Could a New Domain Name Help Your Traffic?

So you launched your mobile website a year ago, sure that it was going to be a big hit, and the traffic numbers just have not been what you wanted. Perhaps you’ve put a lot of time and energy into generating content for the site. Maybe you’re doing everything right when it comes to back-links, SEO, advertising and everything else. Even though you’re doing it, those traffic numbers are just not where you wanted them to be, and you do not know what else to do. If so, have you considered the chance that it may be an issue with your domain name?

When you buy a mobile site, your domain name is linked to traffic in two ways. First of all, there is the side of search engine optimization (SEO). Your domain name itself factors in since it will be used by the algorithms that determine where your site is ranked. If people who would want to use your site are searching for words that are not in the site’s name, that could potentially hurt your rankings. Now, once your site is big enough to be a household name, it does not really matter what that name is, because people will search for it directly. In the meantime, though, the best move is to get a name that fits with your brand and your products. This could have a positive impact, raising your ranking.

The second way that the URL helps to promote your site is by standing out. How memorable is your domain name? If it is too generic, you may just be generating a lot of one-time traffic from people who do not remember the site and who never come back. On top of that, if the generic name is hard to remember, people who do find the site will not tell their friends about it, giving you free advertising. You need to make sure that your URL is memorable so that it will bring in consistent traffic, which also helps raise your ranking on search engines.

Registering a new domain name does mean, to some degree, that you are starting over. However, that may not be a bad thing; if your site is not working well, why not give it a brand new start? You can rebrand and relaunch. Doing so feels like taking one step back, but it may help you to then take ten steps forward, rather than staying at the exact same place for the foreseeable future.