Domain Names Are Important

[Mark]

It is very important to pick the right domain name for your website.

The problem that I’m seeing with a lot of agents websites is even if they have the best website in the world, the domain names sucks. The problem is they pick a hard to remember domain name or they pick one that no one can spell.

There is a trick to this. If you already have a website, you can purchase a forwarding domain for 10 bucks a year or less.

Example I own www.rosenthalfinancialservices.com but it is too long , hard to remember, and hard to spell for some people. So I have domain names that forward you back to my main website. Example www.realfastservice.com will take you back to my website. It is easy to remember.

Another example I own www.markandleslierosenthal.com which is way to long, and hard to remember and spell. But I wanted my domain name to be that. So I went back and added a forwarding domain names. Example, now www.cheaperterminsurance.com will take you back to my website.

If I tell a client my name/info or phone number they will forget it in 1 sec, but they might be able to remember cheaperterminsurance.com that has all my info on it.

I try and brand some of my domain names into my clients. If you want cheaperterminsurance, then you need to go to cheaperterminsurance.com. They can remember that.


I was talking with an agent this week that had a domain name like edwardmedezusagroup.com which I made up, and he sold renters insurance. I told him that the website was too hard to remember. I forget it after 1 sec and I still can’t remember it now. He has not gone back and added a forwarding domain of www.RenterSavings.com . Which I still remember now. This simple little change can help his clients to remember his website.

If you already have a website, you can try this trick.

 

[jdgeddie]

Agreed. I cannot tell you how much traffic we get everyday just because of our domain name. And it doesn't hurt to have your domain name contain often searched keywords. In our case insurance newsletters.

Something else we see alot is agents that are using hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc. email addresses. Even if they don't have a website, there's no reason they cannot reserve a domain name just to use it for sending email.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I'm not an expert on domains, but I thought you don't want domain forwarding. Maybe I'm thinking about something else. Hurts from an SEO standpoint?

Regardless, it seems as if it would be better to completely skip a domain with your name in it and concentrate on domains with some rich key words in it...as John mentioned.

I'm not really on a first-name basis with John...but that's his name, so I used it.

WebDomain was used in this post.
WebNanny was not used in this post.

 

[jdgeddie]

We changed domains a few years back and used a 301 re-direct and it didn't harm us one bit.

Check out this article:

How to Maintain Rankings After a Redesign

 

[AtlantaLife&Health]

I agree with Chumps, skip the domain forwarding and just use the domain name that is keyword rich. It's much more beneficial from the SEO standpoint. But you are right as well Mark, it's better than having a long domain name that is hard to remember. Good post.

 

[Mark]

The goal is to start with a good domain name that clients can remember and spell. But if you already have a domain name and website, I think it would not hurt you to add a fowarding domain back to it that is easy to remember.

There is a lot of talk about SEO, but I get more clients from other sources than I do from SEO. I rather have a domain name clients remember than to worry about if it hurts my SEO or not.

 

[Alston]

301 redirects are permanent redirects. Permanent redirects don't hurt your SEO. However, I think that I would forward the vanity domain to the keyword rich domain. This way the URLs of all the pages on your site will benefit from the keywords.

However, I see no point in having a vanity domain name in the first place unless you are a celebrity or your brand is established. For example if you have an established agency called Smith Family Insurance, you might benefit from owning SmithFamilyInsurance.com.

If you aren't a celebrity and have no brand established you might as well just get a keyword rich domain name like Chumps suggested.

 

[StrategyMan]

I've done a great deal of SEO work in my professional life. Searchable (SEO friendly) domain names certainly help, but you can SEO a site even if the domain name is not searchable. It just may take a little bit more work, and there is something to be said for brand recognition. That is why I have more than 1 website.

 

[HawkeyeJ]

I've done a great deal of SEO work in my professional life. Searchable (SEO friendly) domain names certainly help, but you can SEO a site even if the domain name is not searchable. It just may take a little bit more work, and there is something to be said for brand recognition. That is why I have more than 1 website.

You can get domain names for only a buck or even free. What is hosting?

 

[radiusbob]

You can get domain names for only a buck or even free. What is hosting?

Website Hosting is the computer where your website resides, sits or is 'Hosted'.