Domain names

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Domain names

From: Digital Marketing a Practical Approach 1st edition

First impressions can be crucial. In an online environment, the organization's domain name may well be the first point of contact between it and a potential customer. First impressions are all about perception, and a 'good' domain name can influence how a potential customer might perceive the organization - that is; poor domain name equals poor company, good domain name equals good company to do business with. Although this notion is far from absolute - and may even be nonsense - given the price of a domain name, it costs little to pamper to a customer's perception.

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PRACTICAL INSIGHT
A domain name is not just for a website
Although technically they are not domain names, the digital marketer shown apply all of the lessons in this chapter to the choice of 'domain name' for all of the organization's presences on the web - in particular, social media. Brands should always look to register their own name on the varies channels, e.g.
facebook.com/nike and twitter.com/nikefootball (@nikefootball)
facebook.com/Amazon and twitter.com/amazon (@amazon)
facebook.com/cocacola and twitter.com/cocacola (@cocacola)
Given that social media presences can be set up an discarded more easily that websites, it is also common - and potentially good - practice to use quirky names such as promotional tag lines as facebook pages or Twitter handles.

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Choosing an effective domain name - often referred to as the organization's address on the Internet - is a crucial decision for any organization. It is primarily a marketing decision and not one to be taken by other staff who do not appreciate the value of a domain name in marketing terms. To have a web presence, an organization must have a domain name, and if they must have a domain name, then they should give some thought to not just having a good domain name, but the right domain name. Before the online marketer can select the right domain name, they must first understand a little about domain names.

What is a Domain name?

Every presence on the Internet is identified by a series of numbers (142.56.89.43 for example) - called the Internet Protocol, or IP, address. To make these IP addresses easier to remember, the early proponents of the Internet decided to allocate a word (or series of characters) to each IP number. As no two sets of IP numbers are the same, no two domain names can be the same.

Domain names are, and always have been, allocated on a first come - first served basis. The majority of generic, one-word domain names were registered in the early to mid 1990s - and as registration was free at the time, many were registered by IT students (who were amongst the first to use the Internet on a regular basis). It is the generic .com domains that many consider to be the best. It is also difficult to trademark a generic word. By definition that means that generic .coms are the most valuable domain names.

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MINI CASE
High price names
Domain names that demand the highest value when offered for sale are generic dot coms. Loans.com, for example, was purchased by the Bank of America for $3M and .sex sold for $13M in 2010. Note, however, the majority of domain names that sell for high sums have with them 'related assets' - normally functioning, profit-making websites complete with customer details - which is where the actual value lies. For example, a group of domain names including dictionary.com, reference.com, and thesaurus.com were bought by Answers.com for $100 Million - but the websites hosted on those three domains attracted 11.5 million unique visitors per month in the period immediately prior to the purchase.

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The domain name system is run by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and is responsible for a range of technical aspects of the internet, including the Domain Name System (DNS), which allows for the registration of domain names within a number of registries known as 'top level domains' (TLDs). TLDs fall into two broad categories:
* Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) e.g. dot com
* Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs), such as dot uk for the United Kingdom

Each country has its own naming authority that runs the domain name system for that country - referred to as sponsoring organizations. To register a name you must apply to that authority for 'permission' to use that name. Effectively, those who register the name are the owners of that name and as such are the only ones who can use that name. There are organizations that act as intermediaries between the customer and the naming agencies. It is with these registration agents (or registrars) that the vast majority of people or entities register their domain name.

Domain name construction

When a name is registered it takes the suffix of the registered naming authority. There are a number of suffixes to choose from (more of this later) but to illustrate how domain names are constructed this example will use the best-known suffix - .com (dot com). The domain used as an illustration is yagahit.com.
As the suffix is considered to be the primary, or top level domain, combining the 'name' with the suffix creates a second level domain:
e.g. yagahit.com
When indicating their use as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a world wide website, it has become accepted protocol to use the prefix 'www' on the primary domain name:
e.g. www.yagahit.com
As the dot com suffix now has two distinct words before it, this is now a third level domain name.
Any subsequent words placed in front of the primary name, but divided by a full stop, make the URL a fourth/fifth level domain name. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of words that can be placed prior to the domain, in practice however, three or four is really the limit.
e.g. www.sunderland.yagahit.com
When used as a Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) the domain name takes on an extra level to donate their country of origin.

There is a very unambiguous limit to the characters that can be used in a domain name. They are: all the letters of the Latin alphabet (A to Z) plus any number (0 to 9) and a dash/hyphen (-). NB these rules apply to domain names that use the English language - others, known as Internationalized Domain Names, are available in different languages. A domain name must begin and end with a letter or a number, no spaces or other characters are allowed. Any amount of dashes can be used, but must not be placed together. Domain names must be at least three and less than 63 characters in length (excluding suffixes). Although two letter domains do exist, they are only allocated to organizations that can prove that they are universally recognised by a two-character name. Communications giant O2 for example, use O2.co.uk and Hewlett Packard, HP.com - realistically, however, unless an organization is in the same league as these examples, they can forget two character domains.

Finally - and this is important for marketing reasons - domain names are NOT case sensitive. From a technically standpoint, it is possible to set up a website's host server so that it recognizes upper and lower case characters in a domain name (so making a domain case sensitive) - however, this is (virtually) never practiced, it being the standard operating procedure to set them up as being non-case sensitive.

Suffixes

The most common domain name suffix is the .com (dot com). This is the suffix for the USA and is considered to be the global name as it has no country identification (such as uk for the UK) - in reality, it has no country identification because it was the first suffix made available (there is a rarely used .us domain that is normally linked to state abbreviations, eg .fl.us for Florida).
There are over 250 countries with a country-specific domain, for example; .de for Germany .jp for Japan .fr for France and .gr for Greece. The need for 'global regions' to have their own identity in a domain name has been addressed - the first of what is expected to be a number of regional names, .eu for Europe is already established, with .asia going live in 2008.
There are over 250 countries with a country-specific domain, for example; .de for Germany .jp for Japan .fr for France and .gr for Greece - even the Vatican City State has its own .va suffix . Two global regions also have their own suffixes, but although .eu - for Europe - and .asia have become well established, plans for other regions have been dropped. Author's note, 2018. Although .eu and .asia started well, they are now few and far between.
Whilst some countries impose restrictions on who can register their names, more than 80 countries are unrestricted meaning anyone anywhere can register any names. Some of these unrestricted names have been heavily promoted, but they are still considered as novelties in the majority of business fields - these include; .tv (Tuvalu) and .cc (Cocos Islands). Indeed, such is the use of the .cc for dubious websites that in 2011 Google removed from its index all websites using that suffix.
As well as country specific suffixes that use Latin characters, there are also a growing number of Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) - also referred to as multi-lingual domain names - which use characters outside a-z, 0-9 and the hyphen. At the time of writing around 39 additional character sets are available, supporting over 350 languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Korean, Russian and Greek. Applications of IDNs for the marketer are limited. The most obvious issue is that if the domain uses non-Latin characters only the keyboards of users in countries where those characters are used can type the domain names into a browser.
Perhaps the biggest shake-up in domain name suffixes came in 2013 when ICANN introduced the model that allowed organizations to 'buy' permission to use their own suffix. The idea is that, for example, Nike have the brand name as their suffix - and have sites on the likes of football.nike and tennis.nike. Or perhaps a company - or the City council - could register .London, and 'sell-on' domain names such as hotels.London and dining.London. As with the .com domain name gold rush of the early 1990s, generic words are also up for sale as suffixes. Applications for generic words included Johnson & Johnson with .baby and L'Oreal with .beauty, .hair, .makeup, .salon, and .skin. Time will tell whether the cost of these suffixes will benefit those who intend to use them, but you can be sure that at an initial fee of $185,000 plus an annual fee of $25,000, you won't be seeing my website on a .charlesworth suffix anytime soon. Author's note, 2018. So far, these domains have been pretty much a disaster - how many have you seen? An exception are the the major brands; Amazon and Google.

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RESEARCH SNAPSHOT
Domain names add to email credibility
Having your own domain name means that you can use it for your email address. Research by Microsoft UK, published in 2008, found that almost half of respondents said that they would rather not use a company which had a personal email account - e.g. hotmail or gmail - rather than a company email address. I would suggest that in the years since that research use of the Internet has become so common that users are even more aware of the implications of personal emails in a business context.

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Choosing the right suffix is dependent on the use to which the website is to be put, and the essential question to be addressed is what is the nature of the organization and where it trades - or hopes to trade. If the organization is a business then the main choice is between the local suffix and .com. Using .co.uk as an example; if the business trades only in the UK then .co.uk is the suffix to choose - if the business trades globally, then .com. That is, of course, rather simplistic and other options exist in the grey areas that sit between the black and white - a hotel, for example, might seek to attract customers from around the globe but using the country code of its home country will identify where it is located geographically. For example, nicehotel.com could be located anywhere in the world, but nicehotel.co.uk is in the UK.

Creating the right domain name

Although there are guides for creating domain names for specific purposes, each having different criteria for the selection process, there are some issues that are generic to all purposes. They are:
* Length - in general, when picking a name, less is more
* How easy is it to recall the name?
* How will it be communicated? (e.g. verbally or in print)
Other general considerations include:
* Is the domain name a representation of the organization and/or business?
* What is it to be used it for? (e.g. website, email address, company name)

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RESEARCH SNAPSHOT
Coffee is more important than a domain name, apparently
Research has revealed that the UK's small businesses are rushing their choice of web address, with 41 per cent taking less than an hour to make the decision - around the same time they took to source their coffee making machine. This was despite most of them recognised that their domain name could have a lasting effect on their business, with one third of businesses believing that their revenue would improve as a direct result of having a better web address, and 1 in 4 businesses admitting they had 'concerns' about the effectiveness of their domain name. More than 60 per cent of respondents did not seek a second opinion, and only 10 per cent of businesses considered the long-term effect of their domain name on their business image. Little surprise then, that many British businesses believe that their choice of domain name could have been better.
Source: FastHosts Internet (www.fasthosts.co.uk)

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For those new to domain names it is worth reiterating that all (useful) generic words have long since been registered, so a toy company wanting to register www.toys.co.uk or www.toys.com (owned by Toys"R"Us and eToys respectively) it is too late. So assuming that a suitable generic word that represents the product or service being marketed is not an option, how does the organization choose a suitable domain name? Options include:

* Take the company name, and add a suitable suffix. If I were a consultant, alancharlesworth.eu would be an example of this - although businesses often use the possessive 's' in the name, e.g. charlesworth's which might be problematic for the domain name.
* Although the company might be known by the owner's name, surnames are rarely still available to register - a simple solution is to add the product or service offered to the company name. A business known as Alan's Ltd that makes toys might use alanstoys.co.uk.
*Along the same lines - add the location to either the company name or location - alansofyork.co.uk or yorktoys.co.uk, for example.
* Register the name by which the company is commonly known - such nicknames are common where the organization's name is particularly cumbersome or formal.
* Use the abbreviation of the organization's initials - Alan's Toys of York Ltd using aty.co.uk or atoy.co.uk, for example. This option is severely limited as most 3 and 4 character domain names have been registered.
* Abbreviate some of all of the words in the company name - an engineering company from Philadelphia, for example, could easily shorten that to phillyengineering.com.

It is worth noting that in the USA the use of the dash (-) in domain names is shunned, 'all one word' being the norm. However, this is not so much the case in Europe, with there being three significant examples of when it should be considered. Firstly is where your 'first choice' name has been registered - simply split any words with a dash. Secondly, where the dash makes the domain 'read' better (perhaps because the term would be grammatically correct if a dash is used) and thirdly, there will be occasions when two words run together to create an unfortunate term. For example, a company that provided expert consultancy service called Experts Exchange registered those two words as its domain name - unfortunately, the subsequent term read ExpertSexchange.com.

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PRACTICAL INSIGHT
Capital practice
Earlier in this section it was mentioned that domain names are not case sensitive. This can be very important aesthetically when the name is presented in print. The following are all the names suggested as examples in the previous section - but all are presented using upper case characters where pertinent. Not only do the look better, they sometimes make more sense grammatically.
alancharlesworth.eu AlanCharlesworth.eu
alanstoys.co.uk AlansToys.co.uk
alansofyork.co.uk AlansofYork.co.uk
yorktoys.co.uk YorkToys.co.uk
phillyengineering.com PhillyEngineering.com

Note that the suffix is always presented in lower case.

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Registering a domain name

The process is relatively easy - and conducted online. There are two main choices:
1 Register it yourself using any one of the hundreds of online domain name 'registrars'.
2 If professional services have been employed to develop a web presence that organization will normally register the domain name as part of the package - though they should not choose it without discussion with the customer (you).
Whichever is chosen, there is one vital issue to note. Part of the registration process includes a section that requires details of the registrants - effectively who is the owner. It is not unknown for unscrupulous operators - both registrars and service providers - to list themselves in this section and not their clients, so make sure you or your organization is listed as the owner.

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MINI CASE
Renew it or lose it
Although you may 'own' the registration of a domain name - you must renew the registration periodically, if you don't, you will lose the name and it goes back on the open market. Over the years there have been a number of embarrassing examples of major organizations and brands - Microsoft and Amazon have both been guilty in the past - forgetting to renew, but being able to recover their domain name as there were trademark issues.

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Buying a 'pre-owned' domain name

Transfer of ownership of domain names is not only possible, it is a business model for some companies and individuals. Over the years many names have been registered simply because their buyers feel that one day someone, somewhere will want that name - and so they will be prepared to pay for it. It is also the case that an individual or business (particularly a small one) might have a website, or be trading on a name, that is coveted by another organization. In such cases the owner might be willing to put up with the inconvenience of establishing their website on a new domain if the compensation is worthwhile. For the buying company the purchase price of the name might be considerable - but still only a small percentage of the overall marketing budget. Note that in the decision time section of chapter 6 the search engine optimization advantages of purchasing an existing name and/site are considered.

DECISION TIME

Choosing the right domain name requires two decisions:
1 Which suffix to use
2 The composition of the actual name
However, because so many names are already registered, domain name selection is often a case of second, third, fourth (or worse) choice. A common compromise is the name of choice with a substitute suffix or first-choice suffix with a concession being made with the name.

1 Suffix selection revolves around the organization's target market and its location. Considerations include:
* Where is the market? Global markets might be best served by a .com.
* How does the organization wish to be perceived? Again, a .com might best serve only objectives in this case.
* Even in a global market, being identified with a specific country (perhaps the product or service's unique selling proposition is that it originates from a distinct region) then that country's suffix is better.
* If the business trades in Europe - rather than globally - then .eu is a serious possibility.

2 Name composition is often dependent on the name of the offline company, its brand names or those of its products or services. As shown in the earlier examples, it is often easy to simply employ the organization's name - or a variation of it - as its domain name. It is always recommendable to have a recognizable connection between the offline and online names - particularly if the offline brand has been built over many years. To go online with a new 'name' is to start from scratch with regard to credibility and customer recognition - unless, of course, the online product is separate from the offline entity. Particular care should be taken with the use of SMS text-style abbreviations. For example, the use of the character '4' to replace 'for', or a single 'u' instead of 'you'. Whilst this works well for the mobile phone company Phones4U (they have built their brand around the notion) for an established 'traditional' offline business to use such abbreviations could easily lose credibility in its market segment. Obviously, if the target market is made up of teenagers, then the text language might work.
For the new, pure-play online company the situation differs in that the domain name is the trading name of the company - effectively, its brand. Whilst this has the advantage a having a blank canvas for name choice, it is hampered by the fact that so many names - particularly generic ones - have already been registered. It is the lack of availability of names that is behind the phenomenon of companies with fabricated words as their name. An example is airline website, Opodo. The major advantage of choosing this name was that no domain name in any suffix had been registered for the word.
For more on choosing the right domain name, see: domain names - a marketers perspective.

How to cite this article:
Charlesworth, A. (2009). Domain names. Retrieved [insert date] from AlanCharlesworth.com: https://www.alancharlesworth.com/DigitalMarketing/domain-names

This page was first published online in September 2017 ... but it may have been updated or amended since then.

CHAPTER 4 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

further reading ...

The following links take you to content that supplements and updates this chapter of the book. Note that

I’ve included some articles that are a few years old ... don't let their publication date put you off - they are

still relevant now. The most recent posts are at end of each section.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

If you check the bio of the author of Comparing SEO to PPC you will see she is not new to search engine marketing - and so her opinion carries some weight. Note how the articles differentiates SEO from advertising on search engines ... just as I have done in this book - and as I have done since advertising on search engines started.

If you really want to get your head around how Google works, make yourself comfortable and read Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines.

These search commands for Google are useful for people searching on Google - but are included here as they can also help search engine optimizers in determining where keywords/search terms can be placed within a site.

Ignore the headline of Half Say Advertising is Important in the Buying Decision – top in the list of shopper’s important purchase information sources is search engines.

If you’re serious about understanding SEO We’ve crawled the web for 32 years: What’s changed? is a must read. Its author, Mike Grehan, worked from the North East of England in the early years of the web and we shared the stage at numerous events telling owners and managers about the Internet and how it was going to change business. From the same author, and also well worth a read is The origins of E-A-T: Page content, hyperlink analysis and usage data.

How Google Trends works is an interesting background on Google Search. Similar in nature in that it offers a background in how search engines developed is What we can learn from past and present Google algorithm updates.

The Open Secret of Google Search is an interesting read on the search giant.

The issue of Why you should invest in branded keywords even if your company ranks #1 on Google has folk who argue for both side of the debate – this one is in favour.

Around the time that the book was going to print a story that Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google’s core products search and maps made the rounds of SEO commentators. One such response included some different types of search which might be used on social media, see - Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers using TikTok and Instagram for search over Google. However, Millennials Are Increasingly Using Various Methods to Search for Things Online gives a wider, and more revealing. picture – note that there is no mention of ‘prefer’ as stated in the headline above. Are 40% of Gen Z shunning Google for TikTok? Not exactly is an update [Jan 2024] on the concept.

Personal research into this matches findings by others – we’re talking about ‘lifestyle’ searches only [e.g. “lively bar near me” or “how to apply X brand of makeup"], and mainly female users. I can appreciate that watching a series of short videos of local bars might be easier than reading about them. So - message to bars attracting younger clientele ... encourage customers to post videos on TitTok.

Google is trying to reinvent search — by being more than a search engine.

Just to show that SEO is ongoing - Google helpful content system update rolling out now (December 2022 update).

Welcome to the age of social SEO: how to maximize visibility on TikTok searches.

Google ranking signals: A complete breakdown of all confirmed, rumored and false factors.

ChatGPT has some roles to play for the digital marketer - perhaps the most common/useful will be in SEO, so here's An SEO’s guide to ChatGPT prompts and AI Chat and Keyword Research.

5 Website Performance Benchmarks from Q4 2022 offers some [slightly] different stats to the chart - on website traffic sources - shown in chapter 4, but the issues are generally the same. The 5 key issues are:

1. More Than 1 in Every 3 Sessions Encounters Friction

2. Page Load Speeds Impact Bounce Rates, Page Views

3. Mobile Widens Traffic Share Lead

4. Paid Search Traffic Converts Better Than Paid Social Traffic

5. Desktop Still Boasts Far Higher Conversion Rates Than Mobile

I've included Google releases March 2023 broad core update and Google removes several search ranking algorithm updates from its ranking systems page simply as a reminder that search engines change their algorithm on a regular basis.

Is click-through rate a valuable SEO metric?

I make it clear in the book that I consider SEO and PPC ads to be different things. SEO vs. PPC: Differences, pros, cons & an integrated approach offers a different view - although it also can be read as supporting my opinion.

Brand Visibility Is the New SEO ... caused by AI, apparently.

EXERCISE: Byron Sharp purports that ‘ ... paid search is not advertising (which has as its main job building mental availability). Search is like shelf space. It’s to improve purchase availability.’ Samuel Scott offers more detail, saying that ‘Display on retailer, broker, and review sites is the same as paid search. Paid and organic search are forms of distribution, not parts of promotional marketing communications. Basically, you are getting your product put on Google, Amazon, and others' store shelves like when you pay a store to put your juice in the juice aisle. Same for getting listed on sites like G2. This is fulfilling existing demand and having physical availability. Advertising is about creating more demand and having mental availability.’ Going back in time, when I first got involved in the use of the Internet for business purposes [in 1996] I was frequently asked where the new communication medium sat with regard to the 4Ps ... and I said it was part of distribution. My opinion wasn’t supported by many – any, even – but it seems I may have had a point.

What's your opinion on the views of myself, Sharp and Scott?

50% of product searches start on Amazon includes stuff from this and other chapters - well worth a read. Note that it's from the US, so the stat in the title might not apply to you.

Organic search could be the moat your brand needs is a kind-of strategic view of SEO using quirky analogies - in general, I agree with its basic premise, not least because it syncs with my opinion.

I'm not a fan of SWOT analysis ... just use the issues raised in SEO SWOT analysis: How to optimize where it counts as a kind-of to-do list.

Another example of why SEO is a full time job is Google to fix link report in Search Console. And another... Google releases August 2023 broad core update.

Why are publishers losing traffic from Google? is about online news - but much of is relevant to other kinds of website.

To understand the present and the future - take a look at the past ... Google’s Florida update: 20 years since the SEO ‘volcanic eruption’.

The AI-powered Google apocalypse is heading for your brand is from December 2023 ... who knows how true it will turn out to be?

Google confirms a search ranking bug where sites disappear from search results over the weekend is an example of what is a fairly common problem - if your website relies on search engines for visitors [and so, business] this can hit income.

The Periodic Table of SEO Elements has been around for a few years - this is the 2024 version.

A concern with using third parties - eg Google itself - for SEO purposes is that the third party can change its operating model ... Google is shutting down websites made with Business Profiles is one such example.

And the changes keep on coming ... Google releasing massive search quality enhancements in March 2024 core update and multiple spam updates.

Who Sends Traffic on the Web and How Much? New Research from Datos & SparkToro.

Consumers' online information sources - search remains top.

You can file Small review site lost 91% of its Google traffic to affiliate-focused SEO content under 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' - relying on Google is not a good strategy for a business.

6 unpopular SEO opinions you need to consider raises some interesting and accurate points. But here's a thing I allude to in the book. The first four points are much the same as I - and others - were teaching [or is that 'preaching'] back around 1997 ... that's before the author of the article left school.

The end of May 2024 saw big news about Google's algorithm HUGE Google Search document leak reveals inner workings of ranking algorithm, here's Google's reply ... Google responds to leak: Documentation lacks context - and Unpacking Google’s massive search documentation leak is a review of the happenings. Only time will tell how big a story this was.

As I allude to in the book, I think that knowing what is being searched for in this research is vital to make it relevant ... the what might dictate where the search is started, Also, note above the article which states that 50% of product searches start on Amazon - where does that fit into Almost Half of Gen Zers Opt for Social over Google for Search?

Is The Google Maps pin scam: A new Google Business Profile threat common? I doubt it - but I've included this article because keeping track of scams like it is an example of why SEO is a full time occupation.

Which Topics Are Gen Zers Searching for on Social Media?

In all aspects of digital marketing new terms come and go. I wonder GEO will stay the course, or disappear like so many others? See What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Again, it never stops ... Google August 2024 core update rollout is now complete.

Google updates crawl budget docs for large sites with differing mobile and desktop pages and links ...Google said it is best practice to have all links present on both mobile and desktop versions. I would ask; why on earth would you have different differing mobile and desktop pages and links? Maybe another example of non-marketers in marketing? [see chapter 3]

That Long-tail keywords: Target lower-competition phrases and attract qualified visitors has been published by [one of] the world's major SEO websites suggests that some folk are not aware of the issue. I and others were writing about it 25 years ago. Ho hum.

I've included How to fix the ‘Page with redirect’ error in Google Search Console simply as an[other] example of some of the stuff that competent SEOs need to know.

Another reminder that SEO doesn't stand still ... Google quietly updated the News and Discover manual action policies.

Although Google’s search market share drops below 90% for first time since 2015, it's still got 90% of the market so me talking about Google so much in the book is still valid.

Another example of the problem of [potentially] putting all your marketing eggs in one basket ... Google bug cause reviews to drop out of local listings.

59% of Americans click on brands they know in Google results: Survey ... also, nearly half of Americans trust organic results more than paid results and Google remains the most trusted source for information.

And again, again, it never stops ... Google March 2025 core update. And rules change as well ... Google Ads policy update.

4.2 HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK

In the book I mention the importance of E-A-T, 14 ways Google may evaluate E-A-T is a good guide … but it also shows that SEO isn’t as easy – or quick – as some folk would have you believe.

More on the subject ... E-A-T auditing: How to level up your credibility game

Naturally, just days after the book was published, this happened ... Google doubles up on E with updated search quality raters guidelines (E-E-A-T) - and here's another article, this one with more details ... How Google may identify and evaluate authors through E-E-A-T. And nearly a year later ... Debunking common Google E-E-A-T misconceptions.

The two parts of E-E-A-T Google hasn’t told you about.

Barry Schwartz's list of what is NOT a Google search ranking factor.

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ZERO-CLICK

[April 2023] There is a lot being said about AI-developed content and its impact on SEO - well here's my take. I think that impact will be on zero-click with searches producing more and more SE-developed content ... and that content will be produced by LLMs which will reproduce the content of websites. Furthermore, those websites' owners/publishers will not be compensated [via links] by the search engines.

In the book I suggest that Google was holding the zero-click percentage at around 50% - welllllll, I missed later data from the same researcher that proposed that figure upped it to 65% - around two thirds. In 2020, Two Thirds of Google Searches Ended Without a Click – although note that the research on which this was based does not include the CTR paid links to Google sites.

Google isn’t the only guilty platform to see the value of this strategy; see; Zero-Click Content: The Counter-intuitive Way to Succeed in a Platform-Native World.

More on zero clicks - with Google search study: 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile are zero-click offering some very different stats to those listed in the book. That said, the research seems to be a bit different. One thing about this research, however, is that the CTR on ads is less than 2%. That seems very low to me.

Nearly 60% of Google searches end without a click in 2024.

As per my comment at the beginning of this section ... 75% of Google AI Overview links come from top 12 organic rankings.

Ex-Google exec: Giving traffic to publishers ‘a necessary evil’ is an article on zero clicks which doesn't use the term.

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Another innovation from Google to keep you on Google - Google Maps adds new store location feature, Locator Plus, Reserve with Google integration, new analytics and more.

A Small Business Guide to Google My Business ... I think there is a reasonable argument that for many small businesses, this could be their web presence.

I’ve included the biggest mystery of Google’s algorithm: Everything ever said about clicks, CTR and bounce rate here as an example of how no one really knows how the Google algorithm works. As if it counts ... I’ve always thought that CTR counted, making it easier to stay in the top spot on a SERP than get to it.

Another version of How Important is The Top Search Result on Google? to the chart shown in the book.

Nothing that's really new in 16 reasons why your page isn’t ranking on Google but it's always good to have a list.

4.3 KEYWORD SELECTION

Keyword Research for Product Content

The Search Before the Search: Keyword Foraging.

I’ve put How to do a competitive analysis for local SEO in this section [where local search is covered] but it is relevant to other sections also.

What do you think the Most Searched Consumer Brands in the world in 2022 are? I’m not surprised [I’ve been around a while] but the why still amazes me.

The case of the stealth Google-bomb is about the role of domain names in SEO. You should know most of it if you're to work in SEO. It also kind-of confirms the value of keywords. Find out more about domain names.

YouTube SEO: How to find the best traffic-generating keywords.

Yes, SEO Keywords Remain Important.

SEO: Targeting the Long Tail for More Sales.

Here's a nice - and simply - tip SEO Signals from SERPs.

4.4 ON-SITE OPTIMIZATION

What Is SEO Writing? How to Be a Better SEO Writer is included in this section as its focus is SEO. However, although it is a reasonable guide to the practice, the article could also be in the section on developing website content and also content marketing. It also offers an insight into the skills, time and application required to get the job right.

I could have put How to attract your ideal customers with quality content in the later chapter on website development, but as it has a SEO focus, I’ve included it here.

Google doesn’t want your AI-generated SEO spam content.

Given the nature of much of this site [this page, for example] Outgoing links: Are they beneficial for your site or not? is something I've taken notice of over the years.

SEO content writing vs. content writing: The key difference.

An SEO’s guide to understanding large language models (LLMs).

This was true in 1996 ... seems it's still true now - 85% of titles feature keywords in Positions 1-5 of Google.

I think this issue - Does HTML structure matter for SEO? - is more important than many folk realise. One thing not covered in this article is that the search engines dislike pages that don't adapt for mobile devices. I found this out for this site and had to accept a PC format I didn't really to meet the mobile requiement.

4.5 OFF-SITE OPTIMIZATION

How to audit your site’s backlink profile Auditing your backlinks is a process that should be part of your regular SEO routine. Here's a guide on how to do it.

I've included How to outsource link building: Benefits and tips to follow not just for the advice it contains, but as another example of the specialized jobs that are out there.

Links are not a top 3 Google Search ranking factor, says Gary Illyes ... 'I think they are important, but I think people overestimate the importance of links'.

Does guest blogging still work for SEO? Pros ... cons and best practices.

4.6 THIRD-PARTY SEARCH ENGINE RANKING

SNIPPET

Smile please - Colgate's oral health website

I’m not sure which section using the amazon search engine as marketing belongs in – but as Google may well pick up the Amazon listing, I’ve put it here. Obviously, it’s not for everyone, but for some it could be a really good idea.

Here are a few articles on links that are a bit old - but they will tell you all you need to know. If you take the time to read them all you will come to appreciate that not only is serious link building a strategic concern, but it is very time consuming. However, on the strategic side of things, you will note that some of the suggestions go beyond link building eg developing a competition on your website to encourage links - the competition itself might be considered as a marketing tactic in its own right. In other words, SEO should be a key aspect of the organization's marketing strategy. 50+ More Things Every Link Builder Should Know, 4 Ways to Wash Away The Link Building Hate, 5 Pieces Of Content: 25 Link Ideas, Link to my awesome content, please!, How To Attract Killer Links For E-Commerce Sites and 10 Questions To Ask When Creating A Link Building Campaign does answer some of the basic questions on the issue, and so is useful - however, some of it does seem just a bit creepy to me. Not sure it's the type of job I would enjoy doing every day :)

How to gain value from broken backlinks is perhaps for more serious SEO - but it shows that effective SEO is a full time occupation.

I have to say that I didn't realise this was so big a thing ...‘Link in bio’ platforms: Which is best for SEO?

4.7 ENTERPRISE SEO

GO ONLINE *page 91*

Two of the best SEO guides are Search Engine Land‘s Guide to SEO and Ahrefs’ The Beginner’s Guide to SEO.

Enterprise SEO: Lessons from 20 years in the trenches

I’ve put 9 roadblocks to SEO success here rather than in earlier sections because, effectively, it is about strategic SEO.

How to manage and edit your Google Business Profile from Google search.

1 million URLs: How to pivot your SEO strategy when you reach enterprise level

11 enterprise SEO challenges and solutions

How to plan and budget for enterprise SEO

I didn’t mention Negative SEO in the book, but it deserves a mention. I’ve put it in this section as although all websites are susceptible to it, only major websites are likely to be victims. 6 types of negative SEO to watch out for explains what it’s all about and Negative SEO Disavow Lists lets you know the basics.

How one company’s rebrand and domain name change led to SEO disaster details how getting this wrong can mean the end of a business - but in this example the organization failed to follow advice and guides that have been around since the turn of the century.

How to choose an enterprise SEO platform - what you need to know in choosing the right enterprise SEO platform.

9 big risks of cheap SEO.

7 tips to turn Google’s Search Essentials into strategy covers the key issues.

I could have put SEO and website design: How to build search engine-friendly sites pretty much anywhere on this page - but it's most relevant here.

Beyond SEO: Embracing the future of organic search optimization.

10 simple steps to analyze your brand SERP and build an effective digital strategy is very good ... but remember it is for a brand name - not all key words [though some of the tips could apply to general keyword issues].

Cross-border SEO for Same-language Sites.

I've put How to fix a huge traffic drop after rebranding here as I think re-branding comes under 'enterprise SEO' ;-)

Digital Marketing a Practical Approach - home

Digital Marketing ... more stuff - home

More stuff that adds to the content of the book

Domain names

The following links take you to content that supplements and updates this chapter of the book. Note that

I’ve included some articles that are a few years old ... don't let their publication date put you off - they are

still relevant now. The most recent posts are at end of each section.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

4.2 HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK

4.3 KEYWORD SELECTION

4.4 ON-SITE OPTIMIZATION

4.5 OFF-SITE OPTIMIZATION

4.6 THIRD-PARTY SEARCH ENGINE RANKING

4.7 ENTERPRISE SEO