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SEO for Nick Varrecchio
February 21st, 2006While the SEO folks are reading me in the next few days, let me query them on an SEO issue.
Dominic Varrecchio is running for City Clerk of New Orleans, Louisiana. I’m going to create his campaign web site. I’ve registered a number of names for the site. The include…
- varrecchio.com
- dominicvarrecchio.com
- nickvarrecchio.com
- nick4clerk.com
- nickforclerk.com
Would someone please tell me which is best for SEO? My guess is to simply use the sirname, since it is so obscure. However, this is New Orleans. Information travels by word of mouth. Wouldn’t it be better to print nick4clerk.com on campaign collateral, in the hopes that someone will remember it?
Currently, the nick4clerk.com and nickforclerk.com domains redirect to varrecchio.com.
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Comments 
Hi Alan,
I think the approach you’re currently taking is the best one. You have domains that can be easily spread by word of mouth, such as nick4clerk.com or nickforclerk.com, to use for things like campaign literature and over the phone, and they redirect to a site which could have more long-term value for the candidate (varrecchio.com).
Let’s say, hypothetically, in a few years he decides to run for mayor. He can continue to use varrecchio.com as his campaign web site, and captilize on the longevity and reputation the site has already attained, as well as the links which have been built up over time, but he won’t be constrained by the word “clerk” in the domain name.
Google tends to put greater weight on domains that have been around for a while, and which have been linked to for a long time, so the site increases in value (from a search engine’s point of view) the older it gets.
Using keywords in a domain name has the most significant effect when the domain name matches exactly the keywords being searched for. So a domain name like dominicvarrecchio.com really would help a site rank for the search “dominic varrecchio”. However, that’s not a very competitive keyword phrase. You can easily rank for that with just a few decent links and the name in the title tag. Keywords in the domain name really wouldn’t be necessary.
Keywords in the domain name are best if you’re targeting some very competitive phrase, and you’re lucky enough to secure the domain name that matches that phrase exactly. Otherwise, just focus on your title tag, the anchor (visible) text of your incoming links, and the quality and relevance of the pages those links are coming from.
If you haven’t already, you may also want to consider registering a few common mispellings of the name “varrecchio,” as you wouldn’t want opposing candidates registering those names and possibly getting traffic from people who spell the name wrong in a search.
Esoos
It didn’t occur to me register misspellings, oddly. Spoke with Nick about this and I’m going to register the most common misspellings of his name. That was some really good advice. Thank you.
Looks at though Nick is going to put http://www.varrecchio.com on his materials, although I suggested nick4clerk.com. They feel the http://www.varrecchio.com makes it obvious that it’s a web address.
I’m pretty sure a blog posting or two annoucing that Nick Varrecchio is running for New Orleans Clerk of Court will put him towards the top. There are not many other web developers in New Orleans that are clued into SEO, or the importance of search.
It will be one of the advantages that I put forward as I move into web design and programming in this new market.
Thanks for your feedback.