How to Pick the Right Domain for Your Listings

Once you’ve invested in some incredible photos for the home you are about to put on the real estate market, the next step is to ensure that those photos are displayed on a modern, professional-looking website. Open House Photography’s Property Websites offer a variety of beautiful website templates that are both SEO-friendly and mobile-friendly, making it easy for your latest listing to reach as many potential clients as possible.

Aside from the website itself, the most important decision you can make for your property website is choosing the right custom domain. In this post, we will provide some basic guidelines that will ensure your property listing is easily found no matter how your future clients search for it.

 

Simplicity and Specificity is Key

Finding the right domain for your current and future listings requires being as simple and specific as possible. When it comes to real estate searches and websites, the best custom domains feature both elements. In this section, we will delve into what it takes for a domain name to be simple, and what it means for a domain name to be specific. When combined together, your custom domain will have the best opportunity to reach the intended target audience.

 

The Keys to a Simple Domain

Simple domains are easy to read and, most importantly, easy to type. Examples of complex domains include:

1. Long URLs (i.e. thebestplacetobuycampingequipment.com)
2. Double-letters (buyyournexttent.com)
3. Alphanumerical URLs (simpleas123rentals.com)
4. Hyphenated names (we-love-camping.com)
5. Extensions other than .com (camping.net)

Here are some examples of domain names that are simple:

• • katescamping.com
  • californiatents.com
  • kimbocamping.com

These examples are very simple; however, they are not very specific. In the next section, we will discuss how specific your custom domain should be.

 

The Keys to a Specific Domain

There are two main reasons why you want your domain name to be as specific as possible.

1. The more broad your domain name is, the more competition you will face on Google and other search engines.
   1. Example: “Animals” vs. “Dogs” vs. “Australian Shepherds” vs. “Australian Shepherd Grooming”. The more specific, the better.
2. In the case of real estate, most prospective clients in the Bay Area already have an idea of which city, neighborhood district, or zip code they want to live in.
   1. Example: “Bay Area” vs. “Daly City” vs “Westlake” vs “94015”.

If possible, custom domains work even better when they contain one or two keywords. It doesn’t mean Google will automatically rank your site high because someone searches your exact URL, but it can certainly help in the long run.

If you specialize in selling homes in a specific region of the Bay Area, this works to your advantage. However, it’s also important to note that your domain can be super-specific, but not simple. In the next section, we will bring everything together for the perfect custom domain.

 

Combining Simple and Specific

Now we can decide which custom domain will work best when it comes to your property listing(s). To illustrate this, we will use the specific example of the Westlake neighborhood in Daly City and combine it with the simple domain protocols to create a truly unique URL.

Here are some examples of URLs that could work in this instance.

• • westlakehomesforsale.com
  • dalycityrealestate.com
  • openhouseswestlake.com
  • westlakerealestate.com

Each one of these are specific to the region you service, they contain keywords that are common in searches in this area, and they are easy to spell.

If you are concerned about not being specific enough (e.g. you want to include a ZIP code in your domain), it’s important to remember that the domain is a small part in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and once you have a custom domain that works, you can add additional pages with unique “slugs” that pertain to a variety of different search parameters, such as ZIP codes, condos/townhomes, foreclosures, and many more.

 

Conclusion

Choosing a custom domain name helps you and your clients find buyers in a specific region, and even helps define your brand. The keys to a perfect domain name include being specific and simple, and utilizing additional pages to attract buyers searching for super-specific parameters. Our experienced staff at Open House Photography is eager and ready to help bring your Bay Area listings to life, and help create the perfect combination of beautiful photography and an attractive, functional property website. Contact Us today to learn more!