The right domain name is mission critical
So, it’s time to develop your new website or micro-site for your practice. Because your website is brand new, it will take some time for your domain to pick up authority (and trust) with Google and other search engines.
Picking the right domain name that best represents your medical practice in your geographic area can help with improving search engine rankings. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when choosing the right domain name:
Before selecting a domain name, do some research with free tools like semrush.com to see which keywords potential visitors are using when searching for a procedure, provider, specialty in your geographic area. Include those keywords in your domain name.
Add geography
We all know that healthcare is local. If you provide services in certain geographical areas, having geography in your domain name helps your site come up in organic search results for that area. For example, if you’re an OB/GYN practice in Charlotte, NC, try obgyncharlottenc.com.
Choose the right extension
Choosing the right extension is important when it comes to picking your domain name. Here’s a quick overview of how to appropriately use the most common extensions:
- .info – informational websites should always use .info
- .net – should only be used by technical, infrastructure websites
- .biz – most commonly used for ecommerce websites
- .org – non-profits and non-commercial organizations usually use .org
Avoid hyphens
While using hyphens may allow you to obtain a competitive domain name, those hyphens are often missed by users. This could mean a potential loss in traffic.
Exact match domains not always best
Exact match domains exactly match a keyphrase. So, if a user was searching for an ENT doctor, an exact match would be entdoctor.com. These types of domains can give you an edge if your overall goal is just to increase traffic to your site. However, keep in mind that they may also have a negative impact on the quality of your traffic and bounce rate.
Short and sweet will get you traffic
Keep your domain name short. While domain name length isn’t as important when it comes to organic traffic, having a domain name that’s hard to memorize can hurt direct traffic, which is traffic that comes from people directly typing in the URL.
Remember that it is more important to have quality traffic that converts.
Contact Practis at 704-887-5300 for more helpful tips on choosing a domain name.
