Long domain names
Buying long domain names, is it worth it?
Long domain names - the long held wisdom is that domain names should be short and memorable. Of course, it's great when you can get a short name that really fits your business, but sometimes it's hard. So why not choose a longer one? One of the more popular SEO plugins, Yoast SEO, marks domains with a total length of up to 20 characters in green (very good). However, somewhat longer domains are still good and marked in orange (good). The idea that domain names must be short is no longer as valid as it once was. There are many successful websites that have long domain names like FreeCreditReport.com. This article will teach you when it's okay to buy a long domain name and why you might want to.Long and short domain names Long domain names are a good way when your website will only generate traffic through online advertising such as Google AdWords or natural search engine results. On the Internet, people find your site by clicking on hyperlinks that already have your website's domain name listed. So if you have a long domain name, it's already there for your visitor. And they don't have to remember it. For example, let's say you own a web hosting company and you specialize in offering cheap web hosting. Why not name your site CheapWebSiteHosting.com? It's long, but it communicates a lot with the client, and perhaps more valuable, it will convey important information about your site to search engines. How do you ask? Search engines use the words in your domain name as one method of figuring out what your website is about. And they use that information to help them determine where to rank you in the search results list. So if you have the words "cheap web hosting" in your domain name, then search engines will use that information to possibly rank you higher than a domain name that doesn't contain those words. So by naming your website "CheapWebSiteHosting.com" you have an advantage over SmithWebSiteHosting.com when people search for the phrase "cheap website hosting". So if your business is firmly focused on cheap hosting anyway, you could use those words in the domain name if it means that the search engines will match you better than those pages without those keywords in the domain name.Domain names in mass media What about offline marketing? Are long domain names okay for radio or television? The answer is yes, as long as it can be remembered. If you watch TV at all, I'm sure you've seen ads for freecreditreport.com. That's a pretty long domain name considering that not too long ago you needed a name like amazon.com or eBay.com to be viable. But even as I write this the domain name freecreditreport.com immediately came to mind. It's a pretty good domain name for a long period of time. In our example scenario, I'd say a website called cheapwebsitehosting.com will be remembered by people looking to save money on hosting. The key is to put together words in the domain name that flow naturally. "Cheap Web Site Hosting" is natural English. But WebSiteHostingCheap.com would almost certainly be a problem in the mass media. The examples in this article, although given from the English-speaking world, are completely understandable. They are universal and applicable also for any other speaking area.So, should you choose a long domain name the next time you buy a domain name? This will ultimately depend on whether you can get a short version that you feel is appropriate. And how important is a small advantage in search engine results to you. But at least you can keep these factors in mind when buying a domain name. You may find that a long domain name is an advantageous choice for your business. Read the full article
