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Keep old or change domain name?

by mikehende
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys, friend of mine has had a domain named "Amerisalesinc.com" which has been on the net for 5 years or so, it was a general name he had used for trying many different wholesaling and retailing products.

Now he has gone into the used cars business and wants a new site reflecting the new used auto business. Since the name Amerisales does not reflect autos, should he keep that domain just because it has been around for a while or start fresh with a new domain with the words "auto" in it please?
#change #domain
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I don't see any backlinks so the domain serves no purpose for SEO.

    The age of a domain doesn't rank pages, followed established links is what ranks pages. There's a huge difference & you would find that out as soon as you tried to rank pages on that particular domain. No followed links, no ranked pages.

    Still, that's not a bad name for a business (Ameri Sales Inc), even for a car business.
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    • Profile picture of the author mikehende
      So would you agree that it would be best option for him to go with a unique domain which reflects his new business?
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

        So would you agree that it would be best option for him to go with a unique domain which reflects his new business?

        Personally I'd stick with the domain name you already have as long as someone else doesn't already have the business name registered for taxes, etc...

        Since there's no SEO value (existing backlinks) it's all about personal preference in how you want to brand the business. With that current domain name you could brand the business with an American theme.
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  • Profile picture of the author harveysilverfox
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author mikehende
    My friend's name is Ameer, he has a physical location in PA and already has a license under the name "Ameers Auto Sales" for which there's no current domain name so we can get that, if we were to go with Amerisalesinc as the domain, how would this work from an SEO standpoint, using his auto business name on the website?
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

      My friend's name is Ameer, he has a physical location in PA and already has a license under the name "Ameers Auto Sales" for which there's no current domain name so we can get that, if we were to go with Amerisalesinc as the domain, how would this work from an SEO standpoint, using his auto business name on the website?

      If he's already licensed under a name then go with that for a domain name. Stay consistent with the business/domain name for branding.

      You're not losing anything as far as SEO If you drop the old domain name. Both domains will require backlinks no matter which one you pick.

      Personally I'd be promoting on Facebook & Craigslist because I've seen some decent traffic volume (link clicks) via bitly for local used car sales generated on those domains.
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      • Profile picture of the author mikehende
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        If he's already licensed under a name then go with that for a domain name. Stay consistent with the business/domain name for branding.

        Personally I'd be promoting on Facebook & Craigslist because I've seen some decent traffic volume (link clicks) via bitly for local used car sales generated on those domains.
        Yes, that is what I am thinking too. I am doing some CL ads for him and will have an Facebook page setup for this but do you think paying for FB advertising will be worth it for this purpose? I have always felt that most folks tend to use Google when searching for product or service and paying for ads on the SM's are more for social events ads?
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        • Profile picture of the author yukon
          Banned
          Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

          Yes, that is what I am thinking too. I am doing some CL ads for him and will have an Facebook page setup for this but do you think paying for FB advertising will be worth it for this purpose? I have always felt that most folks tend to use Google when searching for product or service and paying for ads on the SM's are more for social events ads?
          I wouldn't buy Facebook ads right away, I would keep posting images of cars & answering questions about financing cars. I guess your friend is doing the financing for the cars he sells.

          Go to wufoo.com & get a free contact form setup, they host the contact form. Next take the contact form page URL that wufoo will generate & paste that URL into bitly to create a small URL that's easy for traffic to type into a browser. The bitly link allows you to keep track of traffic, where the traffic came from & how much traffic each day/month/year. This way you can see what's working best for generating traffic going into your contact form page (example: Facebook vs Craigslist).

          I have a bitly link (traffic volume), wufoo contact page example for used car business & a Facebook page from the same used car business that I found on Craigslist a while back. You can take a look at the other car business & get some ideas how they're generating leads for used cars. If you want those links let me know & I'll PM them to you, I'm not posting them on a public forum. I have nothing to do with this business just something I found on Craigslist but it looks like they're doing pretty good on car leads.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikehende
    Thank you very much for this help! Yes, Ameer offers financing and accepts trade-ins. We will go with the personalized domain name for autos, thanks.

    I will look into wufoo and bitly, would you happen to know if I can use that also for my business which is pc repair or is that only for used cars?
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by mikehende View Post

      Thank you very much for this help! Yes, Ameer offers financing and accepts trade-ins. We will go with the personalized domain name for autos, thanks.

      I will look into wufoo and bitly, would you happen to know if I can use that also for my business which is pc repair or is that only for used cars?
      I sent you a PM with some example links.
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