Advice on website

[larryellis]

Do you think the name of the website will draw more interest from google if it were changed. My website is www.lellisappraisals.com and I was thinking of changing to a more region based website name. TIA

 

[glenn walker]

Do you think the name of the website will draw more interest from google if it were changed. My website is www.lellisappraisals.com and I was thinking of changing to a more region based website name. TIA

No I do not

 

[N/A]

A name change probably won't have the same effect as having content on your website that people search for. Like "How to get an appraisal in (City Name)." I'd suggest starting a mini blog and learn SEO keywords for your area to include. Tons of info online for SEO or just hire someone to do it for you.

 

[Fernando]

Do you think the name of the website will draw more interest from google if it were changed. My website is www.lellisappraisals.com and I was thinking of changing to a more region based website name. TIA

Your website is unclear and hard to remember. Why not use your full name - larryellisappraisals.com?

 

[Dublin ohio]

Most people probably search by geographic area. My website is very basic. Not a geographic name. Created it myself and hosting only costs me $10.75 mo. Generates a limited number of assignments a year. But one assignment pays for my annual costs with some left over. I expect more hits soon. Since home values have increased significantly and a number of the counties I serve just did their 6 year reassessment. Property taxes are going up. People will want to dispute property values. If I do a search for appraisers in my city. Mine comes up on the first page. Of course the first ones to appear are sponsored sites.

 

[Joe Flacco]

I took my website down because I don't want people calling me because they found me on the internet.

The most important thing about domain names is how easy it will be to give out your email address with the domain name. When you have to spell out your email address it is a real pain.

 

[Vermonter]

Do you think the name of the website will draw more interest from google if it were changed. My website is www.lellisappraisals.com and I was thinking of changing to a more region based website name. TIA

There are benefits to name recognition, but regionally based company names do work well. Especially if that is how clients are searching. You just have to make sure it's not going to hinder clients finding you.

For example, one of the towns I work is legally known as Brighton, but USPS and everyone else calls it Island Pond. So if I called my business "Island Pond Appraisal", I would get more action than "Brighton Appraisal".

Not that I would use something as small as a town as my company name for appraising, but you get my point

 

[CGinMN]

Domain names have some effect on SEO. It should match your branding, which now is confusing. Most people using the internet aren't searching for you, they are looking for 'Austin home appraiser.' So if I was starting over I would go with https://austinhomeappraisers.com/ and/or https://www.austinhomeappraisals.com/ then try to keyword this in the headline instead of L Ellis. Useful site content with relevant keywords on the landing page and a Google My Business page with regular customer reviews are needed as well. Also inbound links from other authoritative sites like local realtors, trade associations, directories, etc.. You should be able to get to position 3 in your market pretty easily, but it will take getting to know SEO fundamentals and basic web design. A professionally designed site is at least $20k, and there are at least 2 in your market. What those sites lack are "about us" with info about the appraisers and their experience. They are likely just lead generation businesses, which may farm out work to contractors.

I took my website down because I don't want people calling me because they found me on the internet.

The most important thing about domain names is how easy it will be to give out your email address with the domain name. When you have to spell out your email address it is a real pain.

This is true. These jobs is that it takes a lot of hand-holding, there is less efficiency and shorthand with the client, you gotta pick up the phone and respond to inquiries quickly, and the clients are often price sensitive. Online visibility brings consequences. Our jobs require disappointing customers, so if you want to be visible prepare for bad reviews. The way to overcome this is to solicit reviews from customers who you know had a good experience.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

To draw traffic to your website, you need to use key words on the first page so that a search using those phrases will list your website. What you call the website is pretty much unimportant.

 

[CGinMN]

if your domain is www.rakesforsale.com and you are advertising a real estate appraisal business, google will penalize you because they'll think you're spam. If the searcher's keyword matches the domain, the name of the business, the headline on the landing page, and the content on the page, then Google will assume there is a high probability your site is what the searcher is looking for.