SEO – How to choose the right url.

To begin let’s point to one item – your url. 

If you already have an url registered, good for you, you are on your way. If you don’t already have an url perhaps we can help you find a great one.  As everyone knows you should use your main keyword (s) in your url.  You did know that, right?  Urls are parsed and words are picked out by the search engines so don’t sell yourself short on your url name.  Picking a good url can dramatically help your SEO efforts later on.  If you have already chosen your url and it does not have your main keyword (s) in it, do not despair.  You can work around that later. But if you have not chosen an url, here is how to get a great one.

Unless you are already branded, ie: HP, Campbells, Dell, Amazon, Weyerhaeuser, you need to get a descriptive url.  An url that will serve as your address.  Do not use your company name.  Huh?  That’s right.  Your company name goes on your web pages and not necessarily in your url.   No one will search for your company name.  They will search for whatever item they want to purchase.  Leave your company name out unless you can make it fit. 

Example: Let’s say you sell web services that include development, design and maintenance.  So you might want “web services” in the url.  Oh no, they are all taken you say.  Not so.  Try including your towns name before or after the term, like this:  wichitawebservices or webserviceswichita.  Wichita happens to be a metro area that includes my town of residence so I used that, clever? Not really but it is descriptive and tells the casual browser two things – what you do and where you do it from.  Both very important items. 

What if that’s already taken?  OK, move on to another choice. Let’s try this, use your state name or abbreviation – kswebservices or webservicesks.  This might be where you could use your company name if it is one word, ie: brownwebservices.  Or more description, like this: designwebservices, webservicesdesign.  The variations are many and wide flung.  Choose wisely and your url will help the search engines find you, where you live and work and/or exactly what you do. 

Very recently I happened to read some comments at a very highly touted website (SEO-wise) forum.  There were some heated comments regarding url’s and whether they are important as they pertain to SEO issues.  The expert there said “No, urls are just addresses, they have no meaning when it comes to SEO.”  That statement made me see RED.  The “expert” is dead wrong, urls DO count if they are good.  If they are not relevent to your business or location it’s OK too, it won’t hurt you, but a great url WILL help your SEO.  Some of the (so-called) experts are executives who have not worked in the trenches for a long time.   (OK, I have to say it: the expert in question looked like a lunkhead in her own forum! I just shook my head and then lol’d.)

I have been building and SEO-ing (is that a word?) web sites for a very long time. Everyday, day in and day out. Experience is a mean teacher.  Knowing what works and what doesn’t sticks in your head after you have done it over and over, about a bazillion times. You know this to be true from your own experiences, right?  Any expert (lunkhead) who says the url name does not matter is blowing smoke.  They are simply out of touch.

Next time: Domains.

See you on the flip flop.