The Complete Guide To Choosing Your Real Estate Domain

Digital Solutions + Domain Experts

For new and established real estate professionals, building your personal brand is your career. What better way to establish your local and regional brand authority than with a notable website and domain URL?

From semi-custom websites to fully custom websites complete with IDX, RealtyTech, Inc. has generated thousands of leads for real estate professionals just like you. The first step when building your website is choosing a domain that sets you up for success over the long-term.

Are you redesigning or building a new real estate website? Choose a domain URL that stands out. Keep reading to learn more about how to select a domain that will help you generate more leads!

Top Pointers For Selecting The Best Real Estate URL

Need help choosing the right real estate domain? Any of the following tips from our experienced web designers and developers will send you down the road to success whether you are an emerging or experienced real estate professional.

For more information about real estate domains, websites, and or IDX solutions and how they can grow your business, call RealtyTech, Inc. direct at 805.413.7888.

Accept that the best names are already taken.

From the get-go, you know it’s important to manage expectations. With nearly everyone on the internet now, you’ll need to keep in mind that the best names in your niche (and real estate in general) have already been purchased. When developing a new domain name, start off with a list–and don’t be surprised if your first or second choices aren’t available.

Be memorable.

The idea of a vanity URL is still relevant. As a real estate professional, you will want your tagline and/or website domain to stick in potential clients’ minds. This is your opportunity to get clever, given that best choices are most likely already purchased.

We even recommend testing out your domain name ideas to colleagues, friends, and families to test their memorability. This will give you an idea if a domain name is too confusing or generic while still in the brainstorming process.

Add action words to your URL.

With so many real estate professionals in any given area, market, and/or region, you don’t want a domain name that can be confused with anyone else’s. Try formulating some ideas that include actions words that pair well with your brand. Not only will this make your domain name more dynamic, it can also serve as a clear call-to-action that can generate more leads. Some examples include:

• Buy
• Sell
• List

Don’t stuff keywords into your domain name.

Although it might seem like a good idea to incorporate a keyword or two into your domain name for SEO and ranking purposes, this can actually be detrimental for your website and overall domain authority. These days, search engine algorithms are smarter and built to detect more complex factors when determining your real estate websites SERP placement. Keyword stuffing can even get your domain name black-listed by Google, eliminating your search prominence. Don’t risk it.

Keep it professional.

Think of your real estate domain name and website as an extension of your office. In order to get potential clients to click-through, your brand name and URL will need to demonstrate an air of professionalism in order to gain the social proof that will generate leads.

Avoid the realtor TLD.

Although the realtor TDL (.realtor) has been given considerable attention and hype, this domain name tactic does not actually serve to bolster your SEO. In fact, it can make it even harder for the Everyday Joe and Jane to find your website and information. That’s because major search engines such as Google primarily use meta data and a host of additional criteria to rank websites. TDLs are not necessarily given more priority.

However, if you are able to think of a short and catchy domain name that incorporates .realtor, such as thebestventura.realtor or nashvillemetro.realtor, then you might have a candidate for a succinct URL!

Stay away from strange symbols and spelling.

Because most prime domain names are probably already purchased, it’s understandably tempting to want to alter spelling or insert a symbol–even a simple dash. However, this does not effectively help build your own personal brand. If anything, many users might end up confusing your domain name if it incorporates unusual spelling and/or symbols. This could lead to less web traffic and exposure for you and more leads for your competitors in the end.

Create social media counts with the same domain name.

Make it easy for potential clients to find you with a domain name that encapsulates your entire digital branding. We recommend checking to see if your domain name contenders are also available on social media platforms. Whether you primarily use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or etc., having the same usernames as your domain URL will make you easier to find. Remember: adding numbers, underscores, or dashes will make it harder for potential clients to type out your brand name correctly, so try to avoid these in any naming when it comes to your real estate brand.

Check if your domain name is already taken on Google My Business.

Last but not least, real estate is all about location. In addition to determining if your domain name is available on social media platforms, it is even more critical to ensure that it’s not already taken on Google My Business. This will directly impact your website’s ranking when it is locally searched by users, so double-check and choose wisely.

What To Avoid

As with any business-related purchase and investment, you want to avoid any mistakes that will cost you in the long run. Ideally, you want to get it right the first time around. Here are some key mistakes you don’t want to repeat with your real estate domain:

Forgetting to check for trademark infringement:

Checking for trademarks will ensure that your real estate website domain name is not legally infringing upon any other business, organization, or other entity. This mistake will generally apply to real estate professionals who opt for promotional taglines or language in their domain names. In this case, it’s important to keep other brands in mind and practice your due diligence.

Failing to research a domain name’s past usage:

Real estate professionals ought to remember that any domain name may have been used in the past at one point or another. Find out what website your domain name used to link to in the early stages of building or re-branding your website. If it’s a disreputable website of any sort, you will want to choose another real estate domain name.

Skipping the domain registrar’s fine print:

Hidden fees can be attached to your domain registration even after your purchase it–months or years down the road. That’s why it’s crucial to double and triple check all of the legal terms and usage rights associated with your domain registrar. This will prevent any unseen costs in the future!
Do you have any additional questions about selecting the right real estate domain name? Feel free to contact RealtyTech, Inc. with any inquiries or to learn how to convert more digital real estate leads. Call us direct at 805.413.7888.