Posted by Jeff Johnson in Jeff Johnson, Super Affiliate Coaching Club, internet marketing, search engine marketing.
Registering the perfect domain name for your new site is very important.
If you get it wrong your website can be smacked down with a spam filter by the engines, and end up spending the rest of its miserable life on page one million of the rankings.
If you get your domain name right your website can gain a competitve edge and rise to the top of the rankings.
Don’t get me wrong; you still need to follow the other techniques I teach in My Super Affiliate Coaching Club…
But if you apply what you learn here you’ll be that much closer to crushing your competition…
And winning the constant battle with the Search Engines for top rankings
Here are my top ten domain name “dos and don’ts”:
Top Domain Name Don’ts:
1. Don’t use excessive dashes in the domain name.
2. Don’t use unrelated phrases in the domain name.
3. Don’t use too many keywords in the domain name.
4. Don’t repeat the primary keyword in the domain name.
Top Domain Dos:
1. Do use the primary keyword phrase in your domain name.
2. Be as specific as possible for your keyword phrase
3. Place the primary keyword phrase at the beginning of the domain name.
4. Include commonly used related phrases in the name like “news”, “tips”, etc
5. Use attention grabbing keywords like “free”, “stop”, “warning”, etc.
6. Use top level domains like .com, .net, .info, .org, .us, etc.
I’ve actually recorded a video on this topic and it is available with all my other “Get More Traffic” video tutorial series.
My “Get More Traffic” videos are just a small part of my Super Affiliate Coaching Club - Join Today
Suzanne Lamoutte says:
Jeff,
This is great stuff, thanks for always giving great advice.
Suzanne
Jeff Johnson Says: You’re welcome!
Need More? June 8th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
gail dotson says:
Hi Jeff,
Great tips! but I’m wondering why all these big marketing gurus have domain names with their full name..i.e. joeblow.com?
Gail
Jeff Johnson says: Their name is their brand; they are trying to build brand awareness and create a value around it.
If someone comes to the internet looking for “joeblow” then having a domain with his name in it makes sense. Just think of all the famous people that you search for by name.
And since that traffic is looking specifically for them, I’m willing to bet it converts very, very well.
Why let someone else capitalize on your name/brand… register it yourself.
Please note: most every guru I know that registers a domain in their own name, registers ten times as many domains with their primary product and markets in the domain.
They are just covering all their bases.
Need More? June 8th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Chris says:
Jeff - thanks for the post. To your above comment when I first started online I used the domain with my nickname in it - http://www.stirls.com but unfortunatley nobody in the world except my close friends would ever seach for “stirls”. So then I registered http://www.top-work-from-home.com accoding to your lists that domain has a few of your dos and don’ts
Luckily both domains are successful for me - but I just wonder how more successful they could have been if I followed your dos and don’ts from the start!
Chris
Jeff Johnson says: Obvisously this was just a partial list and ther are many more considerations that could affect your choice of domains. I’m glad yours worked out.
Need More? June 9th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Joseph Mercado says:
Hello Jeff,
The Do’s and Don’ts advice is definitely a two thimbs up! You nailed it right on the head. Especially for those marketer’s who really look to dominate their niche markets using multiple names to spread like wild fire. I find the path you’ve created for doing the right thing with domains really provides an edge when building an infrastructure of content sites. Thanks for the inspiring tips! Success is right around the corner.
Joseph
Need More? June 9th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Krizia says:
Jeff,
That’s really great advice to keep in mind because the search engines are playing a whole different game.
Thanks for sharing.
Krizia
http://www.mybeautymatch.com
Need More? June 9th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Roy says:
Jeff
Great stuff as usual. I have sites with dashes and sites without and I too wish i’d known some of these tips a few years back.
regards
Roy
Jeff Johnson says: Don’t worry, the SEO rules change all the time; maybe having ten dashes in a row will be in style next season
Need More? June 11th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Elaine Currie says:
Jeff,
Wish I’d known this a few years ago: the only part I got right was to get a “com”!
Elaine
HuntingVenus.com
Need More? June 16th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Joe says:
I to started with a url of http://sammiannamarketing.com and then purchased http://legitimate-online-jobs-from-home.com The traffic still seems pretty consistant. In fact, I believe it has picked up a bit. What does everyone use to keep track of their traffic?
Jeff Johnson says: Google analytics is free but very powerful.
Need More? June 17th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
allornone says:
I can give you a list of domains to look for.
email address removed by Jeff.
Jeff Johnson says: I’m not sure what you are offering? Either way I’m up to my ears in domains so I’m all set. Thanks for the offer.
Need More? June 17th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Mike says:
Jeff:
Excellent advice. I was told when deciding on a domain name that dashes were good. That’s why I chose http://www.e-zhome-business.com. Do you think I should change it?
Thanks!
Mike
Jeff Johnson says: Only if you feel doing so will improve your business… from an seo standpoint; that is a highly competitive market that will benefit more from an incoming links campaign than from a “dashless” domain name.
Need More? June 21st, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Bobbi says:
Hi Jeff,
My daughter actually helped me choose my site name for out business, so I have http://www.MommieTown.com. I own a work at home site, but it is not stated in the url.
I wish that I had read your post when selecting a domain name. Does it help in adding “mommie” in the meta tags or on the site?
Thank you, and great info.
Bobbi
Jeff Johnson Says: The keyword in the URL itself isn’t the only consideration so there isn’t the need to rip down the site and start over. Just keep the guidelines in mind for your next site. If “mommie” is the keyword you’d like to rank high for then using “mommie” in the tags wont’ work nearly as well as using it in the text on the page itself, repeatedly.
Need More? July 6th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Mitch says:
Jeff how do free web sites get ranked? Is it worth my time to make one of these sites? I was able to register my name and the keywords I wanted. Will anyone find my weebly site on a search engine?
Jeff Johnson says: It all depends on the keywords you use on the site and how many incoming links you can find to your site, just like any other. Free sites rank well all the time.
Need More? September 11th, 2007 at 12:32 am
David Birley says:
Thanks for the info Jeff, some other interesting thoughts I picked up recently were:
Not using numbers in the URL e.g. wealth4you.com
Easy to say and spell
Use other attention grabbing words such as “formula” or “secrets” behind the domain… eg. dogtrainingsecrets.com
It would be fair to say that even if you have an exact match for the keyword(s) and your domain name, you don’t necessarily get front page search engine results.
Maybe if it was something obscure (like your own name) and you googled yourself - then sure - you’ve got a good chance - and then it comes back to high quality links back to your site.
What are your thoughts on Brad Callens info re: on and offsite SEO?
Jeff Johnson says: I’ve never actually ready anything about Brad Callen’s SEO. However, I’ve heard good things about his software.
As for the chances of ranking high… one way incoming links from high quality sites are the best way to insure long term sustainable rankings.
Need More? January 15th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Brad says:
1. Don’t use excessive dashes in the domain name.
I’ve fallen victim to this.
What happened?
No-one can REMEMBER my domain correctly! Even Friends and People who love the site. I did it so I will rank high in the Search engines. Next time iam picking an easier to remember and brand.
Need More? January 24th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Phyllis Working says:
Someone picked my domain name for me and it doesn’t seem to follow your guide lines. Any suggestions? “best price medicationonline.com.”
I’m a real newbie and appreciate your professional information and guidance/
Thanks,
Phyll
Jeff Johnson says: More important to the equation is actually taking the step to build a site and promote it.
I would worry about changing only after you learn the steps to make it work the first time.
http://www.undergroundtraininglab.com/index.php
Need More? May 9th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Lyn says:
Jeff, I have quite a few .info sites (because I can afford more, and you can get the keywords you want much easier than for .com) but recently I have had them all deindexed. From the Build a Niche Store members forum it seems to be common. I know Google changes all the time, but do you think .info may now be a bad bet?
Jeff says: from a ranking standpoint .info is fine. From a user’s perspective… not as widely known.
Need More? May 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Frank says:
I want to sell ebooks that I write.
Is your training and blog software for me, too? Or is it only for affiliates who sell your products?
Also, how do you benefit if I use your blog software to get traffic to my blog?
Jeff says: It’s for everyone.
I benefit by having you join my list and hopefully buying something from me someday.
http://www.undergroundtraininglab.com/index.php
Need More? May 11th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Car mechanic says:
Wow is hard to pick and live with a domain name. I thought I found the perfect 2 short word name on a top level .org and then built 150 pages over 16 months to latter learn it was just to general. I guess if it was easy everybody would do it!
Need More? May 13th, 2008 at 4:42 pm