SEO and Domain Name Importance

Would you go into a store called "Dog Whistles R US" to buy car brakes?

Having the right domain name is very important. A domain name is the name of your web site. For example, "Yahoo" is the domain name in www.yahoo.com and "ebay" is the domain name for www.ebay.com. Search engines give a lot of weight to web sites with the right keywords in them. In fact, some web sites have a hold on a top search engine spot simply because their domain name has the right words. Granted, in competitive markets the domain name is only a small factor in the overall SEO game. Some site owners pay huge amounts of money to companies specialized in making a site popular.

However, you are off to a great start by selecting the right name. How do you select the right domain name? Determine what it is you are trying to market/sell. What are the key words someone might type into google or yahoo to find your service or product? Those are the words you want to try to include in your domain name. Now, say the name is already taken. Find another similar name or add words just to make it unique yet still fit your goal. www.lasvegasrealestate.com was taken so an agent took www.mslasvegasrealestate.com. It works great for the engines. Get creative and don't stress.

Many agents are marketing themselves so they choose their name as a domain. Until you become a well known brand in that market search engines don't care who you are so they may not credit you with much SEO value initially for the domain name. Over time you can gain that value in other SEO activities.

The key is to start off right in the beginning if possible. Search engines recognize the amount of time a site has been on the internet as a sign of consistency. They seem to think, "this information resource isn't going anywhere." Find a good name and plaster that thing everywhere from day one. Over time your SEO efforts will pay off.