Which is better .com, .org, or .co.uk for domain names?
Think of a website address. Any website address. Unless a government or nonprofit site came to mind, chances are, the domain extension is .com. In fact, 52% of all websites are .com extension domains.Especially if you’re going to be telling people what your website address is (as opposed to them finding you in search engine results), there are benefits to using the “default” domain extension .com simply for easy recall.
How do I choose between a .com, .org, or .net domain name?
The .org domain extension is most often associated with non-profit organizations. This means, if you choose this type of domain extension for your business, you may run into the issue of some visitors thinking you’re a non-profit organization.
These are a good option for tech companies since there is a subtle mental hook .net = internet or network. This is the second most popular extension and is widely accepted for businesses of all types.From the SEO end of things, .net is better than other extensions, but has lower google rankings weight than the matching .com and .org extensions.
Usually what we recommend is that if you are a UK business, and especially if you are a local business like a plumber, cleaning company, accountant, etc. that is operating in a local geographical area as opposed to an international business, then a .co.uk domain name is probably a more appropriate choice for you. It is telling your potential customers that you are a UK company basically. However if you want to be a global site for example an ecommerce website selling items online across multiple countries then the best option would be to choose a .com domain.
What your choice however if you want to take the .com domain name off the market to prevent someone else registering it then the solution is to register it & then set up what is called domain parking for the .com domain.
SEO For Ecommerce Websites
1. Website Speed
To test your website site speed run your URL through a free tool such as Pingdom Google’s PageSpeed Insights to find out how your site rates on desktop/overall site speed. For mobile sites specifically, use Google’s Test My Site tool to gauge site performance.
Research shows that 40% of people abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Your customers will not be willing to give you there hard earnt cash without a good user experience and will likely return to searching for a faster website.
If page loading time is a problem, tackle some optimization tactics. For example, identify large images/files and compress them using Photoshop, or a free image compression tool. Leverage browser caching so repeat visitors don’t have to completely reload the entire page every time.
Part and parcel with a good user experience is a fast loading website. It’s also been a ranking factor for Google since 2010. With the amount of images and dynamic elements, ecommerce sites often load slowly, leading to lost customers and conversions.
2. Mobile First
An additional mobile-related SEO in 2018 is the introduction of Google’s mobile-first index. This means Google will determine rankings primarily based on mobile experience and content. Essentially, ecommerce sites need to ensure users have a similar experience on both mobile and desktop. If you have a site optimized for mobile, you’ll rank well on both mobile and desktop. But, if your site doesn’t perform well on mobile, it will tank your rankings on both mobile and desktop.
To ensure your website is deemed mobile friendly by Google, it must have the following features:
- Your website must avoid software, like Flash, that is not common on mobile devices
- The text used by your website must be readable without zooming
- Your website content should be sized to the screen to ensure that users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom to read
- Links on your website must be placed apart far enough so that the correct one can be easily tapped
3. Site Architecture
Ecommerce site architecture, or structure, is how you set up your navigation, category pages and product pages. At it’s core, it’s about getting the best, most relevant content in front of users and reducing the number of times they have to click to find it.
There are two “golden rules” to great site structure:
- Make it simple and scalable.
- No page should take more than three clicks to get to from any other page.
For an ecommerce website, the site architecture for popular products in their respective categories, related products, top-rated products, and recently viewed products are particularly important.Also, you want to make sure that your most important product pages require only about three clicks from the homepage. The deeper a user has to dig for the product, the less likely they are to persevere, let alone make an actual purchase.
4. Avoid duplicate content
Duplicate content can seriously be an enemy when it comes to ecommerce website. Ecommerce websites particularly meet this issue because they deal with a lot of product descriptions. When it comes to ecommerce websites especially though, the most common form of duplicate content is in the manufacturer’s product description. Looking to get as many products online as quickly as possible, most online shopping site managers simply copy-paste these descriptions onto the product pages and leave it at that.
While this is not plagiarism, search engines still treat it as just that. Instead, you should strive to create unique product descriptions using the manufacturer’s source and starting block to create your own conent. Unique content is always a must.
5. Set up efficient keywords
Finding the right keywords is the key to rank your ecommerce website. Take the time to do some in-depth keyword researches to pick the ones that suit your activity. Long-tail keywords can really help you rank high on specific niches where your competitors are not already. Those keywords can really attract the kind of traffic you are looking for and increase your conversion rate. Think in terms of user queries. People are quite specific and type conversational queries where they are looking for something. You need to think your keywords in terms of user’s search intents.
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Today’s consumer expects and demands a seamless user experience, and so does the search engine. Understanding and leveraging the connection between SEO and UX can improve search visibility and aiding the main goal of increasing sales. When SEO is done right, you will see an increase in quality traffic, which will lead to more conversions and repeat visitors.