15 things you should know about domain names.

1. Does having more than one domain name help my search rankings?
No. There's no need to register a zillion domain names. It will not help your rankings one iota.

2. I have a domain name I've had for years, should I ditch it for a domain name filled with keywords?
No. The older domain names get higher rankings on Google. Having keywords in your domain name is helpful for SEO, but the SEO benefits are higher for older domain names.

3. I want to optimize for several different keyword phrases, should I buy a domain name for each of my keywords?
No. Getting several domain names, even those with keywords are not a viable way to achieve higher rankings. In fact, this practice can trigger Google's spam filters and cause your site to be penalized.

4. Should I hyphenate my new domain name since I'm using keywords?
It used to be good SEO to hyphenate the domain name so the search engines could read the words separately, such as: real-estate-usa.com, however, this practice is no longer necessary. If you do choose to hyphenate your domain name, do not use more than three words or it may trigger Google's spam filters and cause penalties and/or delayed rankings.

5. How long should I register my domain name?
Register your domain name for as long as you can afford. Google actually gives "points" to those sites that have long-term domain name registrations because it signals that you are here-to-stay and not a fly-by-night spammer.

6. What if I want to use a different domain name in my public advertising than the one where my website resides now?
If you do not like your domain name and decide to use a different one for your business cards and brochure then you can simply have the preferred domain forwarded to your existing domain.

7. I am getting a new domain name and website, will I be in a sandbox?
Yes. Newer sites and brand new domain names usually have to suffer through a "hold-back" period by Google. This is the time that Google uses to keep those who aren't serious out of the mix of top rankings. The sandbox is worse in highly competitive areas and easier for less-competitive keyword phrases.

8. I have a domain name I don't really like, should I move the site to a new domain name. Absolutely not! Never move your website from one domain name to the other. This is horrible for your rankings and credibility with Google.

9. Can I use the term "Realtor" in my domain name?
No. If you register the term "Realtor," you will eventually get a threatening letter from NAR demanding that you stop. Realtor is a registered trademark of the National Association of Realtors. If you really want to use it, you have to get permission from NAR, or a really good attorney.

10. Should I register the .net version if someone else has the .com version already?
Generally it is not a good idea to register the .net version if the .com is already taken. In some cases the benefit of the domain name outweighs the issues so registering the .net may be a good idea. If you have a domain name idea, it's wise to register both the .net and the .com versions.

11. Where should I register my domain name?
Click4WWW is the best place.

12. Is it okay for my webmaster to register my domain name?
No. You want to register your own domain name with your own information so you will maintain control. You need Administrative control over your domain name, but you can give your webmaster technical access to your domain related matters.

13. How can I find keywords for deciding what keywords to use in my domain name?
You can use any of the keyword tools available online such as Google's Keyword Tool.

12. Is it a good idea to register a long domain name with several keywords repeated in it?
No. Your domain name should be reasonably short and should not use repeat words. Long domain names can trigger Google spam filters and cause your site to be penalized.

13. I have a free website from Keller Williams, is my domain name good for SEO?
No. The free websites given by many real estate brokerages are not good for achieving high search engine rankings because many of them are built on the sub-domain of the brokerage website. These sites are not very successful in search results.

14. I forgot where I registered my domain name. How can I access it?
You can find out information about any domain name on the web using one of the many Who Is Tools available, such as this one from Network Solutions.

15. Where can I buy an older domain name?
You can buy an older domain name by contact us and we will be more than happy to help you.


Factors that lead to a high results ranking on Google
The following are some of the considerations search engines could be building into their algorithms, and the list of Google patents may give some indication as to what is in the pipeline:

• Age of site
• Length of time domain has been registered
• Age of content
• Regularity with which new content is added
• Age of link and reputation of linking site
• Standard on-site factors
• Negative scoring for on-site factors (for example, a dampening for sites with extensive keyword meta tags indicative of having being SEO-ed)
• Uniqueness of content
• Related terms used in content (the terms the search engine associates as being related to the main content of the page)
• Google Pagerank (Only used in Google's algorithm)
• External links, the anchor text in those external links and in the sites/pages containing those links
• Citations and research sources (indicating the content is of research quality)
• Stem-related terms in the search engine's database (finance/financing)
• Incoming backlinks and anchor text of incoming backlinks
• Negative scoring for some incoming backlinks (perhaps those coming from low value pages, reciprocated backlinks, etc.)
• Rate of acquisition of backlinks: too many too fast could indicate "unnatural" link buying activity
• Text surrounding outward links and incoming backlinks. A link following the words "Sponsored Links" could be ignored
• Use of "rel=nofollow" to suggest that the search engine should ignore the link
• Depth of document in site
• Metrics collected from other sources, such as monitoring how frequently users hit the back button when SERPs send them to a particular page
• Metrics collected from sources like the Google Toolbar, AdWords|Google AdWords/Google Adsense|Adsense programs, etc.
• Metrics collected in data-sharing arrangements with third parties (like providers of statistical programs used to monitor site traffic)
• Rate of removal of incoming links to the site
• Use of sub-domains, use of keywords in sub-domains and volume of content on sub-domains… and negative scoring for such activity
• Semantic connections of hosted documents
• Rate of document addition or change
• IP of hosting service and the number/quality of other sites hosted on that IP
• Other affiliations of linking site with the linked site (do they share an IP? have a common postal address on the "contact us" page?)
• Technical matters like use of 301 to redirect moved pages, showing a 404 server header rather than a 200 server header for pages that don't exist, proper use of robots.txt
• Hosting uptime
• Whether the site serves different content to different categories of users (cloaking)
• Broken outgoing links not rectified promptly
• Unsafe or illegal content
• Quality of HTML coding, presence of coding errors
• Actual click through rates observed by the search engines for listings displayed on their SERPs
• Hand ranking by humans of the most frequently accessed SERPs

How long does it take to get results?
Normally a search engine optimization and submission effort needs up to six months to show full results. If you are in a particularly competitive field, it may take longer to achieve good results. This is because some search engines add new listings very slowly and because search engines tend to favor already established websites.

However, within one year you will certainly get targeted traffic: traffic based on your site's important keywords and key phrases.

Some sites, which have been online for a long time and have a good amount of incoming links, may see dramatic progress in just a few weeks following the implementation of the optimization modifications