Do you want to be #1 in Google’s search results for your keyword? I bet you do. You probably already know that in order to achieve this, you have to implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. The broader your keyword is, the harder it will be. For example if you Google “Jeffersonville VT Adwords”, you will probably find that MooGuru owns the top 3 positions. Rather surprisingly, one of these positions is my Twitter account, which honestly should not be all that relevant for such a search.

So why do I place so well? Well, yes, I have a pretty good handle on SEO techniques and built my site with these keywords in mind, but that is all I did. It’s called on-page SEO, meaning I implemented techniques on my own website pages. This is the easy part of SEO, because you completely control your own website.

What I did not do was any off-page SEO, meaning SEO techniques that one executes outside the actual pages of the website. Off-page SEO really involves one strategy, but it is a big one, and it is link popularity. That is getting links from other sites back to yours. It’s a big strategy with many different approaches. Also, not all links are created equal. Generally speaking, the easier is it to get a link, the less valuable that link probably is.

I’ll get into on and off-page seo strategies in future posts. So why do I place so well, so easily? Simple. My keywords are not competitive. My town doesn’t even have a stop light. We are talking small. Chances are good you are in a more competitive area with more competitive keywords. Which leads me to the subject of this post.

The strongest, and sometimes easiest, SEO strategy often get’s overlooked. It isn’t on-page or off-page SEO. What is it? It is your domain name. Google’s #1 responsibility is to show relevant search results. Being relevant through on and off page SEO is work and takes time. However in many cases you can become immediately relevant if your domain name is your keywords.

During the day I work for CPA Site Solutions. We provide CPA websites to CPA and accounting firms across the country, and I specifically provide SEO coaching to our clients. I understand very well that SEO takes time, and in fact if you only recently registered a domain, you are already fighting an uphill battle with your domain authority. It is generally believed that Google will favor sites that have been around longer. In the mind of their algorithm, this is one indicator that makes sites more relevant.

However I have seen clients immediately achieve #1 placement on Google for their keyword, within months of registering a domain and within weeks of publishing a website. They achieved top placement before they even had time to implement on or off-page SEO. They achieved this because the domain name they registered was their keyword.

For example, a CPA firm in Doral FL, registered cpadoral.com. If you Google CPA Doral, you will see this firm in the #1 spot. Another firm in Sarasota registered sarasotataxplanning.com. If you Google Sarasota Tax Planning, you will find not only are they #1 in the organic listings, they are also the only firm in the local listing. This exposure is priceless, and obtained in large part, by simply registering a domain for $10.

So think about what your keyword is, and then try to register the url. Because this works so well, many good urls are already taken. However if you are a local business, try using your location as one of the keywords. For example if you are an art gallery, artgallery.com is probably taken, but vermontartgallery.com may not be. Often times, location is an important keyword.

So go to godaddy.com or some other registrar and see if a domain rich with your keywords is available, and register it before someone else does. Please email me if you have any questions. I’d be happy to provide any advice I can.