How to Choose a New Domain Graywolf's SEO Blog |
| Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:34 AM PST
One of the questions I get asked quite regularly is how do I choose a new domain name for a project I decide to work on. There are quite a few aspects I take into account that I will share with you. Exact Match Domains – If you can get an exact match domain, do it. Google says they might be working on lessening its effect on rankings … maybe … but, either way, I would still prefer an exact match domain over any other domain. Period. That said, getting an exact match domain name that isn’t already registered is going to be pretty difficult. Not everyone is going to be able to spend 5 million on a domain, but there are plenty of times when it’s worth it. Keyword Domains – If you can’t get the exact match domain, getting a domain with the keyword in it is the next best thing. I prefer to get the keyword toward the front if possible (ie LasVegasHotelDeals.com as opposed to DealsLasVegasHotels.com). Brand Name or Trademarked Domains – I can tell you from first hand experience you want to avoid these like the plague (see Truth behind GoogleDashboard.com) . If you want to register NFLSexKittens.com to keep someone else from doing it, go ahead, but don’t develop on it; instead, develop on the generic FootballSexKittens.com domain. Just trust me: these types of problems never end well. Misspellings or Creative New Spellings – IMHO Google has gotten really good at correcting misspellings–so good, in fact, it’s rarely worth actively chasing misspellings. Additionally, avoid made up words that are missing vowels unless you have a huge marketing budget. Flickr.com may look like a good domain now but a lot off $$$ was spent on getting people to not go to Flicker.com before it was purchased and redirected. Hyphens – Coming from the guy who writes on a hyphenated domain, I can tell you: don’t do this. It’s a huge PIA and the dash just never works when spoken. Length – When I talk about length, I’m talking about the actual number of characters, not the registration period. Shorter is almost always better than longer. Billboard Quality – A few years ago, there was a thread on WMW about domains having billboard quality, or specifically how memorable is the domain name that someone sees on a billboard. If you can get a more memorable domain that is longer, go with that instead of the shorter one, but it really should be more memorable. TLD – if you can, always try to get the .com, .net, and .org variations. If you can’t, get .com first, .org second, .net only if it’s an exact match; otherwise choose again … really. Don’t use country TLD’s unless they are going to be used in country. IMHO Google doesn’t have this sorted out yet for all TLD’s that don’t have residency restrictions. I’ve complained about it multiple times to multiple Googler’s who chuckle at my predicament. 2AM Rule – Everyone I know has some variation of this story … it’s late and maybe you had a drink or two. You check some domain names and find they haven’t been registered yet. You expand your search and find more. The next day you wake up to $200 of new domains you registered that quite likely have typo’s in them or don’t seem like anywhere near as good an idea. No domain registrations after 2 AM. End of story. Whois Info – Using the “creative” whois info can get you into trouble with domain ownership if someone presses the issue. If you are going to use private whois info, don’t link up the account with the same adsense or google analytics account. Google will figure it out. I have seen some evidence that having real info that matches address info can help your rankings. Length of Registration – Registering a domain for multiple years may not help you, but it will never work against you.  Related posts:
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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.          |
| Raven SEO Tools Review: Social Media Posted: 01 Mar 2011 08:13 AM PST
Raven SEO Toolset in a powerful tool in any SEO’s toolbox. In the first part of this series, we looked at Using Raven SEO Tools to Manage and Track Your Keywords. In this post we’re going to be looking at using Raven to manage your social media profiles. The first thing we’re going to do is connect a Twitter profile. Go to the Social > Twitter Profile tab. Once there, click the “Add Twitter Profile” link.  Add Twitter to Raven Tools You’ll then pass through the oAuth screen, so make sure you are signed into the correct account before you start this process.  Twitter Account Verification Once verified, you’ll be brought to the twitter dashboard with some account information, as shown below.  Twitter Raven Dashboard If you scroll down, you’ll see your feed and even find post live or scheduled Tweets to your account. To be honest, I don’t use the scheduled tweet function here; I use Hootsuite (see Hootsuite review) because the hootlet bookmarklet fits into my workflow a little better. Your approach might be different. Despite not using it, I have tested it and can say it works without any batching, repeating, or duplicating issues.  Raven SEO Tools Twitter Panel You can check a number of things using Raven Tools like how many times you are mentioned or retweeted,  Twitter Mentions monitor your friends and followers, and see how much traffic Twitter sends to your website. Bear in mind that tracking twitter referrals is difficult and inexact at best.  Twitter Referrals Next we’ll look at adding your Facebook Page into Raven. Go to the Social > Facebook tab in the main navigation.  add facebook to raven Choose your Facebook page from the options (sorry about the redaction).  Choose Your Facebook Fan Page Once you have confirmed the page, you’ll see summary of your page, posts, fans, and so on. My page is new and wasn’t really in use before hand, so it’s a bit empty now.  Facebook Raven Dashboard Raven also allows you to track mentions of your name, company name, product name, or other keywords across social media sites. Depending on how unique those keywords are, you may have to spend some time building a better query; for example, my name [Michael Gray] turned up a lot of people who weren’t me, such as the realtor, DJ, and sports commentator. Here’s a screen shot to give you an idea.  Raven Social Tracking Another tool built in to Raven is the ability to search forums for your keywords. In this case, I searched for [Michael Gray SEO]. This gives you the ability to see who is talking about you or if there are any conversations you want to participate in.  Raven Forum Search The last step you’ll want to take here is adding this information to the dashboard for this profile.  Raven Social Data If you are looking for live, up-to-the-minute data, Raven probably isn’t the right social tool for you. It’s up to date, but there is a slight lag. However IMHO there are very few instances where you really need real-time data. Raven’s strength lies in is its ability to manage one or more social profiles all in one spot, quickly and easily. That is the greatest value it brings to an affiliate SEO, independent SEO, or SEO consultant. To be clear, I am a current paying customer of Raven SEO Tools. If you sign up from my link, I will get a commission. However, I feel that this is a tool that can help you be more productive and make more money, which is why I’m comfortable recommending it. Feel free to try Raven Tools for 30 days for free. You don’t even need a credit card to sign up … Related posts:
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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.       |
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