Dominate your niches with a “Multiple Domain Strategy”
Multiple Domain Strategies with Non-spammy Exact Match Domains will give any website a welcome boost in Google’s search results.
What are Exact Match Domains (EMDs)?
First, a domain :
An influential Exact Match Domain has three parts.
The top-level domain, for example:
- .com (best ranking for EMDs unless there’s a focus on a particular country)
- .net
- .org
- .edu
- .ca
etc…
While we’re probably all familiar with the TLDs above, there are actually over 1,000 possible TLDs from which webmasters can choose.
What is a multiple domain strategy?
The best way to tell you what a multiple domain strategy is is to show you.
Here’s an example from Moz’s Rand Fishkin that involves real estate giants Zillow and Trulia.
First, you have to know that Zillow owns Trulia. Now that you know that, Google “real estate.”
You’ll probably see both Zillow and Trulia in the first five positions. In fact, this will be true for most keywords related to real estate.
This is a multiple domain strategy in action. Since Zillow and Trulia are essentially the same company, they’re helping to rank their overall brand for certain keywords.
SEO guru Neil Patel uses this strategy for the keyword “user intent.” You see his two websites Quick Sprout and Crazy Egg:
If you need your brand to rank better, a multiple domain strategy might be best for you.
Why use a multiple domain strategy?
Search engines use the keywords in domain names portion of the domain as a ranking factor (which causes websites like “my-overly-targeted-niche-domain-name.com” to be on this planet). Use these with caution because Google’s algorithms have been cracking down on being too reliant on EMD’s like this since 2012.
1. You Want to Target a Particular Keyword
This is my personal use of EMDs. Domain names are the second level of a domain as seen above.
Use 301 Redirect.
This is a permanent redirect.
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect which passes between 90–99% of link juice (ranking power) to the redirected page. 301 refers to the HTTP status code for this type of redirect. In most instances, the 301 redirect is the best method for implementing redirects on a website.
This alone isn’t good enough for SEO but it kills out competitors from taking the same domain name, and can allow you to use simpler domain names for marketing purposes.
2. You Have Multiple Brands
Other times, brands create microsites. See careguide.com (bottom of page) and Procter & Gamble’s P&G Everyday as examples.
Ranking for the same keyword while boosting your PageRank can drive more traffic.
This takes more effort, but is more rewarding. Personally, I’m starting it as a 301 redirect (as explained above), then going build it out into it’s own product/service later on. If it merely plugs into your main domain without any added benefit for you or the user, you might as well keep it as a 301.
Neil Patel stated in this article that brand identity often supersedes excellent SEO, so focus
1. Secure the domains you can for a reasonable amount.
2. develop a partial match domain strategy since it is a new site (and EMD’s are under the gun)
3. 301 the other domains as mentioned above
Here’s What I did with Innovator.Supply:
I first of all did keyword research with Serpstat. Registered users get 30 free queries per day.
I went to namecheap.com and purchased domains that matched the keywords.
Then boom. Started with 301’s, and will build up to making an empire!
SEO best practices for domains
To maximize search engine-referred traffic, it is important to keep each of the following elements in mind:
1. Make your main domain name match your brand
i.e.,: innovator.supply
Strive for domain names that are short, easy to remember, easy to type, and easy to say. This is valuable for word-of-mouth advertising because those visitors will need to visit your domain directly, but it also matters for processing fluency. An implicit cognitive bias, processing fluency is the concept that we remember and have more positive associations with things that we can easily say and easily think about, and that includes pronounceability in our own minds. So, stay away from domain names that include numbers or other non-standard characters, use unusual spelling, or are longer than about 15 characters or so.
Because of search engine’s growing reliance on accessibility and usability as a ranking factor, the easier a domain (or URL) is to read for humans, the better it is for search engines.
From “15 SEO Best Practices for Structuring URLs”
2. Use broad keywords when sensible
If you can include a keyword that helps make it obvious what your business does while keeping your domain name catchy, unique, and brand-friendly, go for it. But, stay away from domain names that might be considered “keyword-rich” or “keyword-targeted” (such as best-pancake-pans-for-pancakes.com or senior-eldercare-retirement-home-finder.com) We mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again: While these types of domain names once carried weight as a ranking factor, their tendency to be associated with low-quality content means searchers (and search engines) may now view these keyword-dense domain names with a negative bias.
What’s more, in recent years Google has made several changes that have de-prioritized sites with keyword-rich domains that aren’t otherwise high-quality. Having a keyword in your domain can still be beneficial, but it can also lead to closer scrutiny and a possible negative ranking effect from search engines, so tread carefully. For more on this topic, read The Exact Match Domain Playbook: A Guide and Best Practices for EMDs.
So again, I currently have https://innovator.supply
Along with the other niche domains that I 301 to innovator supply. Meanwhile, when I have spare time, I will build up the other domains into brands that will shine on Google then just link to innovator.supply.
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Author: Natu Myers (Website: Natumyers.com)
Natu is a cryptocurrency investor and software engineer who is experienced in building large scale applications. He built Innovator.Supply, an HR recruiting software for VR, AR, and chatbot enthusiasts. This was followed his other service, Hypetroop Market. He has a fitness page on Instagram. Stemming from his time at Queen’s, he was a defensive lineman on the Queen’s Gaels football team. Being a multipotentialite, he finished a business incubator program after graduating, launched his own album on iTunes, and he stays up to date industry-penetrating software startups and crytocurrency investment methods while gaining IT experience.
