Building Mailing Lists, List Building, Social Media, Niche Marketing

Can my site rank better with a keyword-rich domain name? Sure.

Can my site rank better without a keyword in the domain name at all? Absolutely.

I get questions (or assumptions) like this regularly. Actually, there are many other things going on behind the scenes that impact rank, and the domain name is rarely a significant factor.

Let’s say your website has been out there for 6 months or more and you assume, for whatever reason, that you can get a higher search engine ranking if you were using a keyword in your domain name instead of the one you have. In addition to your company web domain, maindomain.com, you rush to purchase keyword1.com, keyword2.com and keyword3.com.

From Google’s perspective, there is both a good way and a detrimental way to assign these additional domain names to your site. This can cause a much greater problem in terms of organic ranking if you get it wrong in terms of duplicate content and trust. Have you ever heard of duplicate content? Which domain name does Google have more history and trust with, your current domain name or one you just bought?

Common methods webmasters use to point multiple domain names to your web server include:

• Domain Mirroring/Masking
• Domain Cloaking
• Domain Alias/URL Alias
• Domain Redirecting

Domain mirroring/masking is sometimes called a pointer domain. It looks like it is the domain name when it is used in a browser, but it is simply a mask overlaying the real domain name and its content. When someone types in www.domain.com, it’s really forwarding to domain.blogspot.com without the address changing in the address bar. The user continues to see www.domain.com in the address bar, although the site and its contents are really from domain.blogspot.com.

Domain cloaking uses an iframe or embedded frameset to display the content of another site.

Domain redirecting (also called URL redirecting) requires all traffic that is sent through the new domain name to be redirected to the main domain name. This can also be a domain redirected to a subdirectory of the main domain, or multiple domains redirected to a complex URL. This is different from domain mirroring/masking and domain cloaking because, when a user types in www.domain.com, they end up on www.maindomain.com and the address changes appropriately in the address bar.

But, let’s back up a second and look at the issues you must consider before making this decision.

1. To limit confusion, it’s better to change the brand (or company) name to better reflect the keyword-rich domain name. This could be as simple as recreating the company logo, but you might consult your customer base first.

2. The technical procedure of redirecting domain names must be done so that the search engines do not get confused about what you are trying to do. Otherwise, you risk tripping a duplicate content filter, which would force Google to accept only one domain with that content (explained below). But the biggest risk is setting off an alarm at Google that you are trying to trick them to get a better rank.

Just for fun, let’s say you’ve gone through the trouble of changing the company name to reflect your new keyword-rich domain. Now it’s time to get technical.

If you use any method other than domain redirecting, you are going to be disappointed with your search rank. Domain mirroring, masking, cloaking and aliases confuse search engines because they see the same content under a different domain name. Google then selects one of the domain names to display that content and leaves the others out of the search results. Google chooses for you – since you are not aware of how to manage your duplicate content issues – and no one knows which domain name Google will choose. You could be saying “bye-bye” to all the hard-earned link juice pointed at your main domain name.

The more serious issue with domain mirroring/masking is the probability that Google suspects you are trying to manipulate search rank by suddenly using keywords in additional domain names. The result is either loss of whatever good ranking you did have or your site is banned from Google altogether. Ouch!

This is precisely what happened with a client. Despite my warnings, but thinking they might change the company name eventually, they bought additional keyword-rich domain names and had the webmaster point them at their server (using domain masking). Within a couple weeks Google dropped their domain ranking across the board, but did not ban them.

Of course they came to me with their issue. I gently reminded them about how this should have been done, redirected the domain names properly (using a 301 redirect) and asked them to consult me next time they’re considering a marketing or technical decision regarding the website. It took about 6 weeks – a long and painful 6 weeks – for Google to restore their good rank again.

When a company acquires additional domain names, they should be permanently redirected to the main domain name – the one, central location on the web for all of the company’s or brand’s content.

Redirecting a domain name should be handled differently depending on the type of server hosting your site (Apache or Windows), how much control you have over that server (hosted on a shared or dedicated server) and the purpose of the redirected domain name.

About The Author
Tom Shivers is an SEO consultant and president of Capture Commerce, Inc. – a professional SEO company focused on tailored Internet marketing.

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Here is something that I just saw on a website called Screenr (excellent site, works with Twitter and a must see itself …).

Here is a short video tutorial on a way to shorten your own domain URLs yourself without using a URL shorting service.

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Before you can begin building any type of online business, there are a few essential steps that must be done.

First is registering a domain name. A domain name is your address, your mark on the Internet. I suggest getting a domain name that is easy to remember, that relates to the market you are targeting, and most importantly is easy to maintain and is affordable. It is also wise to use keywords that pretain to your “niche” within the name if possible.

There are several placed to buy a domain name, I recommend DirectGlobal Domains. They offer several domain extensions to choose from and currently sell .COM names for under $8 USD for a year, with specials sometimes down to $1.99 USD per year.

Next step is purchasing and setting up a web hosting account. There are many hosting companies to choose from, all offering different pricing and discounts for their hosting packages. I suggest comparing hosting services and pricing on several before signing up. A few you may want to look at are Host Gator, Just Host or for hosting several domains, WebHostingBuzz (Get 50% off their hosting plans when you use coupon code “ICE”).

You now need to decide whether you build/create your own website or landing page(s), use a pre made web template, or use a professional web design service. There are also services like WebBizBuilder which will allow you to design your own site easily using an online step by step process which already includes hosting.
(I also do web design and would be happy to talk over what you need, budget and so on …)

If you choose to “do it yourself”, you’ll need some various web tools. A few of these tools include an FTP program (to upload/download your files to the Internet), some design software like Adobe DreamWeaver, Photoshop, Contribute … (to create/edit your web pages, design and create web graphics).

Before you upload your pages/site to the Internet, you should already have a Merchant Account. A good one to use is a PayPal Merchant Account. PayPal is accepted and trusted by many and is easy to impliment.

Pretty much the only thing left to do is find a good product or products to promote. If you do not have your own to offer your customers, try signing up for a PayDotCom or ClickBank account. Another great place to find good stuff to promote and/or give away for free is with Jeff Johnson’s affiliate program.

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If anyone is interested, I have a few ‘list building’ domain names that I would like to sell.

These names are already registered (so I can just transfer it / them to you), some names are registered already for several years (see below)

pricing is negotiable …..

http://www.AlexsListBuildingSystem.com (paid till December 2009) $50 OBO

http://www.AlexJeffreysListBuilding.net (paid till December 2010) $50 OBO

http://www.Building-Mailing-Lists.com (paid till December 2011) $150 OBO

http://www.List-Building-System.com (paid till December 2010) $150 OBO

http://www.List-Building-Formula.com (paid till December 2010) $150 OBO

http://www.MailingListSecrets.net (paid till December 2011) $100 OBO

http://www.Mailing-List-Secrets.com (paid till December 2011) $75 OBO

http://www.Profit-Pulling-Platform.com (paid till December 2010) $50 OBO

http://www.StartingMailingList.com (paid till December 2010) $150 OBO

I also have other domain names that I own related to internet access, broadband, credit reporting, digitaltv, computers, web templates and so on… If you might be interested, just leave me a comment below and I will contact you.