Domain name and SEO, what levers?

This article is part of a series reviewing SEO settings that should not be ignored. It is completed by a more recent article: The best practices in local SEO that you should adopt

and:

• Website onpage optimization criteria
• SEO settings related to the elements of the site itself

Some ideas about SEO die hard and questions about NDD are recurrent both from my clients and from my guests at the seo café.

Taken from this infographic already a year old and interpreted my own references, experiences, observations and results in this year 2014. Here are the best recommendations in terms of choosing a domain name, based also on the best practices that I implement on a daily basis.

We hope to appear clear, concise and accessible to all.

The age of the domain name

As Matt Cutts says in this video, the difference between a domain name that is six months old and a year old is not that big. The age of the domain name is not a disqualifying criterion. Even if the newcomers have to be patient and many old ugly sites remain firmly screwed to the front on certain themes, be uninhibited and bring your new vision to the web. We will sometimes compensate for this “lack of bottle” by shopping for a good value NDD after analysis of the said NDD so as not to get a false good deal.

Presence of a heavy keyword

• The presence of a keyword in the DDS no longer has the impact of yesteryear.
• The 100% competitive keyword NDD is a bad idea,

What is recommended is a mix between your keyword and a little branding. Keep it short, two words three at most, and a classic, localized extension. (.ca) if your business is very local. (see below on this subject). The keywords contained in domain names are displayed in bold in the SERP, which confirms a valuation that cannot be trivial.

The main keyword is placed first in the domain name

We will place the main keyword at the “head of the gondola”, which is an additional asset. This information is found by SEOMOZ and supported by a survey of SEO experts.

The expiration date

As recalled in this article supported by Google, it is because illegitimate domains (trash addresses, unimportant satellite sites) are rarely used for more than a year, that the renewal date of your NDD should send a signal of trust and durability by being registered for several years or renewed several months in advance.
When your registrar notifies you of its expiry 6 months before… comply! Renew!

Presence of the keyword in a subdomain

The panel of experts interviewed by SEOMOZ already mentioned suggests that the presence of a keyword in a subdomain brings a plus on the natural referencing of the site.
Google’s position on subdomains changes every two years, so it’s true that it can’t hurt since it is supposed to “sectorize” and develop the content of a specific theme of the site. I won’t rely on this point absolutely, unless I publish high-quality content.

The history of the domain name

Frequent changes of ownership (visible in the whois history) are bad signals. This involves a reset of the site’s history with Google, possibly cancelling out the power of the backlinking acquired.
A serious analysis must be carried out before the purchase of an NDD… Potential time bomb

Les EMDN: Exact Match Domains Name

An EMDN is a domain name that corresponds exactly to the keywords on which you want to position yourself (e.g. auto-insurance.kk). If for a time, it was a key criterion and an effective choice, the conditions are no longer the same today.
A filter has been applied (EMDN) since October 2012 which tends to sanction these URLs that are too perfect. Today, it is essential that the site is of quality for an EMD to have the desired effect on natural referencing. Read this article on this point

Public Whois vs Private Whois

A Private Whois can be a sign of information to be hidden. Matt Cutts wrote about it in 2006, at Pubcon: “When I checked their Whois, all their NDDs were in private whois. It’s not commonplace. Having a private whois is not automatically considered bad, but when several factors of this type add up, then we are often dealing with a webmaster who is not one of those who have a site or two online. Basically, if you play with an EMD, make high quality, otherwise you get into Google’s sights. And that’s bad.

Gate owner penalized in the past

If Google identifies a person as a spammer and penalizes them, it seems logical that it will quickly scrutinize the other sites that this person has (identification via Whois, add “Flag” in your firefox).

Local domain name extensions

It’s not just the “.com” and taking a domain name on a local extension like “.ca” will facilitate its local referencing but will make its “global” referencing more complicated, (but not impossible at all).

For example, global sites that prefer to open NDDs in all extensions of their regional markets (Tripadvisor for example).

Any advice for your Domain Name? Call 438 875 0503