As the Founder & CEO of a Digital Marketing Agency, I often get asked about domain names and the value that they have in particular generic domains that have type in traffic / direct navigation traffic (for those new to this subject, it is when a person assumes that there is a website based around that domain name and they type the URL directly into the browser navigation bar or into Google search).
Many people and businesses own domain names that they are not putting to good use & often someone will register a domain name, but they will not develop that domain or even point it to another developed website that they own to capture any traffic coming from that domain.
This is in my opinion, a complete waste of the potentially valuable traffic that is being generated by that domain name.
Some examples of our own domains that we redirect.
To give you an example, my wife Lois has a business called Career Wisdom at CareerWisdom.com.au. We also own many generic career related domain names such as CareerCoach.com.au, CareerAdvice.com.au, CareerConsultant.com.au and many more like them, that we point to her main website at CareerWisdom.com.au.
Pointing these domain names (using what is called a 301-permanent redirect or 302-temporary redirect if it is only for short term) to the main website gives us thousands of additional visitors per year from that type in traffic via those domain names. The only other better use of those domain names would be to develop them into full websites, which as you would know if you have ever built out a website, takes a substantial amount of time and effort.
This method of traffic generation will typically only work with generic domain names that have at least several hundred searches per month on the exact match term. You can use the Google Keyword Planner tool to verify the traffic volume of any keyword term that you are thinking of registering or that you may already own as a domain name.
Appliances.com.au as another example
I will give you an example of what, in my opinion, is one big missed opportunity from a very popular Australian website called AppliancesOnline.com.au. Several years ago, Appliances Online purchased the domain name Appliances.com.au when it expired through the domain drop auctions. I have kept an eye on this domain name and right up until the writing of this article, it has never propagated through to any website, it has just been a dead page.
It seems to me that this is a wasted opportunity of the traffic that would most certainly be coming through from Appliances.com.au.
Can this strategy help with your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
In a nutshell, No.
Pointing other undeveloped domains to your main website URL does not give you any advantages in your search engine rankings on Google, Bing etc.
As mentioned earlier, if you are doing a 301 redirect, Google will not even index those domain names so it will all be purely based on the direct navigation / type in traffic.
Misspellings of your main website’s domain name.
Another traffic & brand protection strategy, is to register any possible misspellings of your domain name that could accidentally be typed in by a potential visitor to your website.
If your domain name is difficult to spell, then this will help reduce any bleed off from incorrect spelling.
What domains do you have that you may have forgotten about? Check your accounts as you may have some you have forgotten about that could be put to work.
Good fortune with your domain names.
Ed Keay-Smith is the Founder & CEO of Online Impact, an Australian based Digital Marketing Agency.
You can contact Ed at ed@onlineimpact.com.au or his mobile 0403 072 959
Why must everything be put in a nutshell?
I’ve never once taken something out of a nutshell and thought “hey this is totally going to enrich my life”
Only nuts belong in nutshells
ie. Edible nuts, not the kind who sook about your rights to invest in internet real estate and call you a cybersquatter for having the vision and potency they obviously couldn’t summon previously
Great article by the way Ed, thanks for sharing. Yep, good names should be put to use, but more than just a mere redirect. Australia Post ought to be using Post.com.au as its primary name, Origin Energy likewise ought to be using Origin.com.au for more than just a redirect. Or perhaps they like paying Google who knows.
Thanks Craig
Your comments were “nuts”! LOL
So do you think, as an example, that AppliancesOnline.com.au should switch its main domain and all of its branding over to Appliances.com.au? or would a redirect do the job?
Ideally, yes – complete switch. It would then save tens of thousands of dollars on AdWords each year, because more people would remember the URL and simply type it into their iPad or smartphone.
It would also take up less physical advertising space on every van or outdoor media sign and have much greater impact.
Rather than Google monetising THEIR marketing efforts and taking $2-4 per click for re-directing customers who had already decided to shop with AppliancesOnline.com.au but couldn’t be bothered typing in the mouthful of a URL.
CatchOfTheDay.com.au made the move to Catch.com.au for good reason, AppliancesOnline.com.au could do the same. Then it would be Winning.com.au even more.
Yes, great points Craig that I completely agree with and very punny there at end mate. 🤣👍
Nice one Ed!
Another great example is Everten Group acquiring Kitchenware.com.au and running it as a subsidiary brand to acquire additional traffic, rather than just redirecting. They’ve already reached the top organic position on Google ahead of their much older brand, Kitchen Warehouse.
Hey Chris 👍😀
I appreciate your comments and I hope you are doing well.
Thanks for the Kitchenware.com.au example, I was not aware of that one.👍
That makes good business sense to me.
Could you please give an idea on kindergarten com au
Not receiving enough traffic:(
Cheers