Domain name articles have been written here on Active Rain and all over the web. The do's and dont's of using the correct domain name have been around for a while now.
Again I am living proof of what works and what does not. Active Rain member Karen George wrote about this topic and she was right on the button as always!
I created my first major website about 9 years ago. Not knowing any better I just chose tallabas.com For years and even until recently this was my domain name with one other domain name pointing to it which I will no longer do...read Multiple Domain Names >> What is the latest news?
About 2 months ago I purchased a Point2Agent professional template site. At first I wasn't sure about it and didn't do much. About 3 weeks ago I got pretty serious about it and then excited. Early last week I worked on it a lot and then decided to use a domain name I have owned for some time www.SearchIdahoHomes.com I received confirmation last Thursday the 23rd of August, 2007 that Search Idaho Homes was now my official domain name for my new site.
If you go to Google and type in "Search Idaho Homes". My site now comes up #1 on the first page in only 5 days of existence!
In all the years of using tallabas.com my site never got past the 3rd page on Google and it took years to even get there. This goes to prove that Karen and many others are right when they say that using a domain name that is relative to the product you are selling is magic!
So instead of using "JohnSmith.com" for selling real estate in Tim Buck Two as a domain name, use something with "Tim Buck" in the name. Get creative and keep trying until you come up with a relative name. I am proof that the results are amazing!
Pamela - Thank you...I am sooooo exited!
Hey George, I hate to rain on your parade, especially since you are such a sweetheart, but here goes.
Getting good SERPs for "search idaho homes" most likely won't do much for you. KeywordDiscovery.com shows that there have only been around 43 searches for variations of that keyphrase. Ironically, it also shows a total of 43 searches for keyphrases including the word "tallabas" -- and tallabas.com also comes up #1 on Google for searches on "tallabas".
Meanwhile, there have been around 1500 searches for variations of "boise idaho real estate" and around 700 for variations of "boise idaho homes for sale".
It was easy to get top SERPs for "search idaho homes" because 1) it's not a competitive keyphrase and 2) it's an exact match for your domain name. Ditto "tallabas." It's always most important to optimize for the keyphrases that people are actually using.
The good news is that your site has a healty PR2 and a number of backlinks, so it shouldn't take an enormous amount of effort to keep pushing it higher for the important keyphrases.
Gosh... I feel so guilty for even bringing this up. Please don't hate me! -:)
Suzanne - This is a brand new site and I am working with an SEO to get get me ranked high with "Boise Idaho Real Estate". In my opinion and many Search Idaho Homes is a lot better than Tallabas, Smith, Jones, etc. The only reason Tallabas comes up so high is that it has been around forever. I am happy with my new domain name and to have such success in such a few days is awesome. I will climb the other search phrases as well with time.
George - I understand what you are saying and agree that it is important to have a good domain name relative to your area or something about real estate and not your name.
I actually got a point2site myself about 2 weeks ago and I am in the #1 spot for google for "Sell my home in Metrowest MA" which is what my domain is sellmyhomeinmetrowestma.com. It would be hard not to come up for that search term though...I guess thats the point!
George, age of a domain name is an important factor, but searchidahohomes.com and tallabas.com were about the same age, registered in 2000 and 1999 respectively, so there's a negligible difference in the domains' ages. Google doesn't care how old the site itself is; it looks primarily at the age of the domain.
And yes, Bill Gassett understood my point: it's hard NOT to come up #1 for an exact match. But it's only meaningful if people are actually searching that term.
How about reporting back to us in a month or so and let us know how the domain name change has impacted traffic to your site? That's the true test!
Suzanne - I don't care about "Tallabas" and either does Google, Yahoo or any other search engine. Just because I had a site with that user name for years doesn't make it a valuable term. Search Idaho Homes is a great domain name when compared to Smith, Jones, Tallabas, etc.
I am working to get the site optimized and am proud of the success in 5 days!
I am going to have to do some research on the multi url issue. I have never heard before that it could be bad for your rankings...
Do keep in mind that having multi urls can have great benefits in tracking the effectiveness of different marketing efforts... I use multi urls to source what is working and what is not... if everything came in on www.markryangroup.com then I would never know what was driving people there...
Something to think about.
Thanks,
Mark Ryan
Hi George,
Thanks for the helpful info on multiple domain names. I too am in the process of trying to figure out what to do on this subject. For years I have been using just my own name and am thinking now that it would be better for me to have a name more specific to the business or area that I am in.
Congrats on your google ranking!
Steve - Thanks and good luck to you
Claudia - Thank you very much I wish you well with your decision. Take good care.
Here's a great source of info...............
Long Tail of Real Estate Search --> http://www.realestateblogsites.com/public/blog/114042
Another good article --> http://ezinearticles.com/?id=337157