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People are always asking us if it is possible to rank well for keywords that are not contained in their domain name. The answer is yes—it certainly is possible and it isn’t nearly as difficult as many think.
When choosing a domain name, you should choose something that fits your business—so if you are running ABC, Inc. then ideally ABC.com would be the ideal domain name. But let’s say ABC, Inc. sells umbrellas, and they want to rank for the keyword “buy umbrellas online”. They certainly can do this without having the domain BuyUmbrellasOnline.com.
The whole purpose of SEO is to rank a domain for a keyword—no matter what that domain is. As I mentioned earlier, domain name is only a small portion of how search engines decide where to rank your company’s website. In our experiences, it is almost irrelevant what the domain name is. Google actually mentioned not too long ago that they are now placing less and less emphasis on the actual domain name and more emphasis on other website qualities, such as quality unique content.
Another question that often arises when choosing a domain name and considering SEO is do I have to choose a .com domain? There are at least a dozen US domain names in existence, including .com, .co, .net, .biz, .info, .gov, .org, etc. The domain extension has very little impact on search engine rankings. We have ranked .net websites just as easily as .com websites.
However, one thing to keep in mind when picking a domain extension is what your customer’s are likely to remember and type in. So for example if your company buys ABC.net, your potential clients might find your competitor at ABC.com because .com is by far the most popular domain extension. For this reason alone I always suggest purchasing a .com domain—it builds credibility and is easier to remember.
So in short, any domain can be optimized for any keyword no matter what the domain name is or the domain extension. The key component is making sure you are doing quality SEO work on a budget that is realistic for the competition level for your given keyword(s). The best way to find out more about this and learn exactly what it will take to rank your site is to fill out the form directly to the right and let one of our SEO specialists complete a customized 30+ page SEO report for your company’s website. We’ll then schedule a call with you after you receive the report to review the findings and explain exactly what the best plan of action is to rank your website.
Brendan Egan