Have you ever owned a physical store? If yes, then you know the difficulty and pain of finding the perfect location for your business. Your E-commerce store is no different. The only change – a domain will replace the physical location.
You need to find a domain name that is not only easy to remember but also attracts potential customers to your online store. In other words, you need to pick an SEO-friendly E-commerce domain name. So how do you do that? Let’s find out.
It is the web address of your online store on the internet. It serves as a unique identifier for your E-commerce store, making it accessible to anyone with an internet connection.
Here are some good E-commerce domain names that have helped brands in driving more traffic to their online store and feature in the first page of search engines:
As you can see, each of these domains is carefully chosen to reflect that particular store’s specialization. It is also memorable, easy to recognize, and resonates with the target audience. This makes these domain names memorable and relevant for the respective users. Such domain names also help in establishing a strong online presence for these brands and enhancing their overall credibility.
The short answer is–yes. Everything from your domain’s length to the keywords used in it will impact your SEO. Just like how a keyword-enriched, relevant, and value-driven blog attracts readers, an SEO-friendly domain that is simple, trustworthy, and focused will draw more traffic from search engines and garner better interest from people.
Let us understand this with an example. Here are 2 domain names –
The first domain looks spammy and doesn’t instill confidence in our minds. Most of us will stay away from such domains.
On the other hand, the second domain looks promising. It not only looks credible but has the keyword ‘jeans’ in it, which will be useful for those searchers looking to buy jeans.
Here are some handy tips to adopt while picking a domain name for your E-commerce store –
There was a time when search engines like Google immensely valued the presence of keywords in the domain. And many brands went on infusing keywords into their domain to take the top spots in search engines. Keywords are still important today but in a different way. You no longer have to add the exact keywords into your domain for search engines to take notice. As long as you can add some concepts or words that give clarity to your E-commerce store, you are fine.
For example, the popular clothing brand Max has adopted the domain https://www.maxfashion.in. By using the word fashion, Max has successfully highlighted what they are selling clothes without sounding too obvious or awkward.
Here’s a simple thumb rule when it comes to domain names – the shorter, the better. Why? Because shorter domain names are more memorable. If you notice, most of the popular brands around the world have short domain names. For example –
These domains are easy to remember, easy to type, and easy to print on materials. The benefits are endless. Now, you might wonder – how do I pick a shorter domain name, especially when my brand name is long?
The key is to remove all the unnecessary verbiage. For example, if your brand name is “The Best Exotics of Flora”, you can remove words like “The”, “Best”, and “Of”. You can choose the domain name – exoticsflora.com.
The other option is to abbreviate. Ferns & Petals is the best example. They have picked the domain name www.fnp.com, which is shorter and easier to type than fernsandpetals.com.
Pro Tip: If your brand has uncommon spellings after abbreviations, it is recommended to buy domains with potential misspellings so that your potential customers will reach your website even if they make minor mistakes in spelling.
While selecting a domain name, you also need to play a bit with the psychology of the language. The domain name you pick should not only resonate with your potential customers but also spark their brains to connect your brand with positive emotions. In other words, the words you use should carry emotional weight and associations.
For instance, if your store sells luxury watches, then you could pick a domain name like “timeelegance.com” . It adds a touch of sophistication and elegance without sounding too salesy.
Undoubtedly, “.com” is the numero uno when it comes to the list of popular domain extensions in the world. It’s also the most trusted domain extension as it conveys a sense of legitimacy, which can positively influence how customers perceive your business. While the use of .com may not give you a major SEO boost, it will definitely help in driving traffic organically to your store, thanks to better trust.
Now, if you do not get a .com domain extension, all is not lost. Extensions like .co, .in and .net still continue to be popular. And .store is another emerging domain extension focused on E-commerce stores.
Before you go ahead and pick a domain name for your store, you must know the role of folders, subdomains, and relevancy,
Start by analyzing how relevant your site is to a particular search query. This will help you determine how high or low your domain will rank on a search engine. For example, if you are a brand selling laptops, you’ll naturally have the keyword ‘laptop’ spread all over your website, right from product descriptions to metadata so that your website shows up in the search engines when customers search for the keyword ‘laptop’. Now, it would also help if your domain name had the word laptop or its concepts in it so that you can improve the relevancy of your overall website.
Similarly, you must understand the role of subdomains and folders.
Subdomains are:
Subfolders are:
While they both look quite similar, search engines read them differently. Subdomains are read as if they are separate websites. Subfolders, on the other hand, are read as part of the original domain. Obviously, subfolders are better than subdomains because subfolders show Google that you are building a solid repository of pages around your brand. So if given an option, always pick subfolders for your website.
This is a unique and interesting way to identify if your choice of domain name is right or not. All you need to do is imagine that you are running an ad for your brand on the local radio station. At the end of the ad, the radio host reads your domain name loudly and directs listeners to visit your website.
If these people can easily spell and type your domain name correctly later, then your domain name has passed the radio test. If not, you need to revisit your choice of words in the domain name. You can try this test with your friends and family. The goal of this test is to ensure that you have spelled your domain name in the most common way instead of an interesting and unique way that might confuse people and redirect them elsewhere.
Your domain name serves as a representation of your brand, your values, and the products you offer. They will also aid in brand identity and recall. Therefore, it is essential to approach the process of selecting a domain name with mindfulness and consideration. Follow the tips highlighted in this post to ensure that your brand enjoys the whole benefits of an SEO-friendly domain name.
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