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URL: Brand Awareness or Keyword Rich?

Should you buy a keyword rich domain name or one that is memorable? People have debated this topic before. Experts on both sides have made compelling arguments.

Personally, I have always liked the keyword rich domain names. It makes me feel like I am doing something right when Google bolds the section of the URL with the phrase you just searched.

My first domain name was thesarasotamls.com which the Sarasota Association of Realtors stole away from me for trademark infringement. That was a bunch of crap but that is the topic of another blog post. My main website that receives a lot of traffic is www.LuxurySarasotaRealEstate.com. It is not the most memorable URL but it does have the phrase 'sarasota real estate' in it. In fact, my wife has asked me on several occasions what my URL was to send to her friends. My wife isn't dumb or forgetful but there are many variations of 'luxury', 'sarasota', 'real estate', 'homes', 'houses' etc. It is an easy one to mess up.

So, I started up www.SarasotaShack.com recently. I figured the URL was a bit more memorable than my other one. There is no way to make a comparison between the two websites and the traffic at this point. I have been promoting my other site for years. I just started this one. Hopefully, in the future, via Google analytics, I will be able to provide some useful statistics for those wondering if it is better to buy a keyword rich domain or a brandable one.

Either way, if I have the time I will promote SarasotaShack.com and hopefully get it ranking in the searches engines nicely to receive some nice traffic.

Which URL do you like best?

Marc Rasmussen selling Sarasota real estate. Updated daily with all Sarasota Florida real estate for sale.

Posted by Marc Rasmussen - Sarasota Real Estate on 12/01/2009 08:35 PM

Comments (18)

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18 Comments on URL: Brand Awareness or Keyword Rich?

DEC

2009

Marc - first of I really like the look of your LEC sites! Nice. Anyway. We have both and the ones with the keywords in url seem to place better - for now anyway. There is one exact keyword combination url that is sitting a top and is not moving - not much happening with the site but apparently the keywords work. I see you are getting a ton of traffic on your Luxury Sarasota Real Estate site. Awesome :) ~Rita

I like luxurysarasotarealestate.com! Ingenious!

Hi Marc, I just formed a new group called SEO Bootcamp. Please join and include this post if you want. Thank you!

Hi Marc,

Just for the sake of this illustration, let's call my hometown Pleasantville (not its real name).

When I first started real estate, I was told to get a domain named after MYSELF, since I needed to market myself and my own brand. So, like hundreds of other realtors who were given that advice, that is what I used. A domain named after me. The problem is, what were the odds of someone searching for.... MY NAME ?? About 0.004% So, that was pretty bad advice that I followed.

It wasn't until later that someone told me about Google's wonder wheel, and other tools that show what people search for. So, I plugged in Pleasantville Real Estate to see the searches, and decided that I would just branch out from the main wheel until I hit a search string that wasn't already taken as a domain name.

Right on the main wheel was a search: Homes for Sale in Pleasantville

So I went to goDaddy and looked to see who had the domain: HomeSalesPleasantville.com

The answer? Nobody.

So that is the domain of the new website that I am working on over the holidays. (Except that it is my real city's name.)

I went to HomeSalesSarasota.com -- I think that lady did a good job with her site.

Also: I also bought: FarmSalesPleasantville.com , and LuxuryHomesPleasantville.com

I know that these are kinda short tail, instead of long tail, but they fit nicely on advertising-- and I really like a domain name that "says it all" by itself whenever someone sees it-- and needs no more additional text to explain what the site might be about. That's why I think your www.LuxurySarasotaRealEstate.com. The name says it all.

Makes advertising a lot easier !!! (And shorter.)

Good luck!

Marc -

I've got it! We agents could change our names to that of the metro areas we work in. Problem solved.

Sincerely,

Joel Hixson Chattanooga, Jr : )

DEC

2009

Marc, interesting stuff. Let us know how you do with the new site. I'd be interested to see the results.

I think in the past, the keyword was a huge boost to rankings... I'm not so sure anymore, I think branding is now more important than ever. Keyword URLs seem spammy. Keywords in url is not the magic bullet. I like Sarasota Shack MUCH better as it is shorter, more memorable and brandable.

Marc, that is how I got to know you through your ordeal with your Association. I could not believe they did that to you. Especially with all your making sure it was ok from the start.

Right after that happened to you, I went and bought the domain AnnArborAreaMLS.

LOL

Our board is Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors, so I was really surprised to see it was available.

Did you loose any SERPS when they took that domain.

Oh yea MLS isn't copyrighted is it?

Ridiculous.

DEC

2009

Hey Missy,

Good job buying annarborareamls.com ;-). Love it.

I did lose quite a bit when I lost site. I had basically had to start from scratch. Fortunately, I got some much needed help in the way of links from all of my online friends.

MLS is owned by Major League Soccer.

It really was ridiculous. What is amazing is that there are still some Sarasota MLS sites out there operating. On top of that there is no Sarasota MLS anymore. We joined a larger MLS system called Mid Florida MLS.

I like the "luxury" name. It paints a picture, fits most ads easily and gets to the point. What's most important is what your description or Unique Selling Proposition/call to action that accompanies the domain name is. Great looking stuff you have.

DEC

2009

I think google likes the key words in the url but it still has to be memorable.

DEC

2009

LSRE will kick ass on your little shack!

Also .. just from a brand perception point of view...

Do you want to be selling a shack?

or do you want to be selling luxury real estate?

I vote you kick the shack!

DEC

2009

Marc

Thanks for the info, let me know how it works for you. BTW I second the kick the shack vote.

DEC

2009

www.LuxurySarasotaRealEstate.com by far. The search engines are always going to pick up on those keywords.

DEC

2009

I have www.SnohomishCountyRealEstate.net which ranks pretty high but is really hard to remember (plus the site is way out of date and bad. I recently got one that is just simply my name www.JeffRainwater.com. The site is better but I'll have to use some active rain google juice to bump it up I suppose. I might just point both domains to the same site.

So marc, my question is this... Have you been able to actually get new leads from your sites? Mine seems to be a great tool to send my clients to and it makes me look more professional to them but I'm not really getting people stumbling across it and contacting me. How bout you? Any suggestions?

JAN

2010

Anything you can do to help get you better ranking and positioning on Google and other search engines you should do. Although, many of the useful tips you read about online were uselful in the past....they are only slightly useful now. However, every little bit helps!

Good luck!

JAN

2010

Hey Marc

What about sarasotahomesellingteam[dot]com or sarasotahomesalesteam[dot]com?

JAN

2010

Marc, At roughly $10 a pop get all the names you can and point them all to the same website. I think the SE's are looking more at the content now than the name or keyword list that is supplied.

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