Why a descriptive domain is the SEO secret weapon for business success

• Using descriptive domains like .pro can boost a business’s SEO and expand its audience reach.
• Non-traditional domains clarify business goals, create visibility and generate trust among website visitors.
• Innovative organizations use descriptive domains to increase site traffic and user engagement.

When Fili Wiese and Kaspar Szymanski founded Search Brothers SEO Consultingthe former Google engineers drew on their combined decades of experience to build online visibility and adopted a unique strategy to outperform the competition. Their approach? Descriptive domains.

Compared to traditional domains, top level domains such as .pro, .marketing and .consulting allow companies to showcase their services and expertise up front, improving their visibility and relevance and telling website visitors exactly what to expect.

Rachel Sterling, chief marketing officer of Identity Digital, a leading provider of top-level domains, says descriptive domains are powerful differentiators for businesses, especially on search engines.

“(Descriptive domains) can help you stand out in a crowded marketplace because they’re personalized,” Sterling said. “You can get one that’s very specific to your business needs.”

The more the domain name aligns with the value a website provides, the better it will appear in Google’s search rankings, she added.

Search Brothers isn’t the only business using domain names strategically. Cultural Currents Institute (CCI), a public relations firm based in Austin, Texas, has also adopted a descriptive domain to differentiate itself in a media industry where getting across compelling messages can be difficult.

Both companies illustrate how harnessing the power of descriptive domains can increase brand recognition, authority and credibility at a time when online consumers have more choices than ever.

Building SEO Dominance

Wiese and Szymanski spent more than 10 years working together at Google, developing deep knowledge of Google’s webmaster policies, penalties, backlink risks, and link building techniques.

They eventually left Google and started their consulting firm in Germany in 2013. To help grow their business, Wiese and Szymanski made descriptive domains the centerpiece of Search Brothers’ strategy.

The company’s branding methods involve the use of domain names such as online.marketing, seo.services and seo.chat purchased through Identity Digital’s registration partners. Even its website – seo.consulting – is a descriptive domain.

Descriptive domains allow search engines and the public to quickly understand the purpose of each website. In turn, they helped Search Brothers build their brand, attract more leads and convert them to purchase the company’s proprietary SEO tools.

“Our descriptive domains are the best names available for our niche,” said Wiese. “Each website’s purpose and unique selling proposition is clear to potential visitors who see us in Google search results and around the web. When Google Search users see our domain in Google search results, there is no doubt about what we have to offer.”

According to Wiese, domain relevancy is critical to SEO because users decide within seconds whether to click on your link. If a user clicks on a company’s website and it doesn’t meet their expectations, bounces can lower their search ranking, signaling to Google that the page is not relevant. Sterling says descriptive domains reduce that risk.

People build websites and hope to be discovered through Google search. As long as your site the closer it is to what people are searching for, the higher your chances of ranking. Rachel Sterling, Chief Marketing Officer, Identity Digital

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Increasing brand visibility and credibility

When Jack Carpenter launched CCI in 2022, he wanted a domain name that matched his unique business name.

CCI is a multidisciplinary agency focused on digital marketing, branding, culture, public opinion and consumer behavior. It is anchored on Carpenter’s belief that “if you can adequately understand how information spreads, you can adjust the narrative and change people’s perceptions.”

Through his strategic choice of domain, Carpenter changed people’s perception of his business from the start. He purchased the descriptive domain, culturalcurrents.institute, from one of Identity Digital’s registration partners.

As a new PR firm, CCI’s success is based on its credibility, which is especially critical because the company publishes custom research and information that it distributes to media outlets. Using a descriptive .institute domain allowed CCI to build trust in the media.

“Our name and domain gave us immediate credibility with media outlets and search engines,” Carpenter said.

When information comes from a PR firm, journalists can be skeptical. But with “institute” in the name, the guard comes down a bit.

Within months, CCI’s research was featured in several major national publications. Improved media coverage increased backlinks to the culturalcurrents.institute website, improving SEO score and domain authority. It also led to a higher ranking on the search results pages.

“In just one month, we’ve seen our domain authority increase by 31 points and site visitors triple,” Carpenter said.

CCI’s experience demonstrates how choosing a strategic domain can increase a brand’s credibility, said Sterling of Identity Digital.

“Put a stake in the ground that you’re an expert in this space and that you’re either providing the best quality service or you’re providing the best quality information that’s aligned with what the user is looking for. she said.

Provides proven results with descriptive domains

Both Search Brothers and CCI continue to see value in descriptive domains.

Wiese and Szymanski frequently conduct field experiments to keep up with SEO industry changes. The company experimented with a descriptive domain webvitals.dev, launching a free service to help web developers easily identify layout changes they can make to mobile and desktop sites to improve SEO.

Search Brothers has already had success with this strategy.

“Last year, we had 100,000 users test our debugger and provide feedback,” Wiese said.

CCI relies on its descriptive domain to advance its credibility, expand its list of high-profile clients, and enter new markets such as political consulting. With a distinct, memorable domain, CCI is well positioned to grow its business.

“Descriptive fields make every character count,” Sterling said. “If you aren’t already, now is the time to use the right side of the dot to communicate who you are or what you stand for.”

Purchase a descriptive domain name like .pro today and unlock the potential of a new web address for your brand.

This post was created by Insider Studios with Identity Digital.