Should I buy multiple domains for my website?

Multiple domain names used to be a surefire way to SEO success, but this is an outdated tactic. We often see people contacted by cold-sellers offering them domain names to purchase for visibility; we think it’s time we made things clear.

Your domain name is a reflection of your business, and as such, it should be user-friendly and relevant. Don’t be fooled by schemes trying to sell you multiple domain names. There are only a few reasons you should be holding on to multiple domains for your business so let’s dive into the specifics.

Why multiple domains became a strategy

Many moons ago, search engine algorithms used domain names to find keywords to list your business appropriately. Those with deep pockets bought up domain names fast and furiously to jump the queue and rank for their ideal keywords. (It also led to some insanely long domain names!)

The search engines reacted to this “Blackhat SEO” behaviour and devalued the SEO strength of these domain names, but that’s not to say they are without value. Keyword embedding can be tricky, and it takes time to see results. Buying a single domain that is an exact match for an SEO term can be effective, such as StudyFrenchInAtlanticCanada.com, but the benefit is often offset by having a long and unwieldy domain name.

Additionally, if Google picks up on you lacing your site with keywords through multiple domains, it will penalize your overall ranking.

When should you buy multiple domain names?

As a general rule, you want as few domain names as possible. Each one requires admin, albeit minimal, and racks up a yearly fee while producing little value if you have sufficient SEO work completed on your website.

Buy

• A secondary domain ending .com (or if you already have .com, .ca). This is an easy way to catch those who mistype and prevents anyone else from taking it, which can cause serious customer confusion. We redirect www.cyberprarmy.ca to the .com version so that everyone gets where they need to be.
• A new name if you rebrand. Make sure you redirect the old one for two years to catch any historic customers, but if you have changed your business name, you should absolutely buy a new domain.
• A single complimentary domain that makes sense for your business. Maybe it’s for a new income stream, targets a specific audience or houses your podcast. For example, we have a second domain name to house our courses.
• Your name, if it’s available. Never underestimate the uses of yourname.com if you are a service provider or business owner. Use it to showcase your talents, promote your business, or just park it, so it doesn’t end up as something that doesn’t align with your views.

Don’t Buy

• If someone contacts you out of the blue, unless it’s something you have been specifically waiting for, and I mean exactly!
• Domains that contain keywords that aren’t relevant to your website. Google will spot the mismatch and penalize your SEO score.
• Anything that is too long. Think short and memorable. For example, our client Maritime Window Film Specialists knew that their business name is a little long for this purpose; they shortened it to www.maritimewindowfilm.com

Want a hand with your site’s visibility?

We’ve talked about why you shouldn’t buy multiple domains, but that might have derailed your approach for visibility. Using on-site and technical SEO techniques is much more effective at creating visibility on search engines. If you’d like to talk about how you can utilize SEO to draw attention to your website, book a call or email us to discuss strategy.

Cyber PR Army Solutions Inc. Digital Marketing Made Easy.