Why Top Level Domain Names Mean Better Search Engine Rankings

With the recent explosion in the availability of website domain name extensions (i.e. .com, .net, .ws, and others) it's never been easier to register a domain name that is highly descriptive of your website's subject matter. 

 

For example, if you want to create a website about search engine optimization, it would make sense to use a domain name including the phrase "SEO" or "search optimization" or something similar. However, you can bet that many other people have had the same idea, so "seo.com" is no longer available, nor is "seo.net", .org, .biz, or any other simple domain name with a top level extension. 

Additionally, it's a fact that most people who are searching on the internet are going to give top priority to websites with top level domain names like .com or .net. 

This is simply a matter of these being original suffixes, and the average web surfer believes that they have more credibility and authority. 

This is especially important if your website is selling or promoting your business or products, as these factors translate into how trustworthy your website may or may not be in the mind of the web surfer. 

To put it simply, A top level domain name extension is one of your strongest sales tools. 

Many people believe that the search engines will give more weight to your domain when considering your site for search engine rankings. Keep in mind that there should be a clear relationship between your domain name and website theme to increase your chances of ranking well in search engines. 

Here are a couple of tips that may help you to bag that all important top level domain name for your site. 

First, try a plural version of your key phrase. So, in the example above, you might check out the availability of top level names using "search-engine-optimizers", rather than "search-engine-optimizer". 

However, when used on its own, this tactic may be a bit too obvious, and more often than not, when the singular version of a phrase is taken, so is the plural. 

This second little trick is far more effective and well worth trying if you are looking for a top level name for your site. The trick is - Numbers. 

Not numbers at the beginning of the domain name - that's already been done to death and you only have to look at a list of expired domains to see how many owners of such addresses just allow them to die. Why? Because they don't work very well with search engines or with real people - and something like "0000seo.com" just looks wierd. 

So that's not likely to be of much benefit to your site. But numbers in the "body" of the domain name itself, especially the numbers 2 and 4, very possibly will be. 

Why? 

The number 2 is a simple substitute for the word "to" or "two" and 4 can be read as "for" or "four". 

Now combine that with one other little substitution trick. Take the word "You" and substitute the letter "U", and finding a good top level domain name that still relates very closely to the site subject matter becomes relatively easier. 

Let's take our SEO example to demonstrate how effective a strategy like this can be. Using all three of the highlighted tricks, try searching for "seo4u.com" or "searchoptimizers4u.com". Still available? If not, how about "seo4us.com" or "searchoptimizers4me.com"?