A "cityof" domain name is simply a domain name with the words "cityof" up front. Here are some examples...

cityoforange.com
cityofscottsdale.com
cityofboulder.com

I believe that Google holds some "magical" value for any domain name that has "cityof" at the beginning, AND, in which the city mentioned in the domain name actually exists. I think Google uses some kind of master list of place names.

Here's my observation on why I think this is so...

I publish a hyperlocal news blog, "Menifee 24/7". In my town, there are a few others who compete with me, publishing other Menifee-related portal sites, and news sites. Thus far, I have the one with the highest traffic volume. However, I don't have the site that ranks #1 for "menifee".

That dubious distinction belongs to a website called, "City of Menifee", using the domain name, "cityofmenifee.com". This website is NOT the official website of Menifee. Menifee is not an actual city, it's an unincorporated area of Riverside County. It doesn't have its own government. But it is found on various lists of place names, including the US Geological Survey, DMOZ, and others.

I think Google gives a great rankings boost for sites that represent the official website for government. Official state websites, county websites, and city websites, are given a big boost, because they're supposed to be highly relevant if someone searches for a particular state, county, or city.

So, since Menifee doesn't have an official government website, Google gave that title to cityofmenifee.com, recognizing that it is an actual place name. I think the Google guys have something in the algorithm that allows each state, county, and city to have one official website, and gives it a big boost to make sure it doesn't get overtaken by unofficial websites.

Here are some facts to prove my point...

• City of Menifee is a PR3, Menifee 24/7 is a PR4


• City of Menifee has 10 backlinks, Menifee 24/7 has 294 backlinks


• City of Menifee gets minor updates about 2-3 times per month, Menifee 24/7 is updated about 20-30 times per month


• City of Menifee mentions the word "menifee" less than Menifee 24/7.


• This only happens on Google. Yahoo and MSN doesn't put cityofmenifee.com at the the top, instead both giving that honor to the Menifee Unified School District

As it stands now, if the guy that runs "cityofmenifee.com" can exploit this Google weakness to his benefit, then so can you. Look for unincorporated communities, with nary a presence on the web. Register a "cityof" domain name, and just publish some content, in my theory it should shoot right up to the top.

Labels: Domain-Names

A "subdomain" is kinda like a domain name under a domain name. Here's an example of what a sub-domain looks like...

http://homes.chicago.com

"homes" is the subdomain. Here's another example...

http://www.chicago.com

"www" is the subdomain. Yes, all those "www" you see on website addresses are subdomains. But for all intents and purposes, Google doesn't really treat "www" as a true subdomain.

There are three advantages to using subdomains...

1. Google treats a subdomain as a totally different website from its main domain


2. You can use any keyword(s) as a subdomain


3. It doesn't cost you any extra money to set up a subdomain.

If you already have an agent website, you can set up a subdomain to create a totally new website. The company hosting your agent website has tools to let you set up subdomains.

So, if your agent website is hosted on a domain name like, "lasvegas-homes.com", you can set up an unlimited number of subdomains, such as...

• new.lasvegas-homes.com


• rental.lasvegas-homes.com


• nevada.lasvegas-homes.com


• henderson.lasvegas-homes.com


• realestate.lasvegas-homes.com

And so on. The good news is that the keywords in the subdomain name carry SEO importance, just like the keywords in the domain name. Combine that with the fact that Google sees each subdomain as a separate website, you've got a great way to create lots of backlinks.

Here's another Google advantage. As it is now, each search results page on Google will show a maximum of two listings from the same website. But if you set up subdomains, it's possible to dominate all 10 listings on the first results page of Google!

Labels: Domain-Names, Search-Engine-Optimization

You've probably heard enough times that your top keywords in a domain name makes a big difference towards a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

It's certainly true.

In the field of real estate, there are two primary keywords that you can use:

• real estate


• homes

While many real estate professionals often look for something like, "phoenixrealestate" or "phoenix-real-estate", don't count out the word "homes". Statistics show that homebuyers are more likely to search Google using the "homes" keyword than the "real estate" keyword.

The reason why is because "homes" has more variants than "real estate".

For example, here is a list of actual phrases that were searched on Google for my hometown of Menifee, CA...

menifee real estate (average)
menifee ca real estate (low)

menifee homes (average)
homes in menifee (low)
menifee ca homes (low)
menifee homes for sale (low)
homes for sale in menifee (low)
homes for rent in menifee (low)
homes for sale in menifee ca (low)
homes in menifee ca (low)
homes in menifee california (low)
new homes in menifee (low)
new homes in menifee ca (low)
new homes menifee (low)
new homes menifee ca (low)

This information comes from Google's keyword frequency tool.

Notice that "real estate" has only two variants for Menifee, CA, but "homes" has thirteen variants.

What this means is that if you choose a domain name containing the words "menifee" and "homes", your pages are more likely to appear when someone runs a search for homes in your locality. Conversely, with the "menifee real estate" phrase, there are far fewer variants, and therefore, greater search competition.

As the list above shows, people don't all search for the same exact phrase. They use different words, including plural forms, passive forms. If you choose to optimize on the keyword with the most variants, your pages will have a greater chance of appearing on Google's search results pages.

You can increase that chance simply by publishing lots of pages. Each page you publish is like another chance that your site will appear on a search result.

It's not necessary that your site appear #1 on Google for the most hottest keyphrase, but that at least one of your pages appear on the first page of Google, for any variation of that keyphrase. The more variation available to that keyphrase, the greater the chance that one of your pages will show up.

Imagine if you work the Menifee, CA real estate market, and at least one of your pages appeared on the first page of Google, for ANY phrase that included the words "menifee homes"? That's domination!

It starts with a good domain name, and I think a good domain name for real estate professionals is one that uses the word "homes" plus the name of your area (menifee, tahoe, dallas, etc.).

Here are some examples...

• dallashomesonline.net


• oaklandhomeslive.com


• homesinclevelandohio.org


• menifee-homes-realty.com

I don't know if these domain names are available, I didn't check. But it's just to illustrate what I'm talking about.

While keyword volume is always a good consideraton, I contend that "keyword variation" is a better consideration. Look for keywords that carry lots of variation. You'll do better.

Labels: Domain-Names, Search-Engine-Optimization