Will AI Play a Role in Selecting Future Website Domain Names?

Machine learning is starting to be incredibly important in the website development profession. Web professionals have talked extensively about the benefits of using machine learning in graphic design and many other processes. 

One benefit of machine learning that often gets overlooked is its potential role in selecting domain names. A few marketers and web developers have already considered using machine learning to help choose the best website domain names. However, they are likely to rely on it even more in the future, even when they work with a domain broker.

Machine learning can change the domain name selection process considerably

There are a number of important steps that you need to take when you are creating a new website. One of the most important things that you need is a domain name.

In the past, choosing a domain name was a relatively simple affair. You would follow one of the following steps to choose one:

• Choose a domain name around your brand name
• Choose a domain name with keywords that you intend to rank for in Google

It was a very simplistic process and it relied on static data. The problem is that domain names were selected based on current market conditions and failed to take long-term trends into account.

Machine learning can be helpful for website owners that want to get a domain name that is going to be beneficial long-term. Here are some reasons that they might want to use it to assist them with this process.

Account for future SEO changes for previously owned domain names

You might want to purchase a domain name that has previously been owned. There can be a number of reasons that this might be appealing. Previously owned domains often already have a number of backlinks, which means that you might not have to spend a lot of time and resources to get your SEO on track. A previously owned domain might also have some brand recognition, so people might already be searching for it. This could help you capture some search engine traffic before people forget that the domain exists.

However, registering a previously owned domain can also be a risk. Previously owned domains could eventually get penalized by Google for their backlink profiles or other issues. It is possible that the domain has already been penalized, but you can’t possibly know until you register it again. You want to take steps to protect against such SEO penalties. 

Machine learning technology can be very beneficial in this situation. You can look at the link profile and other important data points to figure out whether the domain is at risk of getting penalized. These algorithms can look at the variables that Google usually takes into consideration, such as links from bad neighborhoods or a disproportionate number of links with strange anchor texts.

Improving the long-term SEO value of the domain by accounting for future search engine user behavior

Google doesn’t place as much emphasis on domain names as in SERP factor as it used to. However, a domain name with target keywords included can still rank a bit higher than one that does not. Therefore, it does make quite a bit of sense to choose a domain name that is going to have keywords that you would like to rank for.

Most people will look at the average search volume with the Google Keyword Planner to figure out which keywords they would like to target. They will also do a competitive analysis to see whether they can realistically rank for the best keywords. They will then choose a domain name that includes a variation of the most attractive keywords.

The problem with this approach is that the search volume of a keyword is not set in stone. Search volume can change dramatically in response to new trends.

Machine learning technology can help web developers and marketers anticipate the future search volume of various keywords. These algorithms can look at data from tools like Google Trends. They can also look for contextual information from new sources to see what variables might cause search engine volume to change in the future.

Machine Learning Can Be Great for Choosing Domain Names

Machine learning technology has been incredibly useful in the website management and online marketing professions. One overlooked benefit of machine learning is that it can help choose a domain name. You should be aware of the value that it brings to the table if you need a domain name for a new website.