Which one would you prefer?
A couple of weeks ago, I published a post we had the pleasure of Matt Cutts answering a few questions regarding all things SEO.
No, he didn’t write a guest post for Traffic Generation Cafe.
And I am not sure it’s such a bad thing either… 
If you missed that post, here’s the link: Matt Cutts on All Things SEO: Speed, Link Buildling, Domain Names and More
And if you are really lazy, which is OK – I am too, here’s the video I want to talk about… again.
In your comments, you mostly agreed to forget about what Mr. Cutts is saying and stick to what makes sense the most: keyword-rich domain.
And that’s why I thought to take one step further and let you know what I had to say on the subject of picking the right domain name:
5 Ways to Choose a Great 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
or
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.
HOWEVER…
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!
Marketing Takeaway
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.
Here’s a great resource post if you are look for your next perfect domain:
So, what say you? Comment to show me that you’re alive!
Image credit: http://www.wayangblogger.com/
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