SEO for WordPress: “How I hit page #1 of Google in 27 days!”
Chapter 3 - SEO & Web Hosting
In this chapter, I’m going to show you how to choose a domain name and web hosting that will improve your SEO.
Domain Names
When choosing a domain name, try to choose a domain that includes your keyword phrase. For example, let’s say I own a dog training company and decided to call my company “Mauresmo’s Pooch Center.” People love to name their businesses after themselves, but you need to be smart when choosing your domain name.
Let me ask you a question. Which domain name do you think would be better for my dog training company?
www.Mauresmos.com
www.MauresmosDogTraining.com
Obviously the second domain name is way better, but most newbies will choose the first one. Your domain name doesn’t have to match your business name exactly. You should build your website on a domain name that includes at least one of your keywords because you’ll rank higher on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
In my example, I would buy both domain names, but I would build my website on MauresmosDogTraining.com. When the website is finished, I’d set up a redirect so that Mauresmos.com forwards to MauresmosDogTraining.com.
That would be the best way to setup my domain names. Why? Because my website's content will on the keyword optimized domain name which will rank higher on the search engines. But since I setup the redirect, I can add the simpler domain name, Mauresmos.com, on my business cards and other marketing material.
When you register your domain name, register it for at least 2 years. If you have the budget to register your domain for 5 or 10 years, then do it. The longer your domain name is registered, the more trusted you’ll seem to search engines.
Most people register a domain name for a year, build a website to try to make money, and then abandon the website within a few months. A lot of spammers also register domain names for only a year because they’re only going to spam the website and it’s going to get blacklisted anyways.
Only a real company will register a domain name for a few years because they plan on growing their business. So if you’re a real company, prove it. Register new domain names for at least two years.
Fast WordPress Web Hosting
Some web hosting companies has special hosting designed specifically for WordPress. For example, if you go to GoDaddy’s website, you’ll notice that they have “Managed WordPress Hosting.”
Managed WordPress hosting is faster than normal web hosting for a lot of reasons. Managed WordPress hosting has certain limitations ( 1 - 5 websites per hosting account) and restrict certain WordPress plugins that are known to cause problems with WordPress. The restrictions create anideal hosting environment which allows your website to move really fast.
Most people have basic shared hosting accounts. The basic shared hosting plan offers unlimited websites and unlimited everything else, so it seems like a good deal. But if you’re sharing an hosting account with someone that builds 100 websites and installs 500 broken plugins, then that can affect your website's performance.
Managed WordPress hosting limits the amount of websites that you can build, and limits the amount of traffic you can receive. The limitations are more than reasonable for the average business owner, and anyone planning to do something shady won’t even bother with managed WordPress Hosting. Perfect!
All your files are automatically cached with managed hosting, so your website loads very fast. There’s no need to install complicated cache plugins that never work or break your website. I personally think managed WordPress hosting is the way to go if you want a simple, fast, andsecure hosting solution.
Everyone knows that a slow website is bad for SEO because it’s a poor user experience. So based on my experience, managed WordPress hosting fixes 90% of the speed issues right away.
SEO is challenging enough without the added stress of trying to figure out how to speed up your sluggish website. It doesn’t matter how good your SEO is or even if you’re on the first page of Google. If your website is slow, people will leave your website before they get a chance to look at your products and services.
SSL Certificates
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. An SSL certificate ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private. You’ll know if a website is secure because the domain name will start with https://.
Websites that process credit card information are required to have an SSL certificate. What if you don’t process credit cards? Do you still need an SSL certificate? If you have a contact form on your website, then you’re still collecting personal information (name, email address, phone number, address, etc.) A lot people won’t enter their personal information on an unsecure website.
SSL certificates will help you rank higher within the search engines because it’s a user friendly experience. Secured websites are considered safe which protects the user.
Most people don’t know this, but if you try to advertise on Google and your website isn’t secure; they may reject your website. Unsecure websites that ask users to enter personal information are considered phishing websites to Google.
A phishing website (sometimes called a "spoofed" site) tries to steal your account password or other confidential information by tricking you into believing you're on a legitimate website. You don’t want search engines to think you’re a phishing website.
If you want to advertise on Google and your landing page asks for a name and email address; you’re going to need an SSL certificate. Google will also require that you have a “privacy policy” and “terms & conditions” page explaining how you plan to use the information you’re collecting.
Even if you never plan to advertise on Google, this is very important feedback from Google. Google is essentially telling you how they differentiate a real company from a fly-by-night business.
Go to any dating website or social network like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and you’ll see a disclaimer before you sign up with your email address. The disclaimer usually says something like “By signing up, you agree to our terms and conditions, privacy policy, and cookie use” and the page will be secured with an SSL certificate.
Some web hosting companies will give you an SSL certificate for free the first year. I know GoDaddy offers a free SSL certificate for the first year, then it’s $69/year after that. An SSL certificate isn’t necessary, but it’s definitely something to consider.
Summary & Action Plan
Choose a domain name that includes your keyword
Choose web hosting optimized for WordPress: Bluehost & GoDaddy
Install an SSL certificate