The short answer is ‘No, don’t waste your time or money.’

Google equates 1 website to only 1 domain name. If your dental marketing agency attaches more domain names to your website, in order to avoid confusing Google about what your domain actually is, we would need to redirect them to your main domain, sort of like forwarding your mail to a new address. This redirect tells Google to disregard the other domain and to prefer the main domain, effectively erasing whatever value the secondary domain has on its own. We have to add this redirect on the website’s server to avoid your main domain suffering in the rankings and online visibility.

Would I EVER Want to Buy More Domains?

The only instance where I recommend buying a secondary domain is when an office plans to promote a secondary website via non-organic means such as a Google Ads campaign, digital display ads, social media ads, or an offline campaign of some sort. In these scenarios, the secondary website acts as a landing page.

A small website with a singular focus can reduce distraction of the patient with elements that aren’t about the target procedure.

We currently do this for a couple clients in the area of sleep apnea. Some have gone a step further by creating a second business devoted to this specific area. By creating a separate business entity, we can build Google listings for the new brand and can often achieve organic rankings alongside the practice’s main website. The upside is having one less top slot in a results page that is occupied by a competitor.

The drawback to this is pretty obvious: it duplicates efforts. You need to add content to both your main website and the secondary site. Both sites need promotion to gain visibility, so the costs add up. You don’t want to do it half-heartedly. Bring a sizable budget and a determination to dominate, and you’ll get a great ROI. Launch a website with a modest budget, and you’ll wait a long time to recoup your investment.

Should I Buy a Premium Domain That Someone Emailed Me About?

Bottom line: we can get any variety of domains for $15-$20/yr. There’s no reason to buy a “premium” domain for $200 or more. Because there are so many domains available, hoarding domains to keep them from a competitor doesn’t make much sense. Some domains are just awesome because they are simple and short, but we can usually find something that we can register that will work just as well.

We did recommend that a client go ahead with the purchase of another domain once, but that was because it was a slight variation of his existing domain. This was also part of a rebranding effort. 

Google Makes Buying Up Domain Names a Waste of Money

Google is your friend. Google is getting better and better at identifying people who are a good fit for your practice and getting them to you. Our clients are seeing tremendous year-over-year increases in local traffic from Google. If that’s not happening, call us now and we can talk about how we can achieve the same thing for you. Call (970) 672-1212 or schedule an appointment.