The role domain names play in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is sometimes overlooked. Domain names can help SEO campaigns in a few different ways, especially if they are relevant to the web site in question.

To some extent, search engines prefer sites with relevant domain names when determining which results should appear first. Although other factors can limit the SEO impact of a domain name containing relevant keyword(s), it will rank better in results for these words.

A domain name like nebraska-classifieds.info will help a web site rank higher for the search phrase “Nebraska classifieds”, compared to the classifieds page of a general site about Nebraska (or the Nebraska page of a classifieds site), particularly on MSN and Live Search.

However, the other sites may still outrank it if they have more inbound links or have been better optimized in other ways. Other forms of SEO and marketing in general cannot be neglected just because a site has a good name; some of the best domain names on the web have relatively poor traffic and search rankings.

Also, domain names may help SEO by encouraging searchers to click on search results based upon the URLs appearing below each listing. For example, people are more likely to visit and read an article about rotary engines at Cars.com than a similar page at AOL.com. Although this is not always true, searchers will consider the web site specialized to their subject of interest to be more knowledgeable about it than a site which is more general, or primarily about a different subject.

A short domain name can also make a web site appear more authoritative and credible to search engine users, especially if it has a .net, .org, or .edu extension. Some engines also allow users to restrict their searches to sites with a specific extension of their choice, although it is unclear how many people actually use this feature.

Brief, authoritative-sounding domain names help web sites in ways beyond SEO as well. People are more likely to link to them, use them as research sources, and type them into the browser address bar. Such names are also more memorable.

The visual attractiveness of search results and the rankings assigned by search engines are important parts of SEO. Short, relevant domain names help SEO efforts in both ways, making them a valuable component to any promotional campaign.

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One Response to “How Domain Names Help SEO”

1. joe link says:

   June 29, 2009 at 2:21 pm

   I wonder how many link directories there are now. Although still serve a purpose nothing like what they use to be.