Is this more than just a domain? | Hacker News Reader

Is this more than just a domain?

6 pointsVadimuZ7 comments

Hello, hackers, geeks, and other diversity of HN readers.

I bought the domain https://planning.wedding and built a platform Wedding Planning Assistant.

Recently I have realized... If you have a great domain, think about how you can play around sub-domain.

People ask questions. How to start planning a wedding? Turns to: https://how.to.start.planning.wedding

First steps for planning a wedding? Here is: https://first.steps.for.planning.wedding

And so on... https://checklist.for.planning.wedding https://the.ultimate.guide.to.planning.wedding https://how.to.planning.wedding https://i.am.planning.wedding

Of course, all these newly-created domains have a zero domain rating. But it can be used as micro landing pages that give specific answers in detail and gain authority. I heard exact match domains have some benefits for SEO.

So, my question will be related to brand building.

What do you think, is it possible to reach the words "Planning Wedding" as a brand itself?

I personally would set it up in Google Search Console for each subdomain and experiment to see how deep Google matches subdomains on subdomains.

And do 302 redirects (https://first.steps.for.planning.wedding ==> https://planning.wedding/first-steps)

Although I'm not sure what I'd do on https://for.planning.wedding, but probably a 302 to https://planning.wedding

The nerd in me would then automate any slug that ends in "planning wedding", set up the domain in Search Console and ensure its verified properly.

For the record, I really like this branding idea.

It will be difficult with a new domain for a highly targeted keyword like planning wedding. The longer keywords you mentioned are more specific, but they all include planning wedding, so competition will be fierce. A better bet would be to try to curate local guides on planning wedding. I.e Austin.planning.wedding or something. I don't know if subdomains rank better than subpages though. Planning.wedding/Austin might be even better. There will still be huge competition for big cities though.

Good point about cities, as Craigslist do.

Back when tld's first started allowing foreign entities to buy their domains, I registered ru-ready.to and im-ready.to with the hopes of starting a small biz selling landing/redirect pages with names like: ru-ready.to/rumble (a boxing page?).

The web was still too nascent to make something of it, so I just let the domains lapse a year later.

Having said that, more people are online and more sites are creative with their URLs, so I do think there is a business hook there.

De facto, I see a trend that COM become less important than it was before. The short exotic domain can be unforgettable.

> People ask questions. How to start planning a wedding? Turns to: https://how.to.start.planning.wedding

Why not just https://planning.wedding/how-to-start-planning-a-wedding ?

I use internal landing pages too... But here is an idea to try sub-domains and get an external link. As I know, external links building move valuable for SEO, even from sub-domains.

My question was more about brand building if the "Planning Wedding" can be the brand itself. Or become in the future...

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