

How Domains and URLs Relate to SEO - letscounthedays
http://www.shayhowe.com/seo/how-domains-relate-to-seo/
Believe it or not domain names and URLs can play an important role in just how well your website is optimized for search engine ranking results. Outlined here are the 18 best practices to follow increase your rankings.
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randfish
I left this on the blog post (it's awaiting moderation), but think it's
relevant here as well:

Shay - I think it's great that you're thinking more about SEO, but I'm really
concerned about the advice you're dispensing in some of these points. There
are clear best practices and plenty of correlation and testing data that
refute or add complexity to the recommendations you're making. Please be
cautious in giving out SEO advice if you haven't done the research and testing
to back it up.

In particular:

\- 301s are permanent redirects and engines pass query independent ranking
factors (like link juice, anchor text, etc.) through them. 302s do not always
have this benefit.

\- Trustworthy IP address; this is very, very seldom an issue in SEO anymore
(though historically, there were problems with engines like Ask Jeeves)

\- Separate domains over subdomains is very poor advice if you're giving it
universally. I'd check out [http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-
domains-subdom...](http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-
subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites)

\- .org is not preferrable to .com or .net in any meaningful way, nor is it
harder to come by. There are no restrictions on a .org

\- Older sites are not necessarily "better." While there may be correlation
between the age of a site and its ability to rank, this is much more typically
due to the links and reputation its earned, not simply the fact that it's been
registered for a lengthy period.

\- There's a big, big difference between HTML Sitemaps and XML Sitemaps and
your statement that it "doesn't matter" which you choose shows a concerning
level of understanding of the subject...

Commendations are definitely due for tackling the subject, but please don't
give bad SEO advice; there's so much out there already.

~~~
rwolf
I visited this article twice this evening, and it appears to have been edited
to address your point about separate domains vs. subdomains.

The author failed to indicate an edit occurred, which I consider a bad Reader
Confidence Optimization.

edit: edited to indicate I had visited the site twice.

~~~
rwolf
and I see the "I have updated..." way down in the comments section--it doesn't
count.

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pyre
How much of this is 'proven fact' vs just 'internet superstition?'

~~~
btn
Indeed, almost all of these practices seem idiotic for a modern search engine
to pay any attention.

