SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution

2015 Digital Summit – SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution

SEO, Dot Brand, and theNot Com Revolution


About Me• Senior Strategist, Globe Runner• Brand Ambassador, Majestic.com• Personal Blog: www.BillHartzer.com• Practicing Organic/Natural SEO since 1996• Domain Names and Site Migrations Expert


Overview• Background: What are New gTLDs?• Examples of New gTLDs• Real World Example: GR Research Study• Launch Process of New gTLDs• Benefits for Brands to Own their TLD• Brands Already Committed• New gTLD Vs. .Brand• Process for Moving to a New Domain

2015 Digital Summit – Background: What are New gTLDs?

What are New gTLDs?• TLDs: Top Level Domains

.COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO are all TLDs

• Generic TLDs (gTLDs): .XYZ, .BANK, .CLUB, 800+ more

• ccTLDs: Country Code TLDs.CO.UK, .CA, .FR, .ES, .IT, .COM.AU, .ME


Total Domain Market as of August 2015


SEO Factors and Domain Names• For search, still value in using Keyword Rich domain• Keyword rich domains must be developed• Search engines use link data, keywords used in links• Domain history, reputation are ranking factors


SEO Factors and Domain Names• Keywords are how people refer to websites• Websites use keywords to link to other websites• A keyword rich domain, with content, will rank• New gTLDs with keywords in extensions help

2015 Digital Summit – Examples of New gTLDs

Yeezy.SUPPLY by Kanye West


TheHungerGames.MOVIE


Lady Gaga's BornThisWay.FOUNDATION


Coffee.Club


Verified.Domains


Reasons to Move to a Not Com• Keywords and semantic meaning• Ability to precisely match key terms to domain name,

for products, services, corporate identity• No loss of Google and search engine love• Lack of available reasonable options in .COM

• But, let’s look at a real world example

2015 Digital Summit – New gTLD Vs. .COM Study

New gTLD Versus .COM Study

• Which is better for marketing?

• .COM vs. New gTLD domain name?

• Which is better for ROI?


Methodology, Requirements• Use a Controlled Marketing Test

• Real-World Testing, Results

• PPC to Test Ads, Landing Pages, gTLD

• Landing Pages, Conversions the Same

• Test for a Certain Period of Time


How We Did the Testing• Google AdWords Ads

• Keywords the same for all ads

• Bids the same ($1.00 per click bid)

• Same Landing Page, Same Content

• Only difference was the domain name used:

www.3CaratDiamonds.com

www.3Carat.Diamonds


Keyword Examplesdiamond price chartdiamond chartdiamond quality chartdiamond carat size charttypes of diamond cutsdiamond facts

3 carat diamond ringdiamond gradediamond claritydiamond colordiamond buyer guidediamond certification


Ad Examples

Diamond Buying GuideDownload Your Free Carat Size Chart.& Learn the 4 C’s of Diamond Buying!3CaratDiamonds.com

Beginner’s Diamond GuideDownload Your Free Carat Size Chart.& Learn the 4 C’s of Diamond Buying!3carat.Diamonds


Landing Page


Results in 20143CaratDiamonds.com vs. 3Carat.Diamonds

• May 2014: Average CPC3Carat.Diamonds: $.773CaratDiamonds.com: $.81

• May 2014: Results52% Conversion Rate on .COM, 36% on .DIAMONDSEffective CPM: Costs 2x as much to advertise a .COM

*Effective CPM is the rate spent for 1000 views of an ad


Results – Sept. 20153CaratDiamonds.com vs. 3Carat.Diamonds

• Results: Average CPC3Carat.Diamonds: $.77 (vs. $.77 in May 2014)3CaratDiamonds.com: $.83 (vs. $.81 in May 2014)

• Conclusions:Sept. 2015: 22% Conversion Rate on .COM, 35% on .DIAMONDSMay 2014: 52% Conversion Rate on .COM, 36% on .DIAMONDSNew gTLD converts BETTER than .COM in 2015

Effective CPM: Still costs 2x as much to advertise a .COM

2015 Digital Summit – New gTLD Vs. .COM

Changes in Conversions Since 2014


Finding New gTLDs• New TLD Stats - https://ntldstats.com/tld• Calzone - http://www.calzone.org


Launch Process of New gTLDs• Agreement Signed• Delegation• Start-up Plan• Sunrise Period• Limited Registrations (pre-registration)• General Availability


Benefits for Brands to Own TLD• Better Branding

No more random terms (like .com) as web addressesYou have your proprietary address that’s 100% under control

• Total SecurityYou decide who may have an addressYou decide what content is allowed in your domain

• Enhanced Customer ExperienceOwn space to nurture customer relationshipsNo need to chase after latest social media sitesAccess to all the site data to do deep-dive analyses


How Do You Get Your .Brand?.Brand TLD Fees• ICANN Evaluation/Application Fee $185,000

• ICANN gTLD Annual Maintenance Fee $24,000

• ICANN Second Level Domain names registered $0.25 per SLD

• Companies to Assist in .BrandAfilias, Instra Corporation, Verisign, Others


How long can you afford to wait?Have Marketing lead the assessment• DotBrands about BRANDING, not technology or legal issues

Review your entire portfolio of web addresses• Create an inventory of all of your sites• Include corporate, all products and brands, resellers/channels,

partners, promotions, even pages on social media.• Compare costs of maintaining a consolidated, global Internet

presence (your dotBrand) vs. the status quo.


Know the price of catching upStart now with:• Evaluation• Strategy development• Budgeting• Change management planning


600+ Brands Already Committed600+ plus brand leaders have applied for their dotBrandList: http://icannwiki.com/New_gTLD_Brand_Applications

AAAAccentureAustralian Football League (.AFL)American International Group (.AIG)Google (.android, .chrome)AOLAppleCouncil of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (.BBB)Microsoft (.azure)Bentley Motors Limited (.bentley)Bloomberg IP Holdings (.bloomberg)Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (.bms)Canon (.canon)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (.delta)AmazonFederal Express Corporation (.fedex)Ford Motor CompanyHitachiIBMNissan Motor Co., LTD.Jaguar Cars Limited (.jaguar)ToyotaMarriott Worldwide Corporation (.marriott)Oracle Corporation (.oracle)Vistaprint Limited (.vista, .vistaprint)Xerox (.xerox)


Should You Move to .Brand or New gTLD?

• Cost Assessment (own lots of other properties/accounts?)

• Compare costs of maintaining a consolidated, global Internet presence

• .Brand may not be an option (and that's OK)• So, go after a better New gTLD domain.

2015 Digital Summit – Moving to a New Domain Name

Moving to a New Domain Name

• Don’t take moving to another domain lightly

• Problems can be avoided with proper planning

• Moving to a new gTLD can be done successfully

• Moving may position you better for the future


Steps for Pre-Move• Make Backup of Current Website• Perform due diligence on new domain name• Crawl website, save list of URLs• Set up 301 Permanent Redirects (old URL to new URL)• Set up SSL HTTPs Certificate for new domain name

(TLS/SSL is mandatory for some TLDs)• Start marketing campaign, help awareness of domain


Steps for Pre-Planning• Plan a date and time to move to the new domain• Detail the process for moving• Who is responsible for what (in your organization)?


On Moving Day• Add 301 Permanent Redirects, Test Redirects• Crawl Website to check redirects• Update Social Media, Email Address, Business Cards• Notify Search Engines of Change of Address• Submit sitemap of OLD site to search engines


After Moving Day• Watch analytics for changes in traffic• Watch site for any search engine ranking changes• Get new links to the new domain name


Checklist for Moving to a New Domain• Extensive checklist is available (one-pager)

2015 Digital Summit – Concerns on Moving to a New TLD

Concerns on Moving to a New TLD• Sites have been moving to a new domain for years• Personally handled over 100+ large site migrations• No significant issues if done properly• No significant drops in traffic, search engine rankings

• Issues can arise with duplicate content, bad redirects

2015 Digital Summit – Why Move to a New TLD?

Why Move to a New gTLD?• New gTLDs enhance SEO• New gTLDs add aspect to relevant content not

available before• New gTLDs encourage keyword-rich linking• Moving to a new, better address can be done safely

2015 Digital Summit – Thank You

Contact MeBill HartzerSenior Strategist, Globe Runner

Email: [email protected]: +1 (214) 236-4378Office:+1 (972) 538-0260

Web: globerunner.comBlog: billhartzer.comTwitter: @bhartzerFacebook: facebook.com/bhartzer

SEO, Dot Brand, and the Not Com Revolution

Technology

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