Domains for linklove (SEO and domains)

In this how-to series of posts I will try to explain the best way to obtaining a bunch of linklove by buying an existing domain name. You need to be aware of all the things search engines are able to detect, but the only hard part is getting a good domain at a reasonable price.

What makes a good SEO domain?

The “Domains for linklove” trilogy:

• SEO and domains (this one)
• Buying domains
• Using the new domain

Search engines like Google measure multiple types of authority. A domain can have both general authority and topic specific authority.

What search engines measure and give weight to might differ per engine and changes all the time. The following things are based on the opinions of other SEO’s and to a certain degree they are backed by my personal experiences. I just haven’t seen enough proof to agree to all of them.

General authority is given to:

• Older domain registration dates (use domaintools.com)
• Older first indexed dates (the first time the search engine indexed them) (use archive.org)
• Older links to pages on the domain (use Y! Linkdomain and archive.org)
• More links to pages on the domain (use Y! Linkdomain)
• More linkpoints to pages on the domain (use pagerank as indicator)
• Relations to other sites with general authority:
  • Links from same domains/pages/paragraphs as these authorities (use Y! Linkdomain)
  • Links from the authorities themselves (use Y! Linkdomain)
• Links from specific page areas and types of content

More specific authority is exactly the same as general authority with the addition of relevance to a topic. So besides the points above you should consider:

• Has the domain or URL always held a specific topic and language or was it used for a different topic earlier? (use archive.org)
• Older and more links (and linkpoints) on a topic (use Y! Linkdomain)
• Relations to other sites with topic specific authority:
• Links from same domains/pages/paragraphs as these authorities (use Y! Linkdomain)
• Links from the authorities themselves (use Y! Linkdomain)
• Links from topic specific pages (make sure the links contain or are near text that is topic related)

To summarize it all, here are some points that make a domain good for SEO.

A good SEO domain has authority, is easy to link to and contains searchterms.

• An older domain that has already build linklove is better than one that hasn’t.
• A domain that exactly matches or contains the keyword is better.
• Some search engines prefer hyphenated names when the domain contains multiple words.
• A domain in the local TLD of the country you want to rank in is better.
• A short domain is easier to type and remember (and easier to link to).
• Prevent domains with possible misspellings, otherwise register all misspellings. 

Tomorrow I’ll help you to find these good domains.

The next step: Buying domains

Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 2:13 pm | Tutorials, Domains
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