Naming a business/url for SEO purposes

katied772 · 09-23-2010, 12:56 PM

I am re-opening an off-line business that I sold 5 years ago. Most of my sales of the product should come from on-line now since we are not going for a bricks and mortar this time. My non-compete clause has expired now. I want to name the business some thing similar to the original one since we had a lot of loyal customers that are still interested in buying from us. The company that bought our original business never used our name. I thought about putting the word "Original in front of our old name or behind. How important is it to have the main business name/main keywords as the very first word in my url? It sounds better to have the "Original" first but want to be search engine friendly. Thanks.

Geoff101 · 09-23-2010, 01:17 PM

Don't increase the length of domain. Instead add original in the tile tag of the website. When your result comes in Google it will show the title tag. You can also add something about being original in the Description tag of your website. That also shows in the serp.

katied772 · 09-23-2010, 01:28 PM

Well I can't get the dot com version. Someone else has it. Would dot net be next best or add to the domain name for a dot com?

Scott Voss · 09-23-2010, 01:39 PM

I would tread lightly here. Even though they are not using the name and the non-compete has passed, it sounds like part of the purchase was of the name itself.

In reality too, your product won't be the original. Because, regardless of them using the name or not, it sounds like they did purchase the 'original' product and are selling it.

It seems like some dicey waters you are entering and I would seek legal advice before I went any further with the name.

Since the name of the product has been dead for 5 years, is there really that much value to it? You say there are loyal customers who would still want to purchase under that name. Could you contact them and let them know that you were the originator of the product and now have it available under the new name?

Or, you could approach the company and see about buying the rights to the dead name. Then there are no worries with that.

-Scott

katied772 · 09-23-2010, 01:59 PM

Actually it is a very common product that thousands of people make. We were just known in the area for quality. I'd like to use some version of our original name to let people know it is us. The folks that bought our business are very limited into it now and use a different name of their own making. At the time we sold the business we ourselves were only using a version of the name. The name I want to use is a shortened variation and one we were loosely known as.

evanlambda · 09-23-2010, 02:15 PM

Some general tips for SEO in the URL/Title:

1) Google sees entities between dashes as unqiue mostly-mutts.com would be seen as mostly, mutts. Underscores are seen as part of the string so mostly_mutts looks like one word to Google.
2) In actuality, building a solid site with anchored backlinks is more important than the URL. I'm personally turned off of most sites using dashes in the name, because its something I associate with low quality SEO leeches.
3) Have backlinks that are relevant to the title of your pages.

I realize this may not help with what you're asking, but I felt it couldn't hurt to share.

09-23-2010, 12:56 PM	#1
katied772 Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 520 Thanks: 25 Thanked 25 Times in 25 Posts	Naming a business/url for SEO purposes I am re-opening an off-line business that I sold 5 years ago. Most of my sales of the product should come from on-line now since we are not going for a bricks and mortar this time. My non-compete clause has expired now. I want to name the business some thing similar to the original one since we had a lot of loyal customers that are still interested in buying from us. The company that bought our original business never used our name. I thought about putting the word "Original in front of our old name or behind. How important is it to have the main business name/main keywords as the very first word in my url? It sounds better to have the "Original" first but want to be search engine friendly. Thanks.

09-23-2010, 01:17 PM	#2
Geoff101 Muhammad Umair War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 177 Thanks: 28 Thanked 18 Times in 16 Posts	Re: Naming a business/url for SEO purposes Don't increase the length of domain. Instead add original in the tile tag of the website. When your result comes in Google it will show the title tag. You can also add something about being original in the Description tag of your website. That also shows in the serp.
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09-23-2010, 01:28 PM	#3
katied772 Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 520 Thanks: 25 Thanked 25 Times in 25 Posts	Re: Naming a business/url for SEO purposes Well I can't get the dot com version. Someone else has it. Would dot net be next best or add to the domain name for a dot com?

09-23-2010, 01:39 PM	#4
Scott Voss Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix Posts: 596 Thanks: 96 Thanked 114 Times in 66 Posts	Re: Naming a business/url for SEO purposes I would tread lightly here. Even though they are not using the name and the non-compete has passed, it sounds like part of the purchase was of the name itself. In reality too, your product won't be the original. Because, regardless of them using the name or not, it sounds like they did purchase the 'original' product and are selling it. It seems like some dicey waters you are entering and I would seek legal advice before I went any further with the name. Since the name of the product has been dead for 5 years, is there really that much value to it? You say there are loyal customers who would still want to purchase under that name. Could you contact them and let them know that you were the originator of the product and now have it available under the new name? Or, you could approach the company and see about buying the rights to the dead name. Then there are no worries with that. -Scott
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09-23-2010, 01:59 PM	#5
katied772 Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 520 Thanks: 25 Thanked 25 Times in 25 Posts	Re: Naming a business/url for SEO purposes Actually it is a very common product that thousands of people make. We were just known in the area for quality. I'd like to use some version of our original name to let people know it is us. The folks that bought our business are very limited into it now and use a different name of their own making. At the time we sold the business we ourselves were only using a version of the name. The name I want to use is a shortened variation and one we were loosely known as.

09-23-2010, 02:15 PM	#6
evanlambda HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 116 Thanks: 0 Thanked 10 Times in 7 Posts	Re: Naming a business/url for SEO purposes Some general tips for SEO in the URL/Title: 1) Google sees entities between dashes as unqiue mostly-mutts.com would be seen as mostly, mutts. Underscores are seen as part of the string so mostly_mutts looks like one word to Google. 2) In actuality, building a solid site with anchored backlinks is more important than the URL. I'm personally turned off of most sites using dashes in the name, because its something I associate with low quality SEO leeches. 3) Have backlinks that are relevant to the title of your pages. I realize this may not help with what you're asking, but I felt it couldn't hurt to share.