Every Internet presence needs an appropriate domain. This is the name of the website under which the webmaster wishes to be found. It adorns business cards, belongs to every letterhead, and of course should come close to the purpose of a website.
If a website operator deals with bees, for example, it would be beneficial if the domain name contained the word “bee” or “beekeeper” – ideally, the name should be easy to remember as well.
Limit to top-level domains
While it should now be a no-brainer to use a top-level domain for a web project, newcomers, in particular, are trying to save and move a project to a subdomain or even a free third-level domain (eg. example, name.de .vu, etc..). These sites are eg B. known to Beepworld and other free providers.
We do not recommend this option. A top-level domain with the ending “.de”, “.com”, “.net”, “.org” etc. is usually available for just a few dollars a year– webmasters shouldn’t be saving money here. Only top-level domains meet the requirements for good search engine ranking.
The difficult choice of domain extension
Domain Extensions After the decision in favor of a top-level domain, however, the question remains whether it should really be a “.de” domain in Germany or if other popular endings won’t respond. not also to the requirements.
However, these usually have slightly higher annual fees, which is why webmasters must first find out if a suitable “.de” domain is available for the desired keyword.
So you are certainly on the safe side. If not, it is important to avoid exotic domain endings. It’s tempting eg. For example, register a “.to” or “.tv” domain, because many more keywords are available here, but these domains can prove to be a disadvantage in search engine optimization.
Does the domain name contain the keyword?
These days, it’s rarely possible to be able to register a website’s main keyword as a domain name on your own – at least if it’s a popular top-level domain. In this case, some tips are necessary. A classic is to add numbers like “24” or designations like “in line” etc. If that doesn’t work either, creativity is required.
Be careful with brand names in the fields!
In the meantime, word has circulated that it is not allowed to register brand names registered as domains or as part of a domain name. Otherwise, an expensive warning from the brand owner could soon float around the house. However, caution is advised not only with well-known brands but also with fancy names, as these can also be protected by trademark law.
Several areas for a project?
It is quite interesting to register multiple domains for a web project at the same time. For example, it makes no sense to post the same textual content under different domains, as this leads to duplicate content, which search engines don’t like to see and can lead to heavy penalties.
It is therefore important to publish separate content on each domain, called unique content. However, it may be a good idea to register multiple domains for a web project, as long as the domains are divided into the main project and multiple satellite sites. Doorway pages can serve as link providers for the main project.
HTaccess: transfer from one domain form to another
If a website can be reached both with and without the preceding “www”, the search engine may assume that there is duplicate content here as well, since it doesn’t notice that it is one and the same site. This can enter after a penalty or even a ban from the index.
It is therefore advisable to choose one of the two versions. For this, webmasters must create a so-called .htaccess file, save it as a text file under that name, and then upload it to the main directory of the respective domain on the web space.