How A SEO Domain Name Can Boost Your Marketing ROI

One of the most significant decisions you make when launching a website is choosing the domain name. According to Verisign, there were 366.8 million domain registrations in the first quarter of 2020.

As simple as it sounds, there’s no denying that an SEO domain is beneficial to your branding, web traffic, and overall marketing ROI. While the rules of SEO have evolved over the years, there’s still a significant place in your marketing strategy for the right website name.

Can A Domain Still Impact SEO?

Put simply, yes! Domains still have a considerable impact on SEO. However, you’ll need more than just a great domain to reach the top ranking in Google. You must also fill out your site with a user friendly interface, quality content, a strong backlink profile, and more. Following SEO best practices allows your site to benefit from:

• More traffic
• Better click-through rates
• Higher brand recognition
• Greater consumer trust
• Bigger audience reach

To gain the most SEO value from your domain name, you’ll need a mix of branded and relevant keywords. However, keep in mind that there’s a fine line between optimizing a domain and keyword stuffing, which can actually hurt your standing with Google.

SEO Domain Name Best Practices

• Choose a .com domain if possible. It remains the most valuable and widely-recognized extension.
• A short name — ideally less than 15 characters — is easy for people to remember and type.
• Focus on one to two keywords that describe your site, business, service, or product. 
• Describing your site is just as important as SEO.
• Don’t stuff your domain with multiple keywords.
• Avoid hyphens, numbers, and special characters.

Why Is A .com Extension Important For SEO?

• It’s the most widely used extension, recognized by every Internet user. As a result, a .com extension gives a site inherent credibility.
• When people type in a URL, they often assume it has .com extension.
• Search engines tend to have a favorable bias towards .com websites.
• The most lucrative domain deals — up to tens of millions of dollars — are for .com extensions.
• 494 of Fortune 500 companies use a .com extension.

What Successful Companies Use Exact Match Domains?

• Hotels.com – 13,600,000 Monthly Searches
• Voice.com – 246,000 Monthly Searches
• iCloud.com – 2,240,000 Monthly Searches
• AsSeenOnTv.com – 1,350,000 Monthly Searches
• Loans.com – 823,000 Monthly Searches
• Tesla.com – 2,740,000 Monthly Searches
• Shoes.com – 1,500,000 Monthly Searches
• Fb.com – 4,090,000 Monthly Searches
• Casino.com – 673,000 Monthly Searches
• CarInsurance.com – 368,000 Monthly Searches

How Your Domain Can Affect Your Site’s Long Term SEO

Finding a domain name that is an exact match to your business or a relevant keyword can have a massive impact on your site’s long term SEO success. These domains are short, easy to remember, rank well with Google, and pricey. Potentially millions of dollars pricey.

However, the initial investment is almost always worth it. A site that ranks well with search engines is able to reap the benefits of organic traffic — visitors that find the site through search results. Additionally, this traffic comes at no more than the price it took to develop the page they’re visiting.

Considering an effective SEO strategy can be more lucrative than even the best marketing campaigns (and cheaper, too), budgeting for a domain name that can get your site a head start in this area is more often than not a fiscally responsible purchase.

How To Budget For A Domain 

Prices for domain names can range from one dollar to millions. So, how do you budget for the domain that could potentially change your life?

• Find a niche you can own and look for the availability of .com extensions to gauge prices for your industry.
• Plan to invest 10 to 15% of your overall budget to get the best domain name possible.
• Contact a respected broker service to get estimates for the type of domain you’re searching for.
• Compare registrars to see how much domain names and renewals cost.
• Use a brainstorming tool to come up with keyword variations and check their availability

Improve Your SEO With A Premium Domain 

Ultimately, a well-planned and executed SEO domain can improve your marketing ROI by thousands of dollars. In many cases, it can replace the need for targeted marketing campaigns entirely. Connect with VPN.com’s brokerage team to get the best domain name for increasing organic traffic and growing the brand of your website today.