When it's time to create a website the most important decision is likely to be the domain name. When the time comes, there are two general approaches that are used. One is to create a domain that matches, or comes close to, a search term used when searching the web for a particular product or service. The other approach is to create a branded domain name by using the company name as the domain name. Let's discuss both approaches and see which is the best fit for your business or customer.

For example, a hypothetical company called Creature Feature offers pet grooming in Seattle. A customer searching for this service might use different search terms but let's say that, through keyword research we find that 'Seattle pet groomer" is a typical search. Do we create a matching domain or do we want to create a customer brand? If we not restricted to a domain name, perhaps a good matching name would be seattlepetgroomer.com. Since this domain names matches a potential client's target search they will likely see an initial jump in page position over a non-matching domain since the search engines give relevance to the URL. This benefit can often be short-term. This is because a URL is only one factor the search engines consider. A site's age, for example, has a large impact. So as a non-matching site's age grows, they may rank similarly .

There might also be some adverse effects of going with a search matching domain name. Knowledgeable searchers may see your domain name as an attempt at an advertising scheme. Also, if a domain owner wants to expand their business offerings they will want to still make sense to the selection. Ultimately, the biggest detriment to an exact match is the lack of a brand association since the company name is not involved.

The choice also exists to create a non-matching branded domain name. For a company named Tiny Treats, the obvious choice is tinytreats.com, the name of the company. This creates a clear brand name for a customer who visits the site or wants to visit the site again. Think of companies who have huge branded domain names like Amazon or Google. These names have nothing inherently associated with the services they provide, yet they create a clear brand image. There are also methods of overcoming the non-matching nature of a branded domain name. Typically, a customer may create internal search-matching URLs.

Creating a brand presence is usually what customers want to go with. However, don't underestimate how powerful a geography combined with a service domain name can be. Many customers find what they want on the web. They search for what they want and if you come up as a match or close, you may become more relevant. Of course the key is being relevant for your domain name as a close match. Often customers use a wide array of search terms and a directly targeted approach may fall short. It's also obvious pretty quick that most of the keyword rich domain names are already taken. Ultimately, base a domain name decision on the long-term goals of your customer.