Web Site Domains:
Master of Your Domain? You Should Be.
There’s no argument among SEO professionals that optimization using widespread SEO tactics isn’t going to be as effective as these tactics once were. There was a time when a well-stuffed HTML keyword tag did the trick but spiders soon “figured out” how to spot overstuffed keyword tags. Same with title tags, alt tags, description tags and other coding elements that have been abused by the black and gray hat communities.
Let’s face it, search engine algorithms have become much more sophisticated, determining not only site content but the quality of that content – a highly subject determination even for logical, discerning humans, much less search engine spiders.
However, this hasn’t prevented attempts to subvert the search engine process. As algorithms become more complex, the means to circumvent the rules follow close behind. Today, search engine algorithms can spot deceptive practices at a glance so even attempting to “fool” spiders is a dangerous, short-sighted, potentially site-lethal activity.
To improve the impression your newly-launched site makes on search engines, consider your domain name, your domain registrar, your web host and other factors that build or corrode the trust of web site crawlers.
Naming Your Domain
If you haven’t picked a domain name yet, good. We’re not too late. If you have picked a domain name but haven’t built the site, you can always register a new, more potent domain name. And if the site is launched, up-and-running, consider the creation of a sub-domain.
Pick words related to your products or services. Play around and get creative, but remember, spiders register your domain name regardless of what name appears on the site skin. So, your domain name should tell spiders this is a hardware site not a porn site.
Also, when selecting a domain name, consider your business plan carefully. If you’re going global, try to get the dot com extension for your proposed domain name. It’s the world-wide standard in identifying a commercial site.
If you’re a local business reaching a local market, add your location to the domain, making things clearer to humans and to spiders. For example: cheapeatsmiami.com pretty much says it all for a site reviewing
Other examples: cpaogden.com, austincustomcakes.com and so on. A domain like this will help you show up on local searches, a search engine feature that’s become increasingly popular and profitable for small businesses targeting a local or regional demographic. Add it to the domain name.
Also, register the domain for two years or more through a reputable registrar. Better web hosting companies offer domain registration as a free service. The two-year commitment is a trust-building element between you and visiting spiders who know everything there is to know about your site – including how long you plan to stick around and whether you’re a domain squatter with thousands of domains registered and up for sale or auction.
Choosing a Domain Host
Once your domain is registered, you need a web hosting company to provide a connection to the wild, wild web. Select a company that’s been around for 10 years or longer – a track record you can verify. A fly-by-night outfit can fly in the middle of the night, taking your site and your customer database with it.
Look for features. Lots of free software – a free site building package, a free shopping cart and checkout, free metrics analysis tools – everything you need to build and grow a web site to profitability should be included as part of the monthly hosting fee. If you don’t get this long list of goodies, keep looking for a host.
Also, you’re known by the company you keep so avoid hosts that accept any site for a buck. Scam sites, overseas drug companies, adult sites and other “unsavory” neighbors define your server-side neighborhood. It’s a question you want to ask the host’s rep before signing up for a 24-month stint. Your web host should be viewed as a partner in your endeavor so choose wisely when selecting a company to host that great domain you were able to snag.
Register Early. Register Often.
Search engine spiders may be mindless bots but they’ve got great memories. A spider comes to know your site inside out and vice-versa. A spider can identify a site’s launch date, the date the site was last spidered, what the site looked like when last spidered (cached view), who your host is, what your business is and on and on.
Register your domain name ASAP, even if the entire site isn’t up yet. It can take weeks and months to get spidered so the sooner your submit your site for consideration the better. Just make sure to identify pages under construction and prevent spiders from crawling and indexing new pages until they’re ready and tested.
Submit your domain to Google, Yahoo and MSN – the big three. But also submit your domain to smaller, more specialized search engines like Overture, Alexa, Ask and so on.
Important note coming up: There are literally thousands of search engines and registering with each one would take forever. So, site owners purchase search engine submission software to simplify the task through automation – automatic domain submissions to search engines.
Google won’t accept machine-submitted domains, and Yahoo charges for a SERPs listing. So, each submission should be “done by hand” to enhance chances of getting spidered, indexed and recognized faster by the biggest search engines.
To further encourage spiders to visit quickly, submit your site map through Google’s Webmaster Central. This awakens the sleeping giant, provides a site address, a domain name and a complete set of site links in the form of the site map. This is important because spiders are programmed to track links wherever they lead. The site map provides a road map of links spiders crawl ensuring faster, more complete and more accurate indexing.
Building the Trust of Spiders
Bots are a suspicious lot. They trust no one. They’re programmed to look for signs of deceit and deception on the part of a small segment of site owners who don’t play by the rules. If you’re spending a bunch of time trying to outwit spiders, put that time to better use by building credibility and trust of spiders.
Link to higher ranking sites that help search engine users. Links should be relevant to the site and to the visitors’ expectations. Encourage links exchanges and build your site’s links popularity.
Links popularity, you say? Yep. Web site owners are more likely to link to sites that offer good, solid, authoritative, unbiased information than sites that are nothing but hype and the hard sell. By adding good content and useful features (mortgage calculators, stock market feeds, live video feeds, etc.) a site increases links popularity, i.e. more one-way, in-bound links – a real trust-builder when it comes to spiders.
Non-reciprocal in-bound links indicate a site that other site owners are recommending to their visitors, asking nothing in return as is the case with a reciprocal link exchange between two topic-related sites (still good, but not as good as the one-way in-bound).
Avoid any SEM or SEO tactics that might even hint at an attempt to deceive visitors or bots. Put black text against a black background and it’s invisible to site visitors but spiders can see it, read it and assess its validity. There are lots of scams and schemes that algos now capture routinely. Play by the SE rules and always err on the side of caution when in doubt.
There’s a lot more to selecting a domain name than showing the world how clever you are. A domain name should be used to provide information about the site’s content and purpose.
The domain name should be registered through a reputable web host. Find a solid host that registers domain names free, as part of monthly hosting fees. They’re out there.
Register the domain with the big three search engines as the site is being constructed. Make sure that pages under construction are designated “off limits” to spiders.
Invite spiders by submitting the domain name to search engines. Even better, submit a site map to make sure the site is crawled and indexed completely first time through.
Finally, build trustworthy relationships with spiders. Increase the number of links in general. Add useful, interesting content to increase the site’s links popularity and avoid even the whiff of scandal.
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