Need to ask a detailed question.

So I live in a market that has a TON of wholesaling potential, like I’m in the “hood” almost. Tons of houses I see distressed. But 10 minutes away from me is a city in a different county with tons of potential and slowly being gentrified. So I’m getting me a carrot site and while thinking of my domain, I don’t know whether to put my county in there or just put like “Bay Area” and then have my keywords for google say the couple cities I wanna attack that are all within a 15 mile radius. @Jerryll Noorden  when it comes to ranking and SEO and such how would you tackle this? I want to secure name before we start our work.

A domain name has 2 main functions.

If you do your SEO right, at one point your domain name will be among all the other domain names competing for traffic clicks.

Now, if your domain name is AlphaOmegaPropertySolutions.com and the competing domain names are

InfinityHomebuyers.com

or

IofferCashForHousesNow.com

You lost the lead battle already. These last 2 domain names look and sound a whole lot more like a website the traffic may be actually looking for. It tells your traffic immediately without any room for doubt what they will find when they click on those links.

The first site is so vague, it really could be anything from a landscaping company, contractors, property management company etc. etc.

Think visibility and functionality in the search. There is where the competition starts, before ever even clicking on anyones site.

Now, I would visit authoritative forums where your target audience goes to to get solutions to their house problems. Just like BP is the place where investors go for their issues, you find a forum that does this for homeowners in distress. Reddit, trulia forums etc.

Now skim through the forums and find the words people are ACTUALLY typing in. Think how they call their location. For example,  in Jacksonville, people call it "Jax".

Find what the general middle class public calls the locale and see what slang or words they use.

Then I wouldn't use counties in your name because you are very limited then, unless you ONLY invest in a certain county. Then direct match keywords are perfect, no matter what any "expert" says.

If you have a specific location in your domain name, you will sound very attractive to anyone in that location, but you sound less attractive to anyone NOT in that location.

The sounding attractive due to location doesn't weigh out the not sounding attractive, so again unless you ONLY invest in a smallish location don't go too specific on location.

I would try to sound more like a really credible company than trying too hard to target clients.

Our company name is great because we instantly tell people what we do by just looking at our name. It is specific enough to have anyone in CT interested, and our SEO is strong enough to be all over the place no matter what city you are in, demanding credibility and we get forms signed.

So to answer your question. The name is important, but what you lack on name, SEO will make up for it, if you do it right. Credibility is all that matters.

My man 100% with it once again! Buying now. And thanks for being so thorough!

@Kevin Powell When you go about making your site don't try to black hat SEO by shoving "trending" words into the title, URL, or content without it adding any value. Google's method for ranking is much more complex than 'does the page contain the keywords'... it is looking at click through rate, time on site, bounce rate, back links, readability, domain trust, and a host of other stuff.

So... when you get your domain I would suggest creating city/neighborhood specific pages on your site that have UNIQUE value add content and an action that a user can complete (like filling out a contact form). Then make sure these pages are internally linked well in the header/footer of your page and included in your sitemap. 

Lastly, try to get backlinks to those pages from other trusted sites that are related to the area. For example, reach out to the popular local DIY blogger, local news site, or other region specific content and see if they would do a piece on your new business and link to your region specific pages. 

All of this is building up credibility in the eyes of the Google Bot. Good SEO isn't easy but well worth the effort!

Good stuff man thanks 

Originally posted by @Jon Reed :

@Kevin Powell When you go about making your site don't try to black hat SEO by shoving "trending" words into the title, URL, or content without it adding any value. Google's method for ranking is much more complex than 'does the page contain the keywords'... it is looking at click through rate, time on site, bounce rate, back links, readability, domain trust, and a host of other stuff.

So... when you get your domain I would suggest creating city/neighborhood specific pages on your site that have UNIQUE value add content and an action that a user can complete (like filling out a contact form). Then make sure these pages are internally linked well in the header/footer of your page and included in your sitemap. 

Lastly, try to get backlinks to those pages from other trusted sites that are related to the area. For example, reach out to the popular local DIY blogger, local news site, or other region specific content and see if they would do a piece on your new business and link to your region specific pages. 

All of this is building up credibility in the eyes of the Google Bot. Good SEO isn't easy but well worth the effort!

 Be careful here.

The mistake everyone makes is they care about Google.

Not putting your keyword in the URL, because you are scared of Google STILL IS caring about what Google thinks. Despite what ALL the experts say, DO absolutely try to get your keyword in your URL, title etc. etc. 

Why? Not for Google, but because your traffic notices it. You ARE providing value to your traffic if they can easily and clearly and without a doubt see what your business is about.

Here is some proof.

If what I was saying was wrong, I would not be featured all over the first page when I type in my keyword stuffed URL.

Not just being first but Google devotes a HUGE Block of space on the right hand site of the search. And Google rewards me with my Linked in, YouTube AND Facebook Icons.... on top of that!

People always make the mistakes you make. Having a name that is an exact match is not "black Hat". That wouldn't make any sense.

It is about Google trusting you. I can get away with pretty much a lot because Google trusts me. Why? Because I don't care about Google and Google knows this.

You are doing the exact same thing EVERYONE keeps regurgitating about SEO, but believe me friend, it is completely WRONG!!

Look  when it comes to SEO, STOP caring about what Goolge wants. There is only one thing Google wants. For your traffic to love your site. Thats IT!

Other than that don;t worry about any of the stuff everyone keeps saying.

Originally posted by @Kevin Powell :

My man 100% with it once again! Buying now. And thanks for being so thorough!

 Very welcome brother. If you have more questions about the meaning of life (SEO) Let me know!

@Jerryll Noorden

I've been watching your posts for like 4 years and if I was going to get into the seo world you would be the guy I would hire...just a mastermind!!!

Originally posted by @Mark Fries :

@Jerryll Noorden

I've been watching your posts for like 4 years and if I was going to get into the seo world you would be the guy I would hire...just a mastermind!!!

Thank you brother.

Remember I did it myself. You can too! :)

@Jerryll Noorden

Hey Mr Mighty Investor Jerryll,

Can I have your opinion on my domain name please. Fixedbyfauna I made a quick Wordpress site but now thinking of getting a carrot site. It doesn’t have the keywords but it’s catchy and meaningful for a broad audience

Originally posted by @Karen Salem :

@Jerryll Noorden

Hey Mr Mighty Investor Jerryll,

Can I have your opinion on my domain name please. Fixedbyfauna I made a quick Wordpress site but now thinking of getting a carrot site. It doesn’t have the keywords but it’s catchy and meaningful for a broad audience

 Just because you used the correct name  The super almighty Mighty Investor,  I will help you.

:D

So check this out. Just to make sure you understand it all (because what you said kinda was not 100% accurate).... the domain name has nothing to do with the host ... be it Carrot, Wix, wordpress.

See a domain name as an empty bucket. The host is the person that will carry the bucket from A to B, and the extual website, design, layout content, text, pictures.. is what goes INSIDE of that empty bucket.

So now that we are all clear on that,

Lets address your question.

Competition starts at the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). That is that page you see when you type a search phrase into Google.

If someone that needs to sell their house in Connecticut desperately types in: "OMG OMG OMG OMG I need to sell my POS house super urgently in Connecticut"

And they see a site that says "Fixedbyfauna" ranking #1, and then they see "WeBuyPOSHousesInConnecticutForPeopleThatNeedToSellTheirPOSHouseDesperatelyInConnecticut.com", ranking #4, 3 guesses which one they will click.

Yup they will flat out bypass you and click the 4th result on Google, because that name makes people aware that you most likely can solve their problem, without even going into the website.

This is what I mean when I say "Competition starts at the SERPs".

So pick your domain name wisely!

Doe this help?