When you are starting off with a new website, whether for your existing business or a new brand, one of the most important step is to choose the right domain name. One thing that you need to remember when choosing a domain name is that it is one of the essential SEO factorsthat goes into improving your website’s search engine ranking. In this article, we look at the rules and tips, for choosing the best domain name for your business website so that you can start off with SEO on good terms.
Before moving on to the actual rules and tips, let us discuss the importance of having a good domain name for your website. The first reason you want to pick a good domain name is because it is one aspect of your website that cannot be changed at will! While you can alter, modify, or even remove other elements (such as content or media) on your website, you can change the hosting service or even the platform that your website is built on but the domain name is one thing that remains the same throughout.
The second and most important reason is search engine optimization (SEO). The domain name of your website significantly contributes to how high your site is rated by search engines. According to Google’s search algorithms, the domain name is 1 of 200 factors that the company takes into account when it indexes a website in its search engine database [Moz]. So, how should you choose a domain name for maximum SEO? Should you include a keyword or should you make it brandable? What extension should you use? All of these questions are answered in the next section of this article.
Here are some guidelines and rules as to how you should choose a domain name for your business website:
The domain name should be short and simple. Ideally, you should be targeting to keep the domain name under 10 characters since this makes it easy to remember, easy to type and easy to understand. As Richard Lazazzera of Shopify says, keep it simple stupid! [Shopify]
A general rule of thumb is that a domain name with a hyphen in it is not SEO-friendly. This is because they are normally associated with spam websites (since they are available at lower prices). This, combined with the fact that they are harder to type than domain names with no punctuation, are enough to say that you need to avoid hyphens.
If you are looking for users to keep coming back to your website, then you need to make your domain name memorable. As the President of EConsultancy says, a brand is a total of how someone perceives an organization. [BrandMarketingBlog] The same goes for the domain name of a website, it is how the users will perceive you.
Some businesses avoid using their brand name in the domain name of their website. This is a wrong approach, especially for SEO purposes. The first reason for this is that the main commodity or product that you are selling with your website is the brand itself! This means that your domain name will itself be a marketing element. You want people to remember your brand’s name and what better way to do this than to make your website domain name the same as your brand name.
The second reason is uniqueness. A brand name or product name is generally always going to be unique, which means better availability of the domain name and a better reception by the users as well. When you look at it, names such as Google and Yahoo sound much better (and are much more unique) than names such as YourFavoriteSearchEngine.com.
This is not exactly a specific rule but it helps to have a common extension with your website, particularly the ‘.com’ extension. The ‘.com’ extension is the standard domain and most users automatically assume that a website will have this extension. In fact, 75% of all websites on the internet have the ‘.com’ extension! [SmallBusiness-Domain] In addition, if the customers’ basis of the web site is restricted in a national level, then a domain level of the country should be selected.
This point contradicts with the ‘Make it brandable’ point above but it is an alternative to that. According to Jason L Bauman, the SEO Associate at Trinity Insight, the next best option to choosing a company branded domain name is to identify targeted keywords that are relevant to your industry or niche and use those for the domain name. [FitSmallBusiness] You can make use of tools such as Ubersuggest to look for relevant terms from your industry.
A website that is not visible to its target audience is a waste of Internet space. In other words, a website that has no SEO can tend to be lost in the big, massive world of the Internet. This is why it is important to optimize your website, according to the rules that have been set by search engines. One of these rules is to have a SEO-friendly domain name for your website. In this blog post, we cover the essentials of how you can choose a domain name for your business’ website. To summarize, be simple, short, memorable, and unique with your website’s domain name.
[1] Aland, M. (2016, November 13).Choosing A Domain Name – 25 Tips From The Pros. Retrieved from http://fitsmallbusiness.com/choosing-a-domain-name/
[2] Dupuis, T. (2016, October 9). How To Choose An SEO-Friendly Domain Name. Retrieved from http://www.onlinemediamasters.com/how-to-choose-an-seo-friendly-domain-name/
[3] TipsandTricksHQ. (2016, December 29). Good Domain Name Picking Tips For Your Blog Setup. Retrieved from https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/good-domain-name-picking-tips-for-your-blog-setup-459
[4] Yao, S. How Your Domain Name Will Impact SEO & Social Media Marketing. Retrieved from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-your-domain-name-will-impact-seo-social-media-marketing/
[5] Fishkin, R. (2016, July 15). 8 Rules For Choosing A Domain Name. Retrieved from https://moz.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-domain-name-whiteboard-friday
This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their 'Personally identifiable information' (PII) is being used online. PII, as used in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website.
What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our blog, website or app?
When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your name, email address, phone number or other details to help you with your experience.
When do we collect information?
We collect information from you when you register on our site, place an order, subscribe to a newsletter or enter information on our site.
How do we use your information?
We may use the information we collect from you when you register, make a purchase, sign up for our newsletter, respond to a survey or marketing communication, surf the website, or use certain other site features in the following ways:
• To personalize user's experience and to allow us to deliver the type of content and product offerings in which you are most interested.
• To improve our website in order to better serve you.
• To allow us to better service you in responding to your customer service requests.
• To quickly process your transactions.
• To send periodic emails regarding your order or other products and services.
How do we protect visitor information?
Our website is scanned on a regular basis for security holes and known vulnerabilities in order to make your visit to our site as safe as possible.
We use regular Malware Scanning.
Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. In addition, all sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.
We implement a variety of security measures when a user places an order enters, submits, or accesses their information to maintain the safety of your personal information.
All transactions are processed through a gateway provider and are not stored or processed on our servers.
Do we use 'cookies'?
Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. For instance, we use cookies to help us remember and process the items in your shopping cart. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
We use cookies to:
• Keep track of advertisements.
• Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may also use trusted third party services that track this information on our behalf.
You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser (like Internet Explorer) settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser's Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.
If users disable cookies in their browser:
If you disable cookies off, some features will be disabled It will turn off some of the features that make your site experience more efficient and some of our services will not function properly.
However, you can still place orders User Login over the telephone .
Third Party Disclosure
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information unless we provide you with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others' rights, property, or safety.
However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
Third party links
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
Google
Google's advertising requirements can be summed up by Google's Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1316548?hl=en
We use Google AdSense Advertising on our website.
Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our site and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
We have implemented the following:
• Remarketing with Google AdSense
We along with third-party vendors, such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions, and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.
Opting out:
Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising initiative opt out page or permanently using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on.
California Online Privacy Protection Act
CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law's reach stretches well beyond California to require a person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting personally identifiable information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals with whom it is being shared, and to comply with this policy. - See more at: http://consumercal.org/california-online-privacy-protection-act-caloppa/#sthash.0FdRbT51.dpuf
According to CalOPPA we agree to the following:
Users can visit our site anonymously
Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page, or as a minimum on the first significant page after entering our website.
Our Privacy Policy link includes the word 'Privacy', and can be easily be found on the page specified above.
Users will be notified of any privacy policy changes:
• On our Privacy Policy Page
Users are able to change their personal information:
• By emailing us
• By calling us
• By logging in to their account
• By chatting with us or sending us a ticket
How does our site handle do not track signals?
We honor do not track signals and do not track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.
Does our site allow third party behavioral tracking?
It's also important to note that we do not allow third party behavioral tracking
COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)
When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under 13, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online.
We do not specifically market to children under 13.
Fair Information Practices
The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.
In order to be in line with Fair Information Practices we will take the following responsive action, should a data breach occur: We will notify the users via email
• Within 7 business days
We will notify the users via in site notification
• Within 1 business day
We also agree to the individual redress principle, which requires that individuals have a right to pursue legally enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or a government agency to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.
CAN SPAM Act
The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
We collect your email address in order to:
• Send information, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions.
• Process orders and to send information and updates pertaining to orders
• We may also send you additional information related to your product and/or service.
• Market to our mailing list or continue to send emails to our clients after the original transaction has occurred
To be in accordance with CANSPAM we agree to the following:
• NOT use false, or misleading subjects or email addresses
• Identify the message as an advertisement in some reasonable way
• Include the physical address of our business or site headquarters
• Monitor third party email marketing services for compliance, if one is used.
• Honor opt-out/unsubscribe requests quickly
• Allow users to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of each email
If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, you can email us at
• Follow the instructions at the bottom of each email.
and we will promptly remove you from ALL correspondence.
Contacting Us
If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy you may contact us using the information below.
Next Big Biz
1808 Hewitt Ave
Everett, WA 98201
privacy@nextbigbiz.com
(425) 320-4020