Does Your Domain Name Affect Your SEO?

While making a robust and powerful website for your business, you need to prudently choose the domain name. A perfect domain name should resonate with your brand, your business offerings, and your relevancy to search. You should choose a domain name that is both brand-centric and SEO-friendly. An SEO expert in Ahmedabad may help you to choose the right domain name for your business.

In this article, we are going to discuss how your domain name impacts SEO and how you choose an SEO-friendly domain.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is your website name. The domain name is the address at which online audiences can access your website. Domain names are typically used to identify one or more IP addresses. Now, suppose we are taking the example of www.shoutnhike.com

Here, the domain name is shoutnhike.com

• The subdomain is www.
• The top-level domain is .com

Should you consider SEO while choosing a domain name?

When selecting a domain name for your business, you certainly want people to recognise your brand, your business, and your offerings. An SEO-optimised domain name could be the utmost choice as it not only goes well with the brand but also communicates the right purpose and content of the website.

Don’t insert keywords in your domain name to improve your SEO rank. Search engines are well aware of keyword-stuffing in domain names and immediately disown the sites that are exact match domains (EDMs). Rather you should select a domain name that is well-branded and goes well with your business.

How does domain name affect SEO?

If you create a short, pithy, and click-worthy domain name by mixing various branded words, then it will certainly improve your ranking in search result pages. But a domain with exact-match keywords and over-optimised can make your website look spammy and will deteriorate your ranking in search result pages.

In 2012, Google reduced the number of exact-match domains ranking well in an effort to rid search results of spammy and keyword-stuffed websites. Domain names can have a significant impact on SEO. Relevant domain names may help you to target the right audience and accelerate your search ranking placement. But before selecting a domain name, you first have a well-optimised website for your business.

Do domain names help with SEO?

You need to wisely choose your domain name as it will become the business’ identity. Because the right domain name can only provide,

• High Click-Through Rates (CTR)
• Ensures trust and authority
• Competitive edge over rivals
• Increase brand awareness
• Positive user behavior that can impact search engine rankings

If you want to avail the most SEO value out of your domain name, you need to maintain a balance between an overstuffed domain and a well-branded domain. Google can penalise exact-match domains if they don’t go well with the content of the site. So, always choose an SEO-friendly branded domain name for your business.

Top-level domains (TLD)

These domains are the most popular domains with a global reach. These domains are not restricted to industries or locations; thus, anyone can create a TLD. By using country code top-level domains (ccTLD), you can make your domain more SEO-friendly. ccTLDs offer an extra coating of information to the search engine that helps to narrow down the relevant results to the user searching. If you use “. com.au”, then Google will understand that your business is Australian.

Does a hyphen in the domain name affect SEO?

It is not at all recommended using a hyphen in the domain name. Because the hyphens are related to the spammy behaviour of a website and they will tarnish the domain name’s readability and fluency. If you need to use it, then don’t use more than one. Spammers often try to create a duplicate version of the website by using a hyphen in the domain. Since the original domain name has already been occupied, they register a hyphenated version to imitate the website and the brand.

How to choose a domain name for SEO?

Don’t select a domain name concerning SEO rather you should choose a domain name based on your offerings. If your domain name portrays your website and brand perfectly, then it will be good for SEO as well. Here are some useful tips for selecting your domain name.

• Use your brand name properly
• Consider both relevant and on-brand keywords
• Keep the focus on your location
• Avoid exact match domains
• Stick to original TLDs
• Avoid vagueness
• Select a domain name that is easy to recall
• Keep it crispy and pithy
• Don’t use hyphens while choosing a domain

To create a domain name for SEO, you will select a name that fits your business and brand. Google algorithm discards the exact match domains as they indicate spammy websites.
If you want to get benefitted from your domain name, then you need to send the right signals. You should create an SEO-friendly domain focusing on your brand and your business offerings. While choosing a domain name, you should consider your customers as well. Your domain name should:

• Not give any indication of a spammy site
• Be memorable, recognisable and understandable
• Be legitimate and relevant
• Portray your business and brand utterly

This article gave enough information about how to choose a domain name for your business and how your selected domain name will affect SEO.

Shoutnhike is a reputed SEO company in Ahmedabad that uses various approaches to enhance your ranking in search results. The company is flooded with professional SEO consultant in Ahmedabad who will help you in selecting the right domain name for your business.

Chirag Shah CEO and Founder at Shoutnhike.com I help client to grow business online with measurable result and swift ROI. I have 15+ years of Digital Marketing Industry experience and I have helped 2000+ business to grow online. I am Google Adwords and Analytics certified professional with practical expertise.