Isn’t it strange that we spend so much time optimizing our blog but never bother about some other factors which also impact SEO? Many readers would not be surprised when I say that starting with domain name and your web host provider; everything has an impact on your SEO effort. This post is for those who are unaware of the fine print.
Choosing the right Domain Name
Your domain name is your identity by which others recognize you. Even Google search engine pays significant importance to domain names. I suspect that 50% of your SEO is done if you choose an appropriate domain name. If you are selling roses in Rome, rosesNrome.com is an ideal domain name. To test this assumption let’s search for roses in Rome. Here is what the results look like.
You will notice that no domain with this name exists (I have chosen it at random). The results therefore are related to web pages associated with these two keywords. If there was a domain rosesNrome, I am absolutely sure that it would have been first in search results.
Another factor related to domain name which impacts SEO is the number of years you have registered it. Normally we register a domain name for a year and renew it as we go along. This is a bad practice where SEO is concerned. When Google search engine finds that you are only registered for a year, it assumes that you will no longer be there next year. This obviously raises some serious issues. If you were registered for 5 years, Google knows that you will be there for some time to come. Even if you have to spend a few dollars more, it is advisable to register for longer tenure.
Web Host and SEO equation
There are many factors related to web host which play a significant role in SEO. One of them is download speed. Everyone knows that everyone is in a hurry and will not wait for more than a few seconds for a web page to download. Google search takes this factor into consideration. If your web server is slow and lazy, Google will penalize you for it – it doesn’t want people waiting. Slow download speed can also occur if your web server is far away from a user. For example if a user is in Bangkok, he would experience slow download time if the server was in Sudan. Conversely, if both user and server were in the same place, user experience would be much better. Location of your server and its specifications are equally important.
Server outrage due to overload
Blog owners usually go for shared hosting due to cost considerations. Typically a shared server hosts a few hundred sites. If due to any reason, traffic from a site increases, the server experiences stress and slow down as a result. Because of this your site will also experience slow speed. If you observe such degradation on your site, you must speak to your web host provider. After all, these factors impact on your SEO.
Mariana Fang Lin spends most of her time writing about the web hosting industry including small business web hosting . Follow her on Twitter here.
The domain name is an important first step to SEO, but more important on the server side is not space, since most sites will barely tip 2gb when fully loaded, but getting on a server that supports some of the more advanced cacheing software to decrease page load times.
There are many elements businesses, webmasters and site owners must consider before developing their sites in order to attract traffic and customers. The domain name’s catchiness, overall layout and more. It really is indeed not as easy as other people think who want to prosper with their business websites.
I wasn’t aware that Google also consider any domain registration duration while ranking the domain. I’ll keep it in mind for future.
I wasn’t aware of this before reading this post. Now i will keep in mind.
Choosing a nice domain name really helps a lot. This is the first step to SEO.
The domain name is one factor usually taken lightly by most people on the web aspiring to have most traffic they could get for optimization. It’s actually quite important in catching people’s attention and also for purpose of retention. But other than that, google also can make use of it to help in optimization.
The domain name is important, but it surely doesn’t account for 50% of your SEO work. It is just one factor of many, and a very insignificant one compared to number and quality of back links.
A agree, saying 50% of SEO depends on domain name is far too much. Content and backlinks are more important and they play a huge role in SEO.
The domain name is really important and it’s purpose is to refer to the industry we are in. Of course people do not forget about it and register long domains in order to “catch” the keywords but we must remember long and “strange named” domains will not be remembered easily.
Yes – Domain name plays a big part. Especially when it contains keywords (niches or your brand name, even your personal persona i.e. your name) that can be pointed out in your website by using various SEO tactics – like the author tag, meta element like description and keywords etc. If possible, A person should do as much research before buying a domain name to avoid unnecessary grievances later on in your SEO efforts.
i like the post and the way the author add the aspect on choosing well our domain name. the domain name is like our company picture and we must take this thing seriously.
Hey Pete, I appreciate you, domain name is very important part of seo. I always care for that issue when I chose right domain name because I know that Google pays significant importance to domain names. Thanks a lot!
for my domain name i am getting too many traffic from google
Choosing a perfect domain name is really important for making a successful business.
A domain name should have keywords for SEO and yes selecting a proper web hosting which makes your blog load at a faster speed is imperative.
Choosing a relevant domain name is the crucial factor for SEO.Domain name should satisfy the objectives of your organisation.The concept of SEO has offered a friendly platform for corporates, entrepreneurs and individuals to popularize products and services across the World Wide Web.In this procedure, keywords are optimized so that websites can attain top rankings in SERP .The success of SEO lies in ensuring the profitable results that can be achieved regardless constant fluctuations in the financial health of the online marketplace.
I believe Google has already figured it out. It wasn’t as effective anymore as it was before. I’ve seen the first effect of Penguin Update hammered Exact keyword Match Domains and lost their ground on top of the rankings
Domain name play a huge part. but like Erin Said Google has already know about it. Most Spammers have taken advantage having their major keywords as their domain name and it really worked, after doing minimal work it shoots up on top of the ranking. But after the updates in Google most of these have gone down the rankings.. There are still doing good on SERPS but this is not because of their domain but because of how the SEO.. look at their links and you will probably see why
hi; i think domain name is very important part of seo.becuse I always care for that issue when. I chose right domain name because. I know that Google pays significant importance to domain names and you can see in more blog commenting like pete, and Shelly Saxton and i also think that example
Well, a domain name is neglected often. I wonder how come people be so careless about choosing a domain name! If they are too busy to look out for a good domain name, they should consider using an instant domain search engine. It will help them search for good domain names faster!
When it comes to choosing domain name for your site it freaks me out when people say that they want to make their name their domain name. That’s the worst mistake anyone can make when building a website. The best domain names are those which include keyword specific to the business you are going to do online.
The foundation of solid seo begin with domain name. you can learn all about it from the post
If the domain name is correctly taken, half of the trouble is over. I agree with this. But the rest of the stuff depends on the unique and useful content on the blog. If the content on the blog is relevant and useful, I don’t see why SEO can be a problem to such a blog!
When it comes to take name for the domain, there are different websites which offer different rates for getting a domain.