Search engine optimization depends on a lot of factors and not all of them are related to on-page text and images. When you are starting a fresh e-commerce business, the first two things you should pay attention to are domain name and hosting service provider; because these two elements play a key role in determining your SERP ranking. Organic traffic is best for SEO and brand image development, thus, you should follow an intelligent SEO strategy for domain name as well as hosting.
Today, I will discuss how website URL and website hosting affect website rank. I will also offer you 6 simple tips to select the ideal domain name & hosting to ensure high level of organic traffic for many years.
How to Choose a SEO Friendly Domain Name?
- Maintain Consistency: When you hear a brand name for the first time, you expect to see the website in the same name. For example, when you first heard the name of Audi, you may have automatically typed www.audi.com in the browser to see all the models they offer. Why? It is a common human nature because most people expect to see brand name as the website domain name. If your brand name is PQR and people see that the website address reads www.xyz.com, they will simply get confused. Such inconsistency will also mislead the search engines. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is select a short and pertinent name for your business and register the website domain using the same name.
- Use Keyword in the URL: Search engines love keywords and the best way to help them identify your business is to use 1-2 keywords in your website domain. For example, if you sell clothes then your domain name should include a keyword related to apparel industry.
- Get Local Domains: When you sell online, you are treated as a multinational company, but both search engines and consumers want to know if you sell in a specific country. A local domain helps you beat your competitors in the Google search results. Therefore, if you are planning to serve both local and global customers like Amazon, you should go for .com as well as .in, .uk and such other local domain extensions.
How to Choose a SEO Friendly Domain Hosting?
- Server Must Remain Active: This is a very basic suggestion, but most people forget to check the uptime of the server while selecting the hosting service provider. Unlike a brick and mortar store, an e-commerce site must remain active 24×7. Hence, choose a server that stays active 99.99% time.
- Ensure Fast Page Load: You can lose thousands of customers if your website takes a few seconds more than your competitors. Not only customers hate slow loading sites, Google also considers page loading speed as a key ranking factor. So, check the RAM and bandwidth of your hosting service to get a fast loading website. Remember, no matter how perfect your website content and keywords are, if the page takes too much time to load, nobody will even view your site.
- Payment Gateway Security: Why do you trust a site that shows SSL verified, PayPal verified logo on the shipping and payment page? Because these things indicate that the site maintains top online security standard to keep customers’ financial data safe. Hence, check the security measures of your web store and offer hassle free payment system.
Trust is a very significant factor for any type of e-commerce business. From the website URL to the payment system, if anything makes Google or users suspicious, you will never get a top spot on SERP. Hence, follow the suggestions mentioned above to make your e-commerce website search engine friendly.
