Many people worry about choosing a domain name when they’re getting ready to build a website. It’s not that big a deal, but there are a few things to consider. So, this week we’ll talk about what to do for your domain name if you are starting a property management company.
If you already have your company up and running and have a domain name in place, the best thing you can do is to keep it. Keep that domain name unless you have specific problems. If you’re being blackholed or a bad SEO company has done something to you and there’s been a rapid drop in your location on search engine results, you need a strategy to rehabilitate the domain name. Only in extreme cases would you want to change your domain name. It’s generally better for your business to keep it.
But if you don’t have a domain name yet, here are some things to think about:
Optimize for People, not Computers
Your domain name needs to be created for human readability. Don’t worry so much about the SEO value of a particular domain name. You want it to be a name that people will recognize and remember. The extra traffic will make up for any slight SEO advantage there might be in a name that was chosen simply because it contained the right keywords.
Recently, because of the demand for new websites and domain names, the Internet authorities opened up new domain suffixes to add on to the existing .com, .org, .net, etc. There are now over a thousand domain suffixes that can be used, including .management, .rentals, .properties, and .property.
However, think about human biases. Maybe AtlantaPropertyManagement.com is taken, so you’re thinking about choosing AtlantaProperty.Management. The downside is that people don’t yet trust the new domain names. You may want to stick with a .com name or something the average Internet user will recognize. There are still plenty of options available. On the other hand, people are soon going to be used to seeing websites with all sorts of names, so in five years, nobody’s going to give a damn.
Using Your Company Name as Your Domain Name
It’s not a good idea to use your company name as your domain name. Once you have started using it, you may be stuck with it. Unexpected situations can arise. What happens if you have to re-name your company? This has happened to people we’ve worked with. The owner of a property management company used their given name as the company’s domain name. This was fine until they retired and passed the company on to their daughter. The daughter wants to rename the company and change the URL, but doing that will forfeit the domain authority that has been built up over the past number of years.
Similarly, if you want to sell your property management company, the new buyer may want to re-brand. A domain name that uses your company name holds no value if you are being purchased by another company that wants to retain its branding. However, if your domain name is AtlantaHomes.com instead of BobsPropertyManagement.com, you might be able to add the value of the domain to your sale price. A generic domain name that is ranking for property management in your area is an asset that can be sold.
Don’t Hoard Domain Names
As we mentioned earlier, domain names are no longer restricted to .com, .net and .org – there are now a thousand suffixes, which means there are a near-infinite number of domain name combinations. Hoarding domain names is not going to get you anywhere. Business owners can choose from the millions of other domain options and get something that works just as well. We know a number of people who are paying for hundreds of domain names. That is no longer a sound strategy or investment. It is too easy to get a similar name to the ones that are being held. You’re not stopping anybody from doing business, you’re just wasting time and money.
If you have any questions about domain names, SEO or anything having to do with Internet marketing, please contact us at Fourandhalf.
Click the image below to get your free copy of Grow Your Property Management Business, an exclusive eBook guide from Fourandhalf.com.
