undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. On-Page Optimization
  4. How long is too long for domain URL length?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

How long is too long for domain URL length?

On-Page Optimization
5
12
18.0k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • JesseCWalker
    JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 4, 2011, 3:59 PM

    I noticed one of the negatively correlated ranking factors was length of URL.  I'm building a page from scratch, we are trying to rank for 'Minneapolis Fitness' and 'Minneapolis Massage'.

    Is www.minnnepolismassageandfitness.com  just ridiculously long?  Or does the exact match outweigh the penalty for URL length?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
    • JesseCWalker
      JesseCWalker @JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 8, 2011, 12:35 PM Sep 8, 2011, 12:35 PM

      Now its all starting to come together.  I love involving the community in the decision.  Will do!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • RyanKent
        RyanKent @JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 8, 2011, 12:33 PM Sep 8, 2011, 11:14 AM

        So with minneapolis massage I'd get great benefit for the keyword "minneapolis massage".   But for every other keyword, the infinity of long-tails, I'm at a disadvantage for

        EXACTLY! This reasoning is why I strongly recommend a short, branded domain name as the primary URL. My preference is to compete with great content and SEO strategies rather then trying to purchase an assortment of keyword domain names. That tactic is primarily for those who lack the proper SEO knowledge, or who have deep pockets to create a solid web page for each domain name and properly redirect it to the main site.

        If you found a very high traffic perfect match phrase, you could consider acquiring the domain name and trying a couple things, but overall your best bet is a solid primary domain.

        You have the disadvantage of a long city name (Minneapolis) along with other variations (Twin Cities) used. I would suggest focusing more on the "Fitness" aspect and allowing your physical location and other factors to establish relevancy for the location.  "WalkerFitness", "SunshineFitness" or whatever brand seems to fit you best.

        When trying to brainstorm names, engage your current clients. Make a poll, take a survey, give out a prize to whomever picks the best name! The process can generate publicity for you "Free 1 hour massage + 1 month fitness membership".

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • JesseCWalker
          JesseCWalker @JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 8, 2011, 10:44 AM Sep 8, 2011, 10:44 AM

          Definitely more clear for the noob!  Thanks for the reply.  Most helpful!

          It occured to me as I've been thinking about this that the longer URL correlates negatively with every single keyword you target, while the exact match gives you a benefit only to the exact match keyword.

          So with minneapolis massage I'd get great benefit for the keyword "minneapolis massage".   But for every other keyword, the infinity of long-tails, I'm at a disadvantage for:

          Minneapolis Fitness

          St. Paul Fitness

          Twin Cities fitness

          in-home personal trainer in south minneapolis

          etc. etc.

          These long tails have got to out-traffic the simple "minneapolis massage" in the long term.  So now I'm thinking we need something short and branded.   "Minneapolis Massage" is still a possibility but it is a bit long to type and rather boring.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • ShaMenz
            ShaMenz @JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 8, 2011, 10:16 AM Sep 8, 2011, 3:24 AM

            Hi Jesse,

            Basically, the only significant search volume is for the shorter two word term "minneapolis massage", so there is no benefit in going for the longer term (which also has a negative correlation for rankings).

            So, since Ryan advised that the .net version of minneapolismassage is available, if you are wanting an exact match domain that might be a better option.

            Since the return you are wanting is quite modest, then the traffic afforded by that term and the little extra you might attract from other terms should work for you if you can get some reasonable rankings.

            I would suggest that you put some good effort into local search optimization if you decide to go with that domain.

            Hope that is clearer,

            Sha

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • JesseCWalker
              JesseCWalker @JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 6, 2011, 5:01 PM Sep 6, 2011, 5:00 PM

              I'm afraid I'm getting a little lost.  I'm still new to all this.

              As far as I can tell the correlations are in conflict.  +0.22 exact match.  Domain name length -0.07.  So it seems to me that the data says go for exact match even though it makes it long.

              I'm going to guess at what a "breakout" term is.  They must mean keywords like Minneapolis Fitness,  Minneapolis Massage,  etc.

              I'm also going to guess that "single word head terms" mean fitness, massage, and Minneapolis.  If so then it is true that we aren't interested in trying to compete for those.

              The scope of the project is very small.  Basically a personal trainer and a massage therapist who want to bring in a few extra clients.  The site would be very small scale as well, basically a platform for them to interact with their client base, and bring in a new client or two from time to time.

              I'm hoping that the level of traffic for "minneapolis massage" and "minneapolis fitness" or "minneapolis personal trainer" would bring enough traffic to accomplish the goal of bringing in 2 or 3 new regular clients per year for each of the professionals.

              If this is a poor assumption someone please let me know so I can adjust our expectations.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • ShaMenz
                ShaMenz @JesseCWalker last edited by Sep 5, 2011, 11:49 PM Sep 5, 2011, 11:48 PM

                First, the correlation data is something I would pay attention to.

                Second, since the longtail exact match and the majority of the other breakout terms from that very long URL appear to bring little or no traffic to the table - why would you bother to go against the data? (OK, the single word head terms have what looks like great traffic, but going after those is not a "new site" proposition in my view).

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • JesseCWalker
                  JesseCWalker @ShaMenz last edited by Sep 4, 2011, 5:54 PM Sep 4, 2011, 5:54 PM

                  yep, 3 n's is a mistake.  So you think the exactmatch.com is overkill for these keywords?  Might be better to go with something shorter and more branded?

                  ShaMenz JesseCWalker RyanKent 6 Replies Last reply Sep 8, 2011, 12:35 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • ShaMenz
                    ShaMenz last edited by Sep 4, 2011, 5:47 PM Sep 4, 2011, 5:43 PM

                    Hi Jesse,

                    First, I'm going to assume that the three n's in the URL you posted was a mistake?

                    So, having made that assumption, I think the philosophical debate is largely a moot point.

                    Generally, the intent of developing an exact match domain is to rank for the term or terms that carry exact match traffic volume.

                    The image below pretty much tells the story I think.

                    If you haven't yet found it, the tool is the SEOmoz Keyword Difficulty Tool

                    keyword-difficulty.gif

                    JesseCWalker 1 Reply Last reply Sep 4, 2011, 5:54 PM Reply Quote 0
                    • KeriMorgret
                      KeriMorgret @HarrisonHill last edited by Sep 4, 2011, 5:00 PM Sep 4, 2011, 5:00 PM

                      Hi George, that's an interesting take on things. Can you give us any more background information on this or resources? Thanks!

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • HarrisonHill
                        HarrisonHill last edited by Sep 4, 2011, 4:49 PM Sep 4, 2011, 4:49 PM

                        I have to disagree with Ryan. 2 terms isn't max length URL can have. Always use as many characters in URL as it's necessary. There is no anything like "very long domain".

                        For example: minnnepolismassageandfitness.com will give you more domain SEO juice than minnnepolismassage.com

                        If you are concerned on search engine visits, use whole keyword in your domain. It will be easier to rank for keyword. But if you wish to receive direct visits (which I doubt), use user-friendly domains, keep it short and nice looking.

                        KeriMorgret 1 Reply Last reply Sep 4, 2011, 5:00 PM Reply Quote 2
                        • RyanKent
                          RyanKent last edited by Sep 4, 2011, 4:27 PM Sep 4, 2011, 4:27 PM

                          You want to stick to a maximum of 2 terms in your URL. Three is pushing it. Four words is too much.

                          Doing a google search for "minneapolis fitness" shows most of the top results do not have minneapolis nor fitness in the URL. You can freely try names such as "Sunshine Fitness" or whatever your business name is in an effort to brand the URL rather then attempt keyword matches.

                          If you really want a URL match then minneapolisfitness.net is available. While I strongly prefer a .com, I would prefer this particular .net over the URL you suggested.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • 1 / 1
                          1 out of 12
                          • First post
                            1/12
                            Last post

                          Got a burning SEO question?

                          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                          Start my free trial


                          Browse Questions

                          Explore more categories

                          • Moz Tools

                            Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                          • SEO Tactics

                            Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                          • Community

                            Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                          • Digital Marketing

                            Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                          • Research & Trends

                            Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                          • Support

                            Connect on product support and feature requests.

                          • See all categories

                          Related Questions

                          • jafarfahi

                            How Removing Zombie pages effect on domain authority?

                            Hi. Recently I got a project (removing zombie pages here: https://www.alamto.com/ ) As you can see this site has about 20k indexed page on google and it seems I should remove about 6000 useless indexed page. does removing (Noindex) these pages affect on the site metrics? Which metrics would affected? and how? Thanks.

                            On-Page Optimization | Aug 4, 2020, 6:34 AM | jafarfahi
                            1
                          • viatrading1

                            URL Structure on Category Pages

                            Hi, Currently, we having the following URL Structure o our product pages: All Products Pages: www.viatrading.com/wholesale/283/All_Products.html Category Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale/4/Clothing.html Product Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale/product/LOAD-HE-WOM/Assorted-High-End-Women-Clothing-Lots.html?cid=4 Since we are going to use another frontend system, we are thinking about re-working on this URL Structure, using something like this: All Products Pages: www.viatrading.com/wholesale-products/ Category Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale-products/category/ Product Page: www.viatrading.com/wholesale-products/category/product-title/ I understand this is better for SEO and user experience. However, we already have good traffic on the current URL Structure. Should we use same left-side filters on Category Pages as in All Products Page? Since we are using Faceted Navigation, when users filter the Category (e.g. Clothing) they will see same page as Clothing Category Page. Is that an issue for Duplicate Content? Since we are a wholesale company - I understand is using "/wholesale/products/" in URL for all product pages a good idea? If so, should we avoid word "wholesale" in product-title to avoid repeated word in URL? For us, SKU in URL helps the company employees and maybe some clients identify the link. However, what do you think of using the SEO-friendly product-title, and 301 redirect it to www.viatrading.com/BRTA-LN-DISHRACKS/, so 1st link is only used by company members and Canonicalized 2nd is the only one seen by general public? Thank you,

                            On-Page Optimization | Jan 9, 2017, 9:35 PM | viatrading1
                            0
                          • regineraab

                            How often is your domain authority updated?

                            I can't seem to figure out how often our domain authority is updated - it seems random, do you know typically when this happens? Thanks!

                            On-Page Optimization | Nov 13, 2021, 7:29 PM | regineraab
                            0
                          • webbutler13

                            Correct .htaccess settings for canonical url?

                            I want to forward all urls to http:www.mysite.com but am a little confuse because I am getting duplicate content error: Pages with Duplicate Page Content as of Jan 15http://titanappliancerepair.com/ 1 duplicatehttp://titanappliancerepair.com 1 duplicatehttp://titanappliancerepair.com/index.html 1 duplicate*****************************************************************What should I put ion htaccess file so I can forwardhttp://titanappliancerepair.com/index.htmlhttp://titanappliancerepair.comhttp://titanappliancerepair.com/to  http://www.titanappliancerepair.comor what is the correct way to do it?I'm confused because when I enter http://titanappliancerepair.com/ in browser it showshttp://titanappliancerepair.com so how can it be considered duplicate content?.Can someone help?I have godaddy and they have gave me this code to put RewriteEngine on
                            rewritecond %{http_host} ^coolexample.com [nc]
                            rewriterule ^(.)$ http://www.coolexample.com/$1 [r=301,nc]What is correct?

                            On-Page Optimization | Jan 21, 2014, 6:21 PM | webbutler13
                            0
                          • Jon-C

                            Wordpress & trailing slash on domain name

                            Hi recently changed my site so it is based on Wordpress, got my preferred domain set in Google webmaster as www.domian.co.uk but since moving to wordpress my domain is now having a slash put on the end of it like www.domain.co.uk/ Most of the links going to my homepage do not have the slash on the end so am I right in thinking I should get rid of the slash from my site so I have one consistent url? If so any ideas how to banish the slash? Cannot seem to do it through the Wordpress general settings (despite preferred domain being set as www.domain.co.uk !) Thanks T

                            On-Page Optimization | Feb 8, 2013, 6:30 PM | Jon-C
                            0
                          • Jason_342

                            How long does it take for Google to see Changes to a site?

                            Hi, I have a low PR site (PR 1) that I am starting to work on.  Ingeneral when you make changes to my site how long would it take Google to recognize and index those changes? The reason I am wondering is because the site I am working on had a lot of duplicate content (around 700 pages), I got rid of it all, but I wasn't sure how long it would take Google to spider all these pages and re-index them since the site is low PR. Thanks, Ken

                            On-Page Optimization | Mar 7, 2012, 7:42 PM | Jason_342
                            0
                          • ostiguyj

                            No Data Available for this URL

                            Hi, 
                            I really don't understand why I have this message "No data available for this URL"
                            in my SEOMOZ campain. (www.bienchezsoi.ca) When I look at my page rank, I get a score of 0 I have no idea of to fix it. Please help. Thanks

                            On-Page Optimization | Dec 23, 2011, 6:19 PM | ostiguyj
                            0
                          • cestor

                            Generic domain for SEO versus Brand name

                            I am currently building a retail e-commerce site in a highly competitive area. We have a generic brand name; e.g. kitchen-knives.com and we also have another brand name, e.g. 'slycers.com' We have 3 options that I can see and I would like to know which is better for SEO. Build generic.com as a blog site. Link to brand.com 301 redirect from generic.com to brand.com. Use generic.com as anchor text in all links 301 redirect from brand.com to generic.com  . Use generic.com as anchor text in all links Also, if there are other better options, then I would appreciate the input! thanks

                            On-Page Optimization | Aug 29, 2011, 8:39 PM | cestor
                            0

                          Get started with Moz Pro!

                          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                          Start my free trial
                          Products
                          • Moz Pro
                          • Moz Local
                          • Moz API
                          • Moz Data
                          • STAT
                          • Product Updates
                          Moz Solutions
                          • SMB Solutions
                          • Agency Solutions
                          • Enterprise Solutions
                          Free SEO Tools
                          • Domain Authority Checker
                          • Link Explorer
                          • Keyword Explorer
                          • Competitive Research
                          • Brand Authority Checker
                          • Local Citation Checker
                          • MozBar Extension
                          • MozCast
                          Resources
                          • Blog
                          • SEO Learning Center
                          • Help Hub
                          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                          • How-to Guides
                          • Moz Academy
                          • API Docs
                          About Moz
                          • About
                          • Team
                          • Careers
                          • Contact
                          Why Moz
                          • Case Studies
                          • Testimonials
                          Get Involved
                          • Become an Affiliate
                          • MozCon
                          • Webinars
                          • Practical Marketer Series
                          • MozPod
                          Connect with us

                          Contact the Help team

                          Join our newsletter
                          Moz logo
                          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                          • Accessibility
                          • Terms of Use
                          • Privacy

                          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.