Long domain names vs short domain names - which is better?
Before you click on a new domain name, read this article to decide which domain name is best for you: short or long. We consider user experience metrics, SEO metrics, and general guidelines to keep in mind when choosing a new domain name for your website.
What is a domain name?
The domain name is the name that users will use to type into Google (along with your TLD specification) to find your website on the internet. For example, when you enter safaridigital.com.au, you are taken to this site. This is our domain name. Like a physical address, our domain name is where you can find us on the Internet.
Once you've decided what you want to name your new website, you can purchase a domain name from a domain name registrar. There are hundreds of different domain name registrars in Australia. It is important to remember that once you purchase a domain name, you can always transfer it between the company you bought it from and the company that will host your website.
Generally speaking, domain names are cheap to buy and register. Users will pay an annual renewal fee to keep the domain name. The average annual fee will vary depending on whether you select .com, .com.au, Sydney, .co, etc. Your TLD specification will determine your annual renewal fee. Depending on your TLD, the annual renewal fee can range from $5 to $100.
Benefits of Short Domain Names
More on Long Domain Names VS Short Domain Names, Wondering why you should choose a short domain name for your business? Shorter domains usually do not exceed 15 characters. They can be one, two, or three words long and are generally much easier to remember than longer domain names. This means that when you advertise your domain name in various media such as print, social media, radio, television, etc., it will be easier for users to remember and type your domain name in a browser.
Short domain names are easy to remember and generally mean you can build brand recognition much faster than longer domain names. Let's say you get branded t-shirts, business cards, or final-made stickers, they're also much easier to print and take up less space. Users are more likely to remember a brand name and then type it into a search browser or Google using a brand name search.
Benefits of Long Domain Names
If you're thinking of a long domain name, this might not be a bad idea! Long domain names have several advantages that shorter domain names do not have. First, you can use your full brand name, which is handy if you have a long company name. Secondly, given the huge number of domain names registered in 2022, the chances of you being able to register your desired domain name are much higher.
As of 2022, there are no domain names with four characters or less for sale on the market. For example, we would like to register the domain name safari.com.au, however, given that this name was already registered to an existing company, we had to register safaridigitial.com.au. When you register a longer domain name, your chances of getting your desired brand name are much higher than with a shorter domain name.
One of the most underrated benefits of choosing a longer domain name is that you can put your target keywords in it. As of 2022, websites that include their target keywords still enjoy preferential treatment on search engine results pages. For example, if you register your domain name as "brandname+service.com.au", it will be easier to rank than just the brand name. By adding keywords to a URL, you give Google a clearer idea of what they can expect to find on your website.
Are keywords important in your domain name?
We touched on this above. But let me repeat the sentiment. From 2022, websites that contain keywords in their URL are given priority on search engine results pages.
Exact companion domains or partial game domains are domains that possess all or part of your keyword as the domain name. For example:
If your website were called "roofrepairs.com.au", this would be considered an exact match domain.
If your website name was "dansroofrepairs.com.au", this is considered a partial match domain.
Over the years, Google has become less focused on exact and partial match domains. There are people in the SEO community who will argue that exact match or partial match domains don't affect rankings or positions. In 2022, we are here to tell you that they are completely wrong.
A simple search for a phrase like "SEO Sydney" will reveal a huge number of companies that benefit from an exact match domain. Many of the companies featured on the first page of Google are there because they contain all or part of the keyword in their domain name. If they tried to replicate the same result with a domain name without the exact or partial keyword, there is very little chance they could replicate the same results.
Google officially released an update back in 2012 that was designed to reduce the impact of exact match domains (EMDs) on competitive search rankings. As of 2022, the algorithm is still far from perfect as it separates websites with good SEO and websites with a partial or exact match in their domain name.
Should I use a long domain name or a short domain name?
We advise you to choose a domain name that reflects the service or product you are offering and try to keep it as short as possible. If you can choose a domain that includes your brand name + a word related to the product or service you offer, then that would be our recommendation.
Choose something easy for consumers to remember and easy to remember if it were used in other forms of advertising. The long domain name vs short domain name argument is still valid in the SEO community and the broader web development community. With the sheer number of domain names registered over the past decade, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find the right name.
We would recommend brainstorming five or ten different domain names that you could use and testing them against a control group such as co-workers, friends, or family to get an unbiased opinion. Don't get hung up on a long domain name versus a short domain name, just because a domain name is short doesn't inherently make it easier to remember. Choose a domain name that reflects the products or services you will be selling and build around that.
Final Note Long Domain Names VS Short Domain Names
A long domain name or a short domain name will not be the determining factor for your SEO success in 2022 and beyond. Over the past five years, we've helped companies with an exact match, partial match, no match, long domain name, and short domain name get exceptional results with SEO. Building a solid website foundation and architecture is more important than choosing a domain name. As we move forward, we expect partial and exact match domains to play a smaller and smaller role in Google's search ranking algorithm. If you'd like to speak with an SEO expert about your existing or potential domain, contact the Safari Digital team today.
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