Domains Website and Blog

[captain_SEO]

Hello everyone.

I did not know exactly where to post this so here goes. Mods please let me know if there is a more relevant forum.

My company has a domain that is not branded. We have competitors in other states (USA) with the same company name and have better domain names - with the brand name included. We have a wordpress site (yeah I know - whoo Hoo!). But that's what we have.

Here is my question: What would be the best approach to switching to a "better" branded domain name.

1. Purchase a domain with the brand name in it and then redirect the old site to the new domain. I can set up the 301 redirects and have the same URL structure. Let google know we have ported to a new domain..Basically, a one shot deal that may have issues.

2. Create a blog with the brand name in it and build blog content on that domain. Link the main site to the blog. Then when we have the blog going and working well copy the main site content to the blog. Let google know that the blog domain is now the main site. Then redirect from the old to the new site. I know backlinks will be an issue. But will the link juice flow once we have swapped.

3. Suggestions from the many clever people here at Webmaterworld on another approach.

P.S. I have met most of the "old timers" here - years ago at a UK Webmasterworld Pubcon. Not relevant to the question except to say I am not a "newbie" but would like some advice.

[keyplyr]

Hello captain_SEO and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

You'll likely get various opinions, but I think branding doesn't have that much to do with the domain name. I think people remember your company name more than the URL.

Create great content, have an intuitive & easily navigated website that is built to give your customers what they are looking for, and your branding will be solid.

Use Social Media and Apps to bring in traffic and your branding will grow.

Related discussion: [webmasterworld.com...]

[captain_SEO]

Keyplyr,

One problem I should have mentioned - my bad - is that the other company in another state ranks higher than us - by brand name - in our target area (outside of the area he services). So my assumption was the brand name (matching the domain name) put him higher in the SERPS.

[keyplyr]

The domain name has very, very little to do with ranking. It's easy to assume that because as business owners, we look at things like that, but as far as SE algos, they do not give it much weight (if any) at all.

[captain_SEO]

Keyplyr,

Thanks for the thread link. looked through it and found a nice post about HTTPS. My company went nuts about this - but I told them it was a good move. They thought it was okay to have a client login page that said "not secure" in chrome. So I guess you can see what I am dealing with at my company.

Even worse, I set up the HTTPS redirect to handle any request to the login page and they removed the forced HTTPS redirect on the login page.So we still get "not secure". I am getting a bit off-topic here but just wanted to say what I am dealing with here - .IDIOTS who know better than me.

[not2easy]

Or maybe it's just a lack of visibility for brand related competitors in your area that gives them the edge?

[captain_SEO]

Keyplyr,

So I am assuming from your post about domain names its probably due to backlinks and anchor text. Therefore if we go with link building that has the branding in it - that may even out the issue.

[captain_SEO]

Not2easy,

That's what I don't understand - we are in all the local places like GMB, YELP, and lots of other stuff. But they just seem to rank on brand name even though they don't target our area.

So my inital thought was - search "brand name" - google serves up pages that match the search using "domain name match" as a primary match predicate.

[keyplyr]

@captain_SE - read that link I gave you in the second post. Branding is a widely defined term, but has mostly to do with reputation... what people think about your site/product.

You develop branding. How?

• First by getting people to your site. That is incoming traffic strategies. Backlinks, SERP ranking, Social Media presence, etc.

• Next by giving them a good user experience

• Next by having a good product or website content.

• Next by being accessible through email, customer service, etc.

[captain_SEO]

Keyplyr,

I am a new insert into the company - so I had no part in past strategy. From what I can see they had no branding policy.

GET PEOPLE TO YOUR SITE: They have few visitors from organic traffic - just PPC.

BACKLINKS: Backlinks are a mystery to them - unless its an accidental link from a blog post, article, or a link from a site they can get an easy link from that is totally unrelated in subject matter. Also anchor or image text is also useless in branding terms.

USER EXPERIENCE: Terrible - they don't have the user in mind - only look for keywords they can rank for and then put up a crappy page. That might have worked 10 years ago but now its a bit more complex. I already told them - give them good content and they will stay and read it.

GOOD PRODUCT: The sad thing is that they have a GREAT product and SERVICE but that's not helping right now. Probably due to the content.

EMAIL, CUSTOMER SERVICE, TRACKING is all great - but mostly from PPC. So my focus is on "organic traffic" not the stuff they have been using for years.

In a nutshell, this is a great company with lots of potential but they all mostly "brain dead" when it comes to SEO / organic traffic. .

[keyplyr]

Sounds like you have some work ahead of you :)

[captain_SEO]

Keyplyr,

Yep - just wish everyone in my company was a quick on the uptake as you.

They do have several "amateur" experts on-site who know everything about SEO/SEM/DESIGN - so it make me wonder why I bother. Perhaps it's because they know jack**** about anything - but they know it all.

[TorontoBoy]

If you have a Wordpress install be very mindful of your security. While Wordpress core is pretty well tested, all those pesky plugins can be full of holes. Check your raw access logs for predators. Consider two factor authentication.

Wordpress sites are very prone to being hacked.

[captain_SEO]

TorontoBoy,

I have a very secure wordpress site - I won't go into details here but it's pretty secure. But as you mention - those plugins are a pain in the derriere.

Anyhoo, we got off topic here - I would still like to hear about the best way to approach a domain name swap and or blog/site combo.