Zentury Spotlight – John Mueller on Keyword Domain Names and Branding

John Mueller on Keyword Domain Names and Branding

In a recent Reddit conversation, a user asked about the benefits of employing keyword domain names for SEO to increase exposure for a certain term.

The user gave an example of how to sell swimsuits using a domain name like “swimsuits.com,” which has over 10,000 monthly searches in their nation.

Google Search Advocate John Mueller responded in a way that ought to assist businesses in selecting the most effective SEO strategy.

He stated: “If you’re planning on using this for the long run, I would not recommend using just a keyword domain name. It makes it weird to start targeting other terms, and it makes it almost impossible for people to find you by your name. A keyword domain name is not going to give you any recognizable SEO advantage on Google” 

Domain names that are centered on a certain word or phrase may become an obstacle for those who have long-term marketing objectives.

Mueller claims that these domain names may also restrict the targeting of other keywords, which makes it challenging to vary the offerings of goods and services on the same website.

The guidance provided by Mueller clarifies the changing landscape of omnichannel marketing. It emphasizes how crucial it is to have a powerful, identifiable brand for search and other channels in order to engage with users.

Mueller’s observations are helpful for SEO and marketing experts refining their 2024 plan. It promotes a change in perspective from depending just on keywords to creating a thorough, brand-focused online presence.

Google Reveals if the Homepages Are the Most Important Part of Website

According to a recent revelation made by a Google employee, Google believes that a website’s home page is its most crucial page. And this point of view differs somewhat from how certain members of the search community choose the most significant page.

Links are widely recognized as being essential in informing Google which pages on a website are valuable. However, a number of Google employees’ comments seem to suggest that a website’s homepage is its most crucial component.

In the early days of search engine optimization, the home page of a website was thought to be the most significant page as links to the page were mostly acquired from directories and reciprocal linking. The home page became the most powerful as a result.

However, because people link to content (or build links to it) these days, the inner pages of most (but not all) websites are usually the most significant ones. Building links to significant inner pages has long been a popular strategy for link building, giving XYZ-related pages a higher ranking for XYZ, and so on.

It’s noteworthy that a lot of quotes from Google employees have surfaced regarding how Google determines the importance of inner sites based on links from the homepage. In addition, Gary Illyes recently made a remark emphasizing how essential a website’s homepage is to Google.

Google on the Impact of AI-Generated Images vs. Stock Photos on User Experience

Google Search Advocate John Mueller recently offered his “shower” views on the pros and cons of using AI-generated photos on websites as opposed to stock photography.

His talk sparked an interesting conversation about how people view pictures produced by generative AI tools, particularly in non-artistic circumstances.

A disclaimer said that the message was not intended as SEO advice or a hint to an impending Google search update.

Mueller starts off by making a distinction between circumstances in which a particular photo is required and those in which imagery is only decorative.

He contends that real photos are necessary in some situations, such as when a website is trying to sell a bag.

To provide customers a realistic picture of a potential investment, product photography has to have a solid basis in reality, even though genuine photographs may be edited or enhanced digitally.

Mueller, however, notes that there isn’t much of a difference between utilizing AI-generated photos and stock photography for embellishing content in general.

Both kinds of images may improve a website’s visual appeal and increase the reader’s enjoyment of the material.

This differentiation emphasizes that the choice between using genuine pictures and AI-generated images mostly relies on the particular requirements and objectives of the website content.

Google’s View on the How Subdomain Caused Indexing Problem

In response to a query regarding a website that was not being indexed, Google’s John Mueller revealed a little-known technical SEO fact regarding domains and subdomains that may confuse some people and maybe give the impression that a website is having problems being indexed.

The individual who posed the query used the secure HTTPS protocol to publish a website that they had developed using the Core MVC framework.

But soon after, they realized that they were having trouble getting the information indexed.

The individual posing the question made note of the two known variables in the scenario—the HTTPS protocol and the framework utilized to develop the website—in their query.

Sometimes the most evident potential reasons for a problem hide the real solution, making it more difficult to choose the right one. The greatest way to tackle an SEO issue is to never give up on finding a solution when faced with apparent problems.