the Google keywords tool. In most cases, there is a large number of misspelled search engine queries issued after every major event. For example, during the Super Bowl it is not uncommon to see thousands of searches for misspelled team names and other items related to that sporting event. With the use of the aforementioned tools and a little creativity you can begin gaining traffic from misspelled phrases in no time.

Conclusion

If you are a web site owner that is trying to establish a brand and eliminate competition then it would be wise to purchase all possible misspellings of your business name, as this will prevent your competition from capitalizing on your success. However, if you act quickly and continually research possible misspellings you could see your traffic levels increase as you begin driving traffic from various misspelled domains that gain residual traffic based on simple human error. Regardless of your decision, it is best to stay on the right side of the misspelled domains controversy, and as usual that side is the one with the most web traffic!

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/09/16/understanding-misspelled-domain-names/feed/ 0 Search Engine Optimization and Consumer Awarenesshttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/03/08/search-engine-optimization-and-consumer-awareness/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/03/08/search-engine-optimization-and-consumer-awareness/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:04:42 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=786 Understanding search engine optimization can be a fairly difficult task for an Internet novice. In fact most people give up once they realize how much studying is involved in the process. The fact is, not everyone is cut out for search engine optimization, and most people quit within the first couple of weeks and decide to hire a company to handle the task for them.

It is not at all common to see someone begin their mission in search engine optimization with great zeal, only to become overwhelmed by the vast amount of information that needs to be learned and applied to reach success. Much of this information cannot be found in a single location and it takes weeks if not months to become familiar with the entire process of optimizing a website for search engine success.

Finished from the Beginning

Unfortunately even with all of the experience in the world you will not always be able to achieve the success you desire, especially if you’re trying to capitalize in a heavily competitive market. The fact is, maybe the single most important aspect of search engine optimization is keyword optimization. If you are not targeting the right keywords then your plan is doomed form the very beginning. This means you need to do keyword research before you can actually begin your endeavor.

Once you know what keyword you’re promoting you can find all of the related keywords and begin designing your site around that list of keywords. If you have already built your site and it is based on a keyword that you cannot change, such as your physical business, then your search engine optimization efforts are going to be twice as difficult. In fact you probably won’t be able to achieve the success you are looking for without hiring a professional, doing extensive research, and/or completely rethinking your gameplan.

SEO Experts

The sad fact is many of the so called experts in search engine optimization are no more certifiably qualified than you are to optimize your website. In fact, you probably know your website better than anyone ever will, and that gives you an instant advantage as it is. If you do decide to hire a search engine optimization expert, you would be better of paying a tutor to teach you how to do it yourself, as this would yield a much greater return on your investment. This way you would be able to use the knowledge gained for your future endeavors, instead of wasting your money on an operation that is not even guaranteed to bring success.

Finding Good SEO Services

So how can you find a good service that will actually help you increase your traffic with search engine optimization? The answer is actually quite simple -You need to understand what is a realistic expectation, and you need to find a company or an individual that will help you achieve that expectation. A reliable and experienced search engine optimization expert will give you a realistic quote for realistic results, whereas the “gurus” will try to charge you thousands of dollars for results that sound too good to be true. If you use this simple method to find help, you will be able to achieve realistic goals in a relatively short amount of time.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/03/08/search-engine-optimization-and-consumer-awareness/feed/ 0 Locate the Perfect SEO Experthttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/19/locate-the-perfect-seo-expert/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/19/locate-the-perfect-seo-expert/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:42:30 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=627 Having a fantastic web site available on the web will do nothing for one’s business if no one can find it.  Once built, an essential part of having a web site is optimizing it so that search engines can easily locate it.  This requires a bit of expertise with regard to keywords and phrases, good content copy that reflects the chosen keywords and even knowing which page URLs will work or not with search engine spidering.

Don’t do it yourself

Instead of attempting to do this on one’s own, it is prudent and recommended to seek out and hire an SEO consultant.  A professional SEO consultant will be able to determine which services are needed to make one’s business web site optimized for search engines and how to incorporate SEO marketing.

There are dozens of specific tasks and elements that go into good SEO and going the “do-it-yourself” route may end with one’s web site not showing at all in the major search engines.

Check their previous work

The first thing to ask for when looking for the perfect SEO expert is previous examples of SEO content as well as web sites they have helped optimize in the past.  Check the rankings of these web sites with the major search engines – Google and Yahoo are perfect examples – and use the Alexa web site to view overall rankings.  Alexa is a free web traffic metric analyzer that will give one a good overview of how well a web site or company is doing over time.

A good showing with increased rankings over time is an indication of how effective an SEO consultant can be.  Rankings that are dropping or maintaining an unchanged level would indicate locating another SEO expert would be in order.

Look at rates

Check the rates of the SEO consultants one is considering.  Very low rates can mean the person in question is just starting out and is trying to build up their portfolio.  Very high rates but with a less than stellar portfolio can also indicate a novice in the SEO field or one that isn’t terribly good at what they do.

Alternatively, as the world economy has taken a beating lately, many professionals have dropped their rates accordingly.  This is an important factor to keep in mind when researching rates.  Check to see if the SEO professional in question has recently dropped their hourly or project rates – one may get a bargain out of this.

Cheaper isn’t better

Don’t attempt to take the cheapest route.  While initially it may seem like a good idea and cost effective, a low rate SEO consultant can mean poor work produced for one’s business web site.  This, in turn, will mean ineffective search engine optimization, low rankings (if at all) within the major search engines and pretty much a loss of money overall.

Careful research should be done when looking to hire an SEO consultant.  Look at their previous results, experience and rates.  Remember that great search engine optimization can mean more customers and hiring a professional to do it correctly can only bring about a return on one’s investment.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/19/locate-the-perfect-seo-expert/feed/ 0 How Search Engine-Friendly is Your Domain Name?http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/09/23/how-search-engine-friendly-is-your-domain-name/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/09/23/how-search-engine-friendly-is-your-domain-name/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:05:50 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=536 A search engine-friendly domain name can put you on a path to achieve the rankings and traffic you need to be successful online.  It can aid in helping target your audience, increase conversions and open the door to multiple streams of revenue.  If these benefits are desirable to you, the following tips should come in handy when going to the registrar to acquire the name.

Think SEO and User-friendly Domain - In order to be considered search engine-friendly, your domain name must be preferably short and easy to remember.  This way, users can recall it much faster and the probability of generating quality traffic becomes much greater.  In most cases, a long, complicated name will only work against you and hinder your success.

Focus on Keywords - Keywords add to the success of a domain name because they play such a critical role in the SEO process.  When implementing keywords into your URL, search engines like Google will index it faster, thus increasing the possibility of higher click-through rates and most importantly, more exposure.

Be Cautious of Hyphens - Many SEO experts speak strongly against inserting hyphens in a domain name.  This is because they can lead to complications such as users forgetting where the hyphen is to be positioned within the domain.  Because there could be many similar websites that contain domain names without hyphens, you want to be very careful that you do not direct visitors to your competition.

Optimize for Type-in Traffic – Some internet users have a habit of typing keywords directly into their browser bar instead of a search box.  To leverage this type of traffic, you may want to register a domain that contains your targeted domain in its entirety to increase your traffic through this prevalent market.

Choose a Fitting TLD – There are many top level domain to choose from, but you will likely have more success from SEO standpoint by choosing a .com.

Establish Inbound Links – Inbound links are another part of the SEO process. You certainly want to establish quality links that include your domain.  If your site is devoid of such links, the search engines will conclude that it lacks relative content.  Keep in mind that poor links will negatively effective your optimization efforts.  For this reason, you want to avoid link farms and questionable practices employed by questionable SEO firms.

Choose a Good Domain Name Registrar – The key to obtaining an search engine-friendly domain name is to register the name with a respectable registrar.  There are many registrars on the market but not all can be relied upon.  We recommend sticking with known and trusted brands like GoDaddy and Yahoo or opting for one with your web hosting provider.

Registering a search engine-friendly domain will not guarantee you increased traffic or visibility.  Even SEO itself calls for you to promote your site in traditional ways and most importantly, make sure it contains quality content web surfers will be interested in.   Once you come to realize this, we are confident that these tips will go a long way in helping you achieve the visibility and success you desire online.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/09/23/how-search-engine-friendly-is-your-domain-name/feed/ 1 Three Essential Elements of SEOhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/05/08/three-essential-elements-of-seo/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/05/08/three-essential-elements-of-seo/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 15:12:10 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=323 You can explain the concept in a number of technical ways but SEO primarily involves optimizing one’s site to be search engine friendly.  Search engines are responsible for most of the traffic on the web and can play a major role in increasing the number of visitors that come to your site.  Because these visitors usually come in with a general interest, webmasters all over the world are looking for ways to increase their visibility.  There are many aspects that go into SEO but these three simple elements are among the most essential.

Keywords and Phrases

The most basic and effective SEO technique of all is the use of keywords and key phrases. Keywords simply refer to the terms users commonly enter into a search engine.  Search engine robots or spiders are trained to crawl the web and find these terms.  Once these words are found, the corresponding web page is indexed by the spider and then listed in a search engine.  For the most part, key phrases are like keywords but simply have more words bundled together.  Key phrases may be presented in the form of a question or other formats commonly associated with a particular niche.  When used properly, both can be the determining factor in the success of your SEO campaign.

Page Titles

If you take a look in the top of left corner of your browser, you will find text detailing the site you’re on and perhaps a brief description of what the page is about.  This is the title of a web page, often overlooked but oh so important.  Some webmasters don’t realize it, however, the title is one of the first elements a search engine spider will detect when landing on your site.  Because of this, you want to make sure your web pages have relative, keyword-rich titles.  When incorporating keywords into your titles, it is important to make sure you keep them relative and to a minimum.  Search engine spiders are designed to ignore sites that contain keyword stuffed pages.  This is why you want to be very careful not to overuse them.

Keyword Density

Because keyword stuffing is often looked down upon by the search engines, one must be cautious of going overboard.  In fact, overusing them can actually be more damaging than using none at all when it comes to getting rankings.  Keyword density is a way to make sure this doesn’t happen.  This technique basically refers to the number of keywords divided by the number of words on a web page.  On a page consisting of 500 words, experts suggest that anything over 5% is considered keyword stuffing while anything less is considered to make less of an impact.  For this reason, you want to find out what is appropriate density for the number of words on your pages.

Conclusion

Every step helps in the race to claim search engine fame.  If you think about it however, the top spots are limited and depending on the competition in your niche, earning high rankings might be next to impossible.   The good thing is that the rankings change frequently so if you stay at it, you could find yourself on the front page of Google at one time or another.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/05/08/three-essential-elements-of-seo/feed/ 1 The Pros and Cons of Keyword-Rich Domainshttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/05/05/the-pros-and-cons-of-keyword-rich-domains/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/05/05/the-pros-and-cons-of-keyword-rich-domains/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 16:35:55 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=317 When it comes to choosing a domain name, there are numerous strategies one can employ to ensure they make the best selection possible.  One strategy that is often recommended is the implementation of a popular keyword relative to your niche.  While there are obvious advantages to such a move, there are also instances where it could work to your disadvantage.  This article will go over both sides of the spectrum.

The Bright Side

The way some explain it, you might believe that incorporating a keyword into your domain will automatically result in high search engine rankings for that particular term.  This might be the case in an uncompetitive market but let’s face it, those fields are far and few these days.  In fact, it is quite debatable how much search engines take your domain URL into account.  Be that as it may, every step helps in the battle to increase search engine visibility.  A good keyword-rich domain will definitely come in handy when submitting your site to directories and participating in link exchange programs.  It will also allow you to have your domain name become bolded in the search engine results, putting emphasis on what your site is all about.  Therefore, even if its only a small boost, it goes a long way in achieving those quality rankings you desire.

The Downside

The main disadvantage to keyword implementation is the likelihood that your domain will be similar to the competition’s.  Just think about how many URLs have the terms “web hosting” in them.  In such a highly competitive niche, your domain will be strikingly similar to the next, a factor that might lead potential clients to believe they have already paid you a visit.  Trying to leverage a popular keyword or phrase could also lead to a domain name that is too long, difficult to remember and doesn’t necessarily apply to your specialties.  This could end up limiting both your click-through and conversion rates.  If this is the road you decide to take, keep in mind that people are more likely to associate you with generic keywords rather than the actual name of your business.

Search Engine Rankings vs. Brand Awareness

Before registering a domain name, you must make the difficult decision of what is the most important: achieving high search engine rankings or establishing brand awareness.  Now let’s clear the air here – just because you choose to focus on your brand doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t get search engine rankings.  That goal just might take a bit longer to achieve.  If the name of your business is highly marketable, you probably want it to be well known throughout your niche.  Remember that this is no overnight thing as it could take months and possibly years to accomplish.  The rewards however, are worth the wait.  Just imagine having the name of your business come up whenever some mentions that particular niche.  On the other hand, if your company name is less marketable, establishing a brand name may not be as important.  In this case, you might be satisfied with getting good search engine rankings.  There is really no right or wrong here.  It’s all about what determining what works best for your website.

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