When Is #1 Google Ranking Yours To Lose?

August 18, 2010 - Last Modified: April 1, 2014 by Ana Hoffman

How can you loose something you don’t yet have?

Easily: by NOT taking your time to pick the perfect domain name.

Choosing the right domain name is one of the most important things you can do to get high search engine ranking optimization.

After you’ve done the proper keyword research and came up with that perfect niche market you want to make some money off, your next step should be to take you time picking the right domain name.

5 great guidelines you can use when choosing the right domain

Here are 5 great guidelines you can use when choosing the right domain (to make it easier, let’s pick a keyword – “pool chlorinator” for instance):

1. PoolChlorinator.com is THE perfect domain to get; it will trump all other variations you can come up with. When you have a dead-on domain, Google will WANT to put you in #1 spot!

2. PoolChlorinator.net or .org should be your second choice, if .com is not available.

3. Pool-Chlorinator.com – i.e. your-keyword.com. Many old school SEOs will suggest that this is a great way to go, and I won’t argue with them (or maybe I will). It was possibly the case back in the day when spamming was not so wide-spread. Rumor has it it’s precisely because many spammers are so fond of putting dashes in their domain names that Google discounts those type of domains altogether. Let’s look at it this way as well: how many big websites ranking high on Google you’ve seen that have dashes in their domain name? That’s my point.

4. PoolChlorinatorTips.com (i.e. suffixed.com) – this will be my next choice. When choosing your suffix, consider making it as short as possible unless it can be an additional keyword – more on that in a second.

5. MyPoolChlorinator.com (i.e. prefixed.com) – this would be my last choice. Google reads from left to right, as most of us do, and gives your first words the most weight.

Now a little exercise for those brain cells of yours:

Which domain is better?

a) PoolChlorinatorTips.com

b) PoolChlorinatorProducts.com

The former has a nice and short suffix that is more or less relevant to the topic.

The latter one… well, it has a suffix that clearly shows the BUYING intent vs research intent. Wouldn’t you rather attract visitors who are ready to buy vs just learn more about the topic? You bet!

So in this exercise the clear answer (although might be counter-intuitive at the first glance) is B.

Always use a suffix that gives you a bump in commercial intent. Here is a link to a great free tool that makes it a cinch to determine whether your chosen keywords have commercial intent.

One more word on that

Just because a keyword doesn’t have commercial intent, it does not mean you don’t want to optimize for it. As long as it has a great amount of searches, I say go for it! Just make sure you have good traffic conversion techniques in place and any traffic can be monetized!

So don’t take your domain choice lightly – it can definitely make or break your chance to rank well… VERY well.

When you have the dead-on domain name, the #1 Google listing is yours to lose.

About Ana Hoffman

Follow @AnaTrafficCafe

Traffic, traffic, traffic... Can't do without it, but don't know how to get it? Ana does, and she freely shares her best advice on how to increase web traffic on her Traffic Generation Cafe blog. And don't forget to pick up Ana's 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination free SEO report while you are at it - stop hoping for more search engine traffic and go get it!

{ 78 Responses }

Mavis Nong says:

I couldn't agree with you more, Ana. Keyword-rich domain name is the way to go. Thanks for sharing the useful tips to make choosing one easier.All the best, Mavis
Ramon says:

I am top 3 now for my main keyword for my website (in title). Working my ass off to get #1, but will be darn hard! Thanks for these tips though once I make it :)
John says:

The best way to get ranking b4 you do anything is to research your niche and keywords so much to the point where you find a domain that you can rank for with the keywords you want.
- Ana says:
  
  That makes way too much sense for most of us, John! :) Ana
Lynda says:

Picking the perfect domain is crucial but also can be quite difficult. Domain names with keywords tend to rank better, but short and catchy domain names tend to be remembered easily. This post makes me think about websites like Twitter...The name "twitter" is catchy and fun, how awful would it have been if they went with something like "WhatIsMyStatus.com".
- Ana says:
  
  :) Love the way you think, Lynda, and completely agree with you. If you are planning on creating a brand new brand (how's that for a mouthful:), then catchy is perfect. If the objective is to rank for a keyword, then... you get my point. Thanks for coming by! Ana
SenseiMattKlein says:

Agree with all of post, except the part about the dashed domains. Think it was old school who suggested dashed domains were not good. Nowadays, you will in fact see dashed domains lead in the serps. In my industry, many of the leaders, my site included, are at the top. The spam argument does not hold water as there are too many good sites now with the dashed domain.
- Ana says:
  
  Always nice to see the other side of the coin. Personally, I've never seen a dashed domain lead SERP and it still would never be my first choice. As you can see, I did list it as #3 however. Ana
Joy says:

Ana, I am trying to decide if it is better to have a dead on domain name that is brand new or to have a domain name that has been around a few years and is already in good standings with Google? Which would you prefer in an attempt to gain first page ranking if all else is equal?
- Ana says:
  
  Great question, Joy. I assume that the older domain does not have the keywords in it whatsoever. Here's what I would do: I would use the new domain as the primary and then do a 301 redirect for the old domain. Essentially what that will do is forward all the attributes of the old domain to the new one, including things like PR, links, etc. Now it won't happen overnight; it can take as long as a couple of months, but it will happen. To learn more about this process, check out this post of mine: Search Engine Ranking Secret: Buy An Aged Domain Hope this makes sense. Ana
Siddharth Goyal says:

Hey I bought a dead on domain about 2-3 weeks back and put a squeeze page on it. It still shows up at page number 4 for the exact set of keywords. Domain was : websitedevelopmentgurgaon.com Keyword: Website Development Gurgaon Am I doing something wrong or does it take a long time before anything happens? regards Sid
- Ana says:
  
  It's great to have a dead-on domain, Sid, but you can't rely on just that. You still need to throw a few quality links into it. Ana
Alex says:

Great post Ana! And even better to see you here too! quite a nice surprise I might add :)
- Ana says:
  
  Thanks, Alex - I am not surprised to see you here at all; I see you on just about every blog I visit these days :) Have a great night (your time)! Ana
Jakes says:

Hi Ana, Though simple, that was a great article.. I too would always go for dot.com, whatever be the scenario. When I started my blog, I was looking for jakes.com.. As I was adamant about buying dot com domain, I settled for blogjakes.com. ;)
- Ana says:
  
  Sounds like it was a good choice. Thanks for the thumbs up! Ana
abhishek says:

Bang on this one with domain buying. That is one of the key and most important factors of optimizing for any keyword. If you have the domain name for any keyword the chances are with very lil seo you will get to number 1 spot. However if you don't get it its pretty hard to achieve the same result. But what would you do if you are monetizing as most of the keywords domains are already taken and the long tail keywords don't usually generate much revenues.
- Ana says:
  
  Very good question, Abhishek. Without knowing your niche, it's hard to answer, but in a nutshell, I would try to take your keywords and start adding short words to them, like: tips, guide, blog, etc. I can't imagine all of them are taken. Find the one that makes most sense and run with it. Thanks for the question! Ana
  - abhishek says:
    
    I was talking about a general niche. For example lets say I want to concentrate on a very popular term "Web Design". Now you will see that though some long tail options exist but most of the words are taken. Maybe in this case what one can do is make many long tail domains and then monetize them and them send it to your main site . I don't know how much work it will take but then I am pretty sure it will be hard even then.
    - Ana says:
      
      A few things to consider here: if a niche is ultra-competitive, why get into it to begin with? Also, picking the right domain is very important, but not everything: you can still rank high for a keyword, even if you don't have a perfect domain. Ana
DiTesco says:

Spot on. Choosing the right domain name, specially for monetization purposes is so extremely important that it can be a determining factor when ranking well for search engines. If you can get those "exact" searches in a domain name all the better and it works wonders indeed. I speak based on my experience as a domainer wannabee. Kudos
- Ana says:
  
  Thanks, I appreciate your support! Ana
Gino Dizon says:

Great post! Good thing my other blog was a dotcom. Didn't know some of the stuff you've posted, it was really helpful. Thanks again!
- Ana says:
  
  I appreciate your feedback, Gino, and glad I could help! Ana Targeted Website Traffic
Kathy says:

Tia is dead on with the long tail keywords as exact domains. They do not work as well. Short ones work great though. When you are using a short 2 or 3 word keyword as a domain, Google assumes that it might be a brand name or company name. So when someone searches for the exact 100% match keyword in the exact word order, then Google ranks your exact match higher. All it takes is a few exact anchor text links from decent pages to push you way up the SERPs even in a moderately competitive niche. I am seeing the .org TLD get snapped up like crazy with people doing the exact keyword thing. Most of those sites end up being MFA sites with the huge rectangle ad block right underneath the title. They are doing it because it works. Google will have to do something to filter those soon as they are popping up like wildfire. Those exact domain thin MFA sites are part of what was causing people to lose their Adsense accounts in the last six months. Be advised.
- Ana says:
  
  Just in case some of the readers don't know what MFA stands for = "made for adsense". I have seen a lot of those lately as well, Kathy; I am sure those PhDs at Google will come up with a way to "discount" those kind of site. Thanks for your great input, Kathy. ~Ana
Julius says:

You know what Ana I don't agree with the dashed domains at all. I have created several websites using highly targeted domain names and the ones with dashed domain names have not performed as well. That's why, even when you can't get the .com or .net domain for the keyword, I would still go for some .com domain variation of the keyword. Nice post ;)
- Ana says:
  
  That's my personal feeling about them as well, Julius. There are many far better options over dashed domains. Thanks for the comment! Ana
- element321 says:
  
  Julius, Funny you should mention this. I was about to build a niche specific site and all the good ones and even the dashed ones were taken. I started checking out the high keyword dashed domains and they all had high PR. I should also mention that the sites I checked out were pretty old and been around 5+ years.
  - Julius says:
    
    Well I am actually not so sure about old domains. I don't really understand the concept. Google does punish websites that have lots of links when the website structure changes doesn't it? I mean for one of my domains it shows up to be registered at the yahoo directory but it doesn't seem to have any real value, especially when trying to rank well.
element321 says:

All great points, thanks for sharing this with everyone? I would like to point out, I was building a garden niche site for a certain topic and all the good domain names were taken. I got annoyed and dismissed the idea for that site. I came across where all the .coms were taken, but the .net, .us, and .me were left. What do you think about using these for part of the domain name? I try and stick to .com and .net only... But the domains I found where really good keyword filled domains, but the .com and .net were taken.
- Ana says:
  
  As you can imagine, the opinions might vary on the topic. However, let me ask you a question: have you ever seen a highly ranked .me or .us domain in any niche? Neither have I. That tells me that I would stay away from them. I would continue digging for .com by adding suffixes and prefixes. Ana
  - element321 says:
    
    I agree with you on .us and .me. Then again, they are pretty new. If I remember correctly there are a small number of .me with decent PR. But even if I am correct, I still try and stay away from them...
Laura Davis says:

Wow... I never heard about commercial intent before. Very interesting stuff! Thanks for sharing!
- Ana says:
  
  Absolutely, Laura. It's extremely important to find keywords that sell as well as get a good amount of searches. Website that publish quotes get a lot of searches, but I doubt it that they sell much of anything. People just don't plan on shopping when looking for a quote of the day! :) Ana
Lucila says:

Hi Ana! Great tips! I was wondering if you are going to write any other article on SEO, I'm learning some techniques which will be not only great for helping my clients but for rising my business! (too late for my domain name though) Thanks a lot Ana, I will be waiting for more of this! Lucila.-
- Ana says:
  
  Yes, Lucila - I am planning on becoming a regular here on FB. However, you can always go to my blog as well; I always post great SEO tips there, plus you can download my free SEO report, which is packed with all kinds of advice. I'll see you back soon! Ana
Colleen says:

In our niche, most (probably all) the keyword rich domains have been taken. But you are right, a keyword rich domain is very good. I've seen it first hand.
- Ana says:
  
  I am sure you can think of a few you could use, Colleen. :) It does get harder in certain niches though. Sometimes, it's very beneficial to even buy a premium domain name. Ana
  - Colleen says:
    
    Btw, in support of what you are posting about, we have a site that we once use to blog on that we no longer use, so we forwarded the blog to our main blog. If you search 'washington real estate news' our blog at joelane.com comes up generally #1, and that is because the blog address that is being forwarded to our blog is www.washington-real-estate-news.com Funny thing is that phrase ranks for us over some really big sites. No doubt because phrase matches the domain.
    - Ana says:
      
      That's great, Colleen - I always love seeing practical examples of theories at work. Thanks for letting us know! Ana Increase Blog Traffic Tips
      - Colleen says:
        
        You are certainly welcome Ana! :)
TJ McDowell says:

Don't you also think there's a reality check that you need when choosing a domain name too? For example, if the website for UPS was www.shippingexperts.com , I wouldn't remember that. Frequently with big names I just type it in the url, and I have a feeling I'm not alone. Would you suggest that UPS get the domain www.ups.com and also the domain www.shippingexperts.com? Would it just be a forward, and if so wouldn't www.ups.com be the preferred domain name, thus canceling out the SEO benefit (ie Google will see the site as www.ups.com). Maybe they would get www.shippingexperts.com and use it as an online tool or for additional content?
- Ana says:
  
  If I never heard of UPS before, I would never remember UPS.com. I would be thinking "what were those 3 letters?". However if somebody told me "you should definitely use Shipping Experts, the company is great", I would have no problem with that. Anyway, we are not talking about usability here; we are choosing a good domain for SEO purposes. Ana
  - TJ McDowell says:
    
    I completely understand where you're coming from, but from my perspective, businesses who chose a keyword rich domain name over TheirBusinessName.com may be making a big mistake. You've got a lot more experience than I do in this, so I'm sure you're right. I just think that there's more to consider than only what's best for Google. Or maybe the conversation should really be about their business name - ie if their business name includes the keywords they want to rank for, it's a win-win. What do you think?
Nabeel says:

Hi, Great advice. The best place from which I learned all about domain names was Noble Samurai's blog: 'Understanding Domain Name SEO – Your Questions Answered' http://www.noblesamurai.com/blog/domains/domain-name-seo-1324 Kindest, Nabeel
- Ana says:
  
  I use Market Samurai for all my research needs and their blog definitely offers incredible value. Thanks for the resource, Nabeel! Ana
Hieu Martin says:

I use domain of my hosting services. Maybe not good. i will transfer to godaddy or register. that good right
- Ana says:
  
  I would strongly suggest you do that, Hieu. Ana
  - Hieu Martin says:
    
    I will do that when domain older than 6 month. Thanks Ana
Andreas says:

Selecting the right domain name is definitely helpful when optimizing the website for search engines and the domain name will always be a criteria for search engines whether to rank a certain site higher or lower in results.
- Ana says:
  
  Absolutely is, Andreas; thanks for supporting my view on this one. Ana
Lennart Heleander says:

Hi Ana, Don’t forget to have you domain in PLURAL, not in singular if it possibility, most of the searching is in plural; cheap flights, rental homes ect. I have read somewhere it is 80% - 20% plural - singular.
- Ana says:
  
  Very good point, Lennart - sounds like a very logical suggestion. Thank you!
  - Lennart Heleander says:
    
    Hi Ana, One other thing to do if it very big and hard competition of the top keywords and all the domains combinations is gone; It is to change place on the keywords, ex you want to have “cheap flights” registered instead “Flights cheap”. Minimum are you coming on the first page in the SERP.
    - Ana says:
      
      Yet another great suggestion, Lennart - thank you! Ana
Hung says:

I normally register dot com domain. If the domain is not available, i prefer to use suffixed style
- Ana says:
  
  That's exactly my preference, Hung. Happy Birthday to Bim!
  - Hung says:
    
    I have at least 7 domains with word "ME" at the end of domain
- Hieu Martin says:
  
  Register is good but expensive. You can try with reseller enom. that good .
Robert says:

This is a great post, and I'm rather proud with my self as I seem to have managed to stick to these guidelines when I picked one of my domains - nextiphonenews.com
- Ana says:
  
  Sounds like a perfect domain name to me, Robert. Now all you need is High Search Engine Ranking Optimization! Thanks for stopping by, Ana Hoffman
Pete Stean says:

Well that clarifies the situation regarding buying my own domain - a good tip, thanks (and no, it's not going to be the current one with dot com at the end :) )
- Ana says:
  
  You are very welcome, Pete! Ana Hoffman
Paul says:

One of our kind readers should submit this to digg :) This is worth sharing.. Thanks Ana!
- Ana says:
  
  Yes, you should, Paul - and glad you enjoyed it! Ana Hoffman
John says:

I've wonder why well known companies got domain names like: Yahoo, Google, flickr, squidoo, etc, those names don't make any sense, and yet are well branded names now. What do you think?
- Ana says:
  
  Well, of course it's possible to rank just about any website with any domain name. The point of my post was that with the dead-on keyword domain you are virtually guaranteed the ranking for the that keyword. I'd rather show up in search engines in a month than in a year! :) Thanks for the question, John. Ana Hoffman
Tia Peterson says:

Hi Ana, This is a really thorough article. Great job! The only other thing I would say is beware of domain names that are too long. I've only tested on a handful - four or five, but domains that have 4 or 5 words packed into them don't do well, when compared with a shorter domain whose site is optimized is exactly the same way. Cheers, Tia
- Ana says:
  
  Great point, Tia; definitely a good addition to the post. Best, Ana Hoffman
Andy Bailey says:

Great tips, I didn't know about the discounting of hyphenated domains , is that fact or observation? The suffix is preferred to the prefix, I never thought about that but it makes a lot of sense. Also, the intent vs research with tips or products, a really obvious tip that I never even realized. thanks! btw.. lose is lose not loose (yes, I'm a spelling nazi)
- Ana says:
  
  Hi, Andy - it's an observation based on observations, if that helps. These kind of things are never a certainty; more of a suggestion that does not hurt to stick with. Thanks for stopping by! Ana Hoffman
Mars Dorian says:

Hey Ana, I believe that's a vital strategy for building minsites, as they rely heavily on search engine traffic. But for any other (business) blog, be it around your personal brand or business, it's more important that you get the branding right - design, mission statement, social media networking and so on. Most famous blogs have keywords that wouldn't really type into Google (in the beginning). Those are pretty much names (Chris Brogan, Steve Pavlina) or unique brand names (Techcrunch, Mashable, Huffington Post, BoingBoing).
- Ana says:
  
  You are very right, Mars - branding is extremely important. However, all the a-list blogs still drive a lot of their traffic from search engines and are heavily into SEO, although I agree it's not due to a good keyword-rich domain choice. Why not have a balance between the two? Humility aside, my blog is called Traffic Generation Cafe. It's keyword-based, yet it also has a theme/branding build into it. I think I've got the best of both worlds. I would always suggest to have a benefit-oriented blog domain rather than yourname.com. I might have no idea who Ana Hoffman is and not visit MeetAnaHoffman.com because of it. But I know for a fact that I am interested in traffic generation, so I will definitely go check out TrafficGenerationCafe.com because I see a clear benefit in that. I appreciate your feedback! Ana Hoffman

When Is #1 Google Ranking Yours To Lose?

5 great guidelines you can use when choosing the right domain

Now a little exercise for those brain cells of yours:

One more word on that

About Ana Hoffman

Our Newsletter

You have Successfully Subscribed!

5 great guidelines you can use when choosing the right domain

Now a little exercise for those brain cells of yours:

One more word on that

About Ana Hoffman

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

{ 78 Responses }

Our Newsletter