How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Real Estate Blogsite
Without doubt, the most common question that I get from brand new blogging clients is, "Can you help me choose a domain name?"
The days of agents using their own name as their website identity are gone, and this has them left with the task of developing a new, powerful brand.
After answering this question and setting up several hundred domains over the last few years the formula has become clear. That said, you could probably break everyone one of these 'rules' and still end up with an incredibly successful blog.
But before we get the guidelines, you need to get into a Domain Buying State of Mind.
What Are You Going To Be Blogging About? Ultimately your content will determine your success, not your domain name. However, taking into consideration what your topics of focus are to be make a nice direction for your site's name, and help potential visitors understand your focus.
Who Is Your Ideal Reader? Once you can define who you need to read your blog, you can consider what impact the domain name will make on them.
What First Impression Are You Looking To Make? We ask this question in our design interviews because it makes all the difference in connecting with what our clients' design needs are. This consideration can make a difference in your domain name selection.
What Are Your Blogging Goals? Leads VS Relationships - Communities VS Traffic - You As The Expert VS Your Site As The Tool.
Who Will Be Writing On The Blog? Is the name you choose going to work for everyone involved?
Basic Guidelines to Choosing A Real Estate Blog Domain Name
1. Easy To Remember
If your audience can’t remember your domain name at first glance then you have made a poor decision.
Note: Terms like “Real Estate” and your community of focus (San Diego, for example) are incredibly easy for your audience to remember. If your blog is a real estate site about San Diego simply tag a word that’s easy to remember to that and you’re fine. Wire, Voice, Blog, Report, News, Wave, Juice, Crab, Cafe… are all examples of single words added to an easy-to-remember combination.
StPaulRealEstateBlog.com
StLouisRealEstateVoice.com
MiamiRealEstateCafe.com
I’m not suggesting this type of combo as the best alternative, but it is common for a reason; it’s memorable. (There is one clear peril to using a term like 'blog' in the domain: Your site may grow to be bigger than the identity of the blog, and yet now limited, in impression, by the domain).
Beware of easy to confuse combinations of words. If the order of words don't make a strong impact, or don't have a natural order, you can be sure they will be jumbled, and your potential visitor will end up on someone else’s site.
ChicoHomeSearching.com VS HomeSearchingInChico.com VS ChicoHomeSearch.com
And finally, if it can’t be remembered, it can’t be branded.
2. Easy To Spell
Google does a good job of suggesting words when it catches a misspelling with their “Did You Mean?” feature. But that doesn’t mean that they will suggest your site. And, not all browsers automatically utilize a search engine if they don’t recognize the url.
If you cover a community that is commonly misspelled (Schenectady, for example), it would be worth buying domains with common misspellings just to cover all bases. I own RealEstateTomatoe.com, and you wouldn't believe how much traffic I still get for this misspelling.
And finally, if it is difficult to spell, it makes your domain harder to remember.
3. Value Of Keywords
The question is, "Do I Need "Real Estate" in the Domain Name?
The short answer is: No.
The other question is, "Should I have keywords in my domain name"
The short answer is: Yes, keywords are a benefit in your domain name. The reason is because when you are linked to, by another site using your domain name, the link the use contains these keywords, and they are considered a relevant description by the search engines. For example, if I link to SantaBarbaraRealEstateVoice.com from this article, the spiders will see the keywords Santa Barbara Real Estate associated with my link, giving a description to the site I am linking to. This is a key element to success with inbound links: that they clearly define and describe your site. You’ll see me regularly use keywords (and alt titles) when I link from my articles to boost the value of the link for site.
-BUT- Keywords in a domain are not required for your site’s success. Most of the successes you will gain in the search engines come from your content, not your domain name. I recommend that you first consider the memorability of the domain before you start adding keywords, just for keyword’s sake.
Some favorite real estate blogsite domains without a definitive keyword:
Miamism.com
HomeSection.com
CentersAndSquares.com
4. Length
The length of the domain is certainly relevant to the above considerations. 5 words in a domain name is not necessarily too many if it makes sense. Take Valerie Fitzgerald’s domain name:LosAngelesRealEstateTalk.com. The name of the area and the term ‘real estate’ are a given, leaving just the term ‘blog’ to be remembered. No one interested in reading a blog about real estate in Los Angeles is going to forget that domain name.
However, something like: CastleRockRealEstateHomesForSale.com is ridiculous. It is difficult to remember, keyword stuffed and a P.I.T.A. to type. Remember, the object is to create a powerful brand that supports your powerful content, not to make a mockery of your site's name just to improve your SEO.
There are still 6 more Major Determining Factors for choosing your Domain Name.
To read those, you will need to collow the link to this article's original location.
How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Real Estate Blogsite
IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.
Without doubt, the most common question that I get from brand new blogging clients is, "Can you help me choose a domain name?"
The days of agents using their own name as their website identity are gone, and this has them left with the task of developing a new, powerful brand.
After answering this question and setting up several hundred domains over the last few years the formula has become clear. That said, you could probably break everyone one of these 'rules' and still end up with an incredibly successful blog.
But before we get the guidelines, you need to get into a Domain Buying State of Mind.
What Are You Going To Be Blogging About? Ultimately your content will determine your success, not your domain name. However, taking into consideration what your topics of focus are to be make a nice direction for your site's name, and help potential visitors understand your focus.
Who Is Your Ideal Reader? Once you can define who you need to read your blog, you can consider what impact the domain name will make on them.
What First Impression Are You Looking To Make? We ask this question in our design interviews because it makes all the difference in connecting with what our clients' design needs are. This consideration can make a difference in your domain name selection.
What Are Your Blogging Goals? Leads VS Relationships - Communities VS Traffic - You As The Expert VS Your Site As The Tool.
Who Will Be Writing On The Blog? Is the name you choose going to work for everyone involved?
Basic Guidelines to Choosing A Real Estate Blog Domain Name
1. Easy To Remember
If your audience can’t remember your domain name at first glance then you have made a poor decision.
Note: Terms like “Real Estate” and your community of focus (San Diego, for example) are incredibly easy for your audience to remember. If your blog is a real estate site about San Diego simply tag a word that’s easy to remember to that and you’re fine. Wire, Voice, Blog, Report, News, Wave, Juice, Crab, Cafe… are all examples of single words added to an easy-to-remember combination.
StPaulRealEstateBlog.com
StLouisRealEstateVoice.com
MiamiRealEstateCafe.com
I’m not suggesting this type of combo as the best alternative, but it is common for a reason; it’s memorable. (There is one clear peril to using a term like 'blog' in the domain: Your site may grow to be bigger than the identity of the blog, and yet now limited, in impression, by the domain).
Beware of easy to confuse combinations of words. If the order of words don't make a strong impact, or don't have a natural order, you can be sure they will be jumbled, and your potential visitor will end up on someone else’s site.
ChicoHomeSearching.com VS HomeSearchingInChico.com VS ChicoHomeSearch.com
And finally, if it can’t be remembered, it can’t be branded.
2. Easy To Spell
Google does a good job of suggesting words when it catches a misspelling with their “Did You Mean?” feature. But that doesn’t mean that they will suggest your site. And, not all browsers automatically utilize a search engine if they don’t recognize the url.
If you cover a community that is commonly misspelled (Schenectady, for example), it would be worth buying domains with common misspellings just to cover all bases. I own RealEstateTomatoe.com, and you wouldn't believe how much traffic I still get for this misspelling.
And finally, if it is difficult to spell, it makes your domain harder to remember.
3. Value Of Keywords
The question is, "Do I Need "Real Estate" in the Domain Name?
The short answer is: No.
The other question is, "Should I have keywords in my domain name"
The short answer is: Yes, keywords are a benefit in your domain name. The reason is because when you are linked to, by another site using your domain name, the link the use contains these keywords, and they are considered a relevant description by the search engines. For example, if I link to SantaBarbaraRealEstateVoice.com from this article, the spiders will see the keywords Santa Barbara Real Estate associated with my link, giving a description to the site I am linking to. This is a key element to success with inbound links: that they clearly define and describe your site. You’ll see me regularly use keywords (and alt titles) when I link from my articles to boost the value of the link for site.
-BUT- Keywords in a domain are not required for your site’s success. Most of the successes you will gain in the search engines come from your content, not your domain name. I recommend that you first consider the memorability of the domain before you start adding keywords, just for keyword’s sake.
Some favorite real estate blogsite domains without a definitive keyword:
Miamism.com
HomeSection.com
CentersAndSquares.com
4. Length
The length of the domain is certainly relevant to the above considerations. 5 words in a domain name is not necessarily too many if it makes sense. Take Valerie Fitzgerald’s domain name:LosAngelesRealEstateTalk.com. The name of the area and the term ‘real estate’ are a given, leaving just the term ‘blog’ to be remembered. No one interested in reading a blog about real estate in Los Angeles is going to forget that domain name.
However, something like: CastleRockRealEstateHomesForSale.com is ridiculous. It is difficult to remember, keyword stuffed and a P.I.T.A. to type. Remember, the object is to create a powerful brand that supports your powerful content, not to make a mockery of your site's name just to improve your SEO.
There are still 6 more Major Determining Factors for choosing your Domain Name.
To read those, you will need to collow the link to this article's original location.
How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Real Estate Blogsite
IT HAS BEEN CHOPPED BECAUSE THIS IS A SYNDICATION OF THE ORIGINAL, AND IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT FOR SEO PURPOSES IT IS NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO POST THE SAME ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY IN MORE THAN ONE LOCATION.
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