Is SEO Changing How We Name Our Businesses?

Do you remember paging through a phonebook, being greeted by business names like “AAA Widgets” or “Acme Widgets”?   Why were they named this way?  Being the first in a list of businesses on a page was a huge step up – a company named AAA Widgets was likely going to get more calls than one named ZZZ Widgets.  So, now that most households don’t even use a phonebook anymore, how will this change our habits in the future?

Let’s dive into how most of us find things these days.  Do we pick up a phonebook, or do we open up our favorite web browser and head to Google.com?

(Which would you rather navigate through?)

I’m sure you see where I’m going with this.  Would we search for “AAA Widgets” or “widgets in tucson”?  Likely, we are going to choose the latter. And this brings us to the ultimate point of this post – would we naturally gain more organic traffic by naming our business “Widgets in Tucson” with a domain name of “widgetsintucson.com”?  The answer is yes.  While exact-match domains don’t always equal more organic traffic, I strongly believe that, if everything else is the same, an exact match will pull more rank than a non-exact match.

For example, if we have a domain named “widgetsintucson.com” and “aaawidgets.com” and both are essentially the same in terms of content, keyword density, backlink profile, domain age, etc – the exact match will rank higher. Google may deny this, but my own tests and experience lead me to this conclusion.

Now, don’t go re-naming your business just yet. But, if you’re starting a new business or thinking of re-branding, this is something to keep in mind. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions!