What to do if the domain name is very different from real business name for local listings
-
Hey guys, any advice is very welcome ,
I m´ ranking locally a website in the bay area for cabinets www.cabinetsbayarea.com we picked this domain name more for SEO purposes because it has the two most important keywords that we want to rank.
My issue is that the real busniess name is HEMA DESIGN CENTER, so i dont know if we should change the name in the chamber of commerce to CABiNETS BAY AREA or list the business as HEMA DESIGN CENTER, with this website www.cabinetsbayarea.comr.
We only mention the real name in the About Us. CABINETS BAY AREA it is more as a deparment of the real business name HEMA DESIGN CENTER
What should i do?
Thanks a lot,
David
-
Hi David,
Good question. The short answer is, I wouldn't worry about it. You will have no competition for variations of Hema Design Center, even if all you do is make an About Us page with a title tag and url including the name of the business and/or work it into your other content where relevant and useful for visitors. You don't have to worry about ranking for your name.
You also don't have to worry about anchor text in that one chamber of commerce listing and later others. You'll probably pick up your fair share of "Cabinets Bay Area" anchor text links.
That then leaves all of the variations on cabinet phrases and local search. It might help you a little (not much, but a little) to have cabinetsbayarea.com, at least in click through rate as having a clearer purpose in a search result than "Hema Design Center."
Then, you'll get a bunch of local citations/links and do all the other seo work and it will all work out. Think of it like a business name vs an 800 number or a street address... they don't have to match. The real work lies elsewhere, like in making a great site, which it looks like you're well on your way!
Best of luck... Mike
-
Hi David,
I personally him very against using a exact match domain or a made-up name that you think will do well in the SERPS in order to rank well when you have access to your companies real name.
Unless your company has a name like Viagra or something equally as frowned upon by Google I would simply go by the domain name for your company.
HEMA DESIGN CENTER
Could become
remember you are going to have a lot of people that are going to go and attempt to circumvent Google and just type your company name In as a URL.
you will also have a huge problem with dual names people will not know what to call you it will be a mess.
if you legally change your company name then I have no issue with it however you should be able to rank well without having to change your company name when you have the word design in your Company name already.
I am not a lie and say that if your cabinet company the word cabinets is not going to give you a boost. But honestly there is a strong chance in the very near future that you will lose 100% boost it gives you ( and please do not take this as me saying it is going to help you a lot because it will not)
keep your existing company name trade market brand it and then run a solid search campaign doing the right things. By starting off not trying to trick Google by using partial exact match domain simply to get more visitors to your site is the right way to start your business online. Then remember never try to trick Google.
Just think of the confusion you will cause by having two names.
Sincerely,
Thomas
-
David I just looked that the domain I tried to advise you to buy. Obviously someone else has that and they are not in the United States.
I did not realize that you actually built an entire website and everything around this new domain. Obviously if this is your choice you should take down the older domain after you 301 redirect page by page everything to your new domain. by running two domains you are only hurting yourself.
Simply make a choice about the name of your business I realize why you have gone to such great lengths to change it now. However the reason that you did it is wrong you should not ever change the name of the business that is not tainted for another reason simply for ranking well in Google it goes against everything Google wants you to do.
If you are set in doing this which it appears you are you must rename your business
http://www.cabinetsbayarea.com/
that is a very easy to detect as a exact match domain meaning it could come back to bite you bad
Someone also has
hemadesigns.com
you have
hema-design.com
I would change that to this domain below its available and represents your company
hemadesignctr.com
if you like you can also go with your full company name
I would purchase them and redirect page by page from the
hema-design.com
you are currently using. You have a choice at least. You do not want people confusing you with
hemadesign.com
sincerely,
Thomas
-
Due to the optimization and content done around your keywords, and the fact that you already have a keyword driven domian, I wouldn't worry about it.
Google will show the name of the business with the URL, and have the URL link as "website". Same with mobile LBL. It will show call, directions, and website (might not be in that exact order)
People get too caught up on having the businesses real name in their domain. You already have a site, you have a domain based around exactly where you what to rank at, and what you want to rank for, and you have domain age with your purchased domain.
"My issue is that the real busniess name is HEMA DESIGN CENTER, so i dont know if we should change the name in the chamber of commerce to CABiNETS BAY AREA or list the business as HEMA DESIGN CENTER, with this website www.cabinetsbayarea.com."
^^^ This question refers to what you should do for your citation sites, correct? The business name is "HEMA DESIGN CENTER" so use that. You will still have links going to the proper domain, and still be getting people to the site. The only reason I would not set it up under the business name, and use the keyword driven name is if you plan on building another site for the business name (under a branded domain).
Here is the kicker. Whatever you do, keep it consistant. Use the same tactics that you use on your site, and same information across the web. You dont want to lose credibilty with the search engines. Pick one strategy and run with it.
My opinion? Stick with the keyword driven domain. When used properly, these carry a ton of weight. People are not going to search for a local company by name, they are going to search by service and location. For example: "cabinet installation bay area" would be a real-world search query for your site. Mirror the same approach as your site when setting up citations, minor company name, major keyword focus. If you keep it clean and not spammy, I think you will be good to go.
-
Hi Thomas, thanks a lot for yor reply, i see what you are saying, i agree totally there is no reason to trick google.
This is the case, HEMA DESIGN CENTER made me 50% partner of the online sales, they just had a bad website that they didnt even used hema-design-com, I had to started from scratch, as you know they domain name wasnt good at all.
So i saw cabinetsbayarea.com available and it seemed to me as a very good domain for this project, they idea is as well to generation leads from this site to near by places that HEMA DESIGN CENTER can not serve, like san mateo, or san francisco for example, and sell those leads to people that can serve those areas.
They idea to have a cabinetsbayarea.com as a domain as well, it´s that it can be useful to more people if we decide to sell the website, because i dont want to put a lot of work in a project , and even though i trust this guys a lot let say for a reason we end the parnership and I have a domain with HEMA DESIGN CENTER name that is only going to be useful for them.
What do you think?
Thanks a lot for your advice,
David
-
Hi David,
Something that's really standing out to me, visiting the cabinentsbayarea site is that the phone number is not a bay area phone number. It looks like it's in Florida. Is that correct? Is the business not actually located in the California bay area? This could be a problem.
-
Hi Miriam , thanls for yur reply, yes this is a Florida´s number, and we are actually located in the bay area, we are about to get a new bay area local number that we are going to put in the listings as well, to be able to track calls tha are coming exclusively from this site and project.
Thanks!
David
-
David,
I apologize for the very long post. However you did inquire about whether or not you trust them now it is about making a fair deal for yourself.
I would ask for the money if the company does not have the note enough money to pay you fairly and you truly trust them you are taking a very big risk regardless. Business turns people into things that are not so pleasant sometimes ( not everyone please do not think I am saying this is going to happen to you
I found a domain that is not a exact match and believe me this is the definition of an exact match domain ("bay area" the locale "cabinets" the product) is an exact match domain no matter how you look at it.
Strongly consider the fact that this domain exists
http://www.bayareacabinetry .com/
http://www.bayareacabinets .com/ ( is for sale unknown price obviously do not buy it)
first get your business with this company in order. Do not just leave it open for them to possibly take the URL and leave you in the dark.
hemadesigncenter .com
large photo of 2-for-1 deal on domain above
if you are worried about not having ownership of the site have them sign a contract stating that they will not sue you for registering their companies name and possible trademark.
It is extremely hard for them to get in a domain back but very easy for them to sue you for anything.
Keep in mind that they should have their company name as a domain if you are their friend you will register that domain. If you need to have more security one thought is split this into a 50-50 business not just words out of some guy's mouth. Form an LLC call it
HEMAcabinetry .com if that works for you and them?
I would rather have a deal with them in writing and possibly equity in their company before I am going to start counting on them having the money for every sale think about this 50% of their sales online?
I see that PairNIC the best registry ever in my opinion is doing a two-for-one sale
if you need a domain that is not the companies trademarked domain because you feel you could get pushed out make a second LLC or speak to an attorney I have put a lot of information below because 50% of sales is not something you even want. Percentages can be altered greatly in business.
hemacabinetry .com
would be a domain you should own as well as the whois reflecting your company or your self unless you come to an agreement with this business that gives you more security.
Trademark and file the name of the business this will show you if there are any conflicts early on.
you can use this service below that gives you a domain and trademark along with submitting it to all of the social media outlets.
http://knowem.com/checkusernames.php?u=HEMAcabinetry&submit=
Save money using the service via http://Moz.com/perks
Talk to people like LegalZoom or these guys https://ct.wolterskluwer.com/why-ct
If you want protection for the site simply tell them you are going to create an LLC called HEMAcabinetry .com purchase the available domain name along with being certain to TradeMark the name of the site. Have them sign an agreement telling you that they agree this is not infringing on any current trademarks of their business.
If you are honestly going to do the work for the site and not get paid cash you should own the site. I would also want to have a good look at this company's books they are essentially asking you to be a partner but how much of this is in writing? What is written down is more important than anything else.
I am not saying these people are bad that they are going to rip you off anything like that but you really want to take precautions
I am extremely hesitant to help out businesses that offer me "50% of online sales"
number 1 to ask for revenue not a percentage of even 50% of sales.
50% of sales can be manipulated beyond belief. I know it sounds crazy however never work with percentages work with revenue that way you cannot get taken to town twice. It sounds like either their very lacking in their knowledge of how to run a business or they are simply trying to rip you off. I hope neither is the case but I want to be completely honest with you you can manipulate a percentage of sales even 50%
Most of my career has been running two manufacturing companies one manufactures plastics the other manufacturers roofing material.
Regardless this is how I would never take a 50% sale deal from anybody you have to do get an attorney to put it in writing that you want 50% of the revenue generated from online sales.
You are entitled to equity from that business because you are giving them a service that they should be paying for. I hope I am wrong but I would never do a deal like this.
I think you should do one of two things sit down with an attorney asked them simply state what you are doing and ask them for the best way to make it legal so that you are not ripped off by them taking the website, flaking out on you entirely, or manipulating the (books maybe not even to hurt you) and diluting the value of what they call 50% of sales online You could easily make nothing or and up owing them money.
https://www.legalzoom.com/attorneys-lawyers/legal-plans
https://www.legalzoom.com/attorneys-lawyers/legal-plans/business
Tell the people that offered you this deal you want cash not a percentage of the corporations sales unless this is not what you want. Unless for some reason that is not what you want you then are in a position where they owe you equity in the company for the debt they have incurred of you building and running their website.
https://www.legalzoom.com/limited-liability-company/limited-liability-company-overview.html
I would start out by creating a separate LLC with yourself there president/CEO then allow them to add their company's president as well as your name as VP or CEO for the The record the way that business is constructed will be more important than your title.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-operating-income-net-sales-24911.html
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/01/110701.asp
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-operating-income-net-sales-24911.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/sales-commissions-net-revenue-model-vs-gross-margin-model-38255.html
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/cutting_sales_costs_not_revenues
more
Earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, takes a company’s revenue, or earnings, and subtracts its cost of goods sold and operating expenses. The resulting figure, EBIT, is also called "operating earnings," "operating profit," or "operating income." Another way to calculate EBIT is to take net income and add back the interest and taxes the company paid. Investors can find the data required to calculate EBIT on the company's income statement. If EBIT is unsatisfactory, the company will need to either increase its revenues, decrease its expenses or both to improve its performance.
| |
Definition of 'Debt/Equity Swap'
A transaction in which the obligations (debts) of a company or individual are exchanged for something of value (equity). In the case of a publicly-traded company, this would generally entail an exchange of bonds for stock. The value of the stocks and bonds being exchanged are typically determined by the market at the time of the swap.
|
| |Investopedia explains 'Debt/Equity Swap'
A debt/equity swap is a refinancing deal in which a debt-holder gets an equity position in exchange for cancellation of the debt. The swap is LegalZoom generally done to help a struggling company continue to operate (after all, an insolvent company can't pay its debts or improve its equity standing). However, sometimes a company may simply wish to take advantage of favorable market conditions.
Covenants in the bond indenture may prevent a swap from happening without consent.
|
PS and other companies that will not use your queries against you for looking at domains is
I use another company Dyn Is my favorite as well they are not offering any discounts I am a DNS freak so I love this company but they will also not register a domain that is just being queried unlike Go Daddy. phone support is not 24/7 on the weekends for domains
http://dyn.com/ ( you will have to have your own DNS or use their outstanding DNS that does add USD29 a year)
-
Ive done this before too, i know this is answered but as a logo designer i want to just add and maybe this can help, why not put somewhere in your logo:
CABINETS BAY AREA
A HEMA DESIGN CENTER Company
maybe almost like a slogan ya know?
-
Hi Thomas, how are you doing?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to advise me with this issue, I think it is wonderful everything you say , and i agree with it. This week i will have a meeting with my partners and with an attorney to make this parnertship worthed for everybody , i will take care all the considerations you explained to me in this response.
Thanks a lot,
David
-
HI David I am happy that I could be of help with that.
Sincerely,
Thomas
-
Hi David,
just wanted to give you a quick tip that your domain is showing a 301 redirect to
|
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
|
|
however is resolving www.cabinetsbayarea.com
and that is because of this below. Make sure there synchronized.
| Rel="canonical" |
http://www.cabinetsbayarea.com/
|
Sincerely,
Thomas
-
1498
-
1394
-
07160
-
08680
-
05203
-
02156
-
02148
-
02102