Using keyword rich names to capture first page search results

Organic search traffic is one of the most important sources of traffic in any business. Social media can have a greater or lesser effect, but for long term consistent traffic, nothing beats getting your blog, site or business to the top of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

It is becoming more and more important to undertake Keyword research before deciding on names, slogans, mission statements and so on.

For startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, it is really important to take SEO into account when deciding on a name for any new enterprise. The name of the enterprise becomes the domain (assuming it's not been parked on GoDaddy) name, which plays a huge factor in how that domain competes for certain SEO keywords.

Conventional brands vs. SEO keyword rich names

As a new enterprise, is it more important to have a brandable name (one that sticks in the mind, and is easy to remember) or an SEO enhanced one (one that will drive traffic to your site because it speaks directly to the nature of the site itself)? I would argue that it is far more important to try and capture every bit of new business right from the outset, and so I would always choose an SEO keyword rich name.

Building a new brand from scratch is difficult. Made all the more difficult if it leads to a domain name that has no inherent SEO value. Conversely, an SEO rich name might help send your new site to the top of the page rankings (for those keywords) a lot quicker, leading to more qualified traffic, leading to greater revenue. Once you have operating capital, it is a lot easier to go ahead and brand your site.

SEO naming technique

Creating a powerful, SEO enhanced website starts the second you decide to create a new website. Before you have even thought of a name. SEO keyword research should be one of the first tasks you perform - right after deciding what the site will offer. As soon as you know what your value offering is going to be, you can then decide on a suitable SEO name.

SEO doesn't stop with a name either. Your site tagline or motto should be SEO enhanced too. For example, look at the tagline for siteprebuilder.com. Notice that it is "The online business specialist". It could have easily been "The Internet business specialist" without losing any meaning for human readers, except for the fact that the phrase "online business" gathers nearly five times the amount of organic search each month at the same relative competitiveness.

Do SEO keyword rich names work?

The effectiveness of this new SEO enhanced business naming convention is evident all over the Internet. Do a Google search for small business internet marketing. This is clearly a highly competitive key-phrase because plenty of blogs and businesses would like to capture traffic coming from people looking to market their small business online.

You might expect one of the big SEO or marketing sites that have hundreds of thousands of members to appear in first place. Instead it is a site with the domain www.smallbusinessinternetmarketing.com.au. This site is ranked around 2 000 000 (that's two million) by Alexa. Despite this it is firmly in first spot, beating out sites like web.com and ducttapemarketing.com, both of which rank around 10 000.

SEO keyword research... practically speaking

Of course, there are always other factors in play but I think you get the gist of what I'm trying to say. Start building SEO considerations into all of your new and current Internet projects to give yourself every advantage. Capturing valuable SEO keywords and phrases also has a number of other knock on benefits.

Keyword research can be a bit tricky so you either need to be patient and accept that it takes a bit of time and practice to master, or alternatively, find someone you know can do a good SEO and marketing job and ensure that they are consulted at the grass roots level of your new initiatives.