SKILL.md
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Type
Description
SEO
Brand
Best For
Branded Domain
Domain = brand; no functional keywords (Notion, Canva, Perplexity)
Long-term; Google favors brands
High
Teams; long-term brand building
Partial Match (PMD)
Part of domain relates to function (FlowGPT, Dify, Reportify)
Balance; signals topic
Medium
AI tools; balance SEO + brand
Exact Match (EMD)
Domain = search query (png2jpg.com, aiartgenerator.cc)
Fast early traffic; ceiling lower
Low
Solo devs; tool sites; site networks
Google stance: Keywords in domain no longer directly affect ranking; domain still matters for UX and brand. EMDs work when paired with quality content; branded domains with entity recognition matter more long-term.
Recommendation:
- Brand building → Branded or PMD; plan for months
- Quick SEO traffic → EMD or PMD; good for tool sites, converters, generators
- AI products → PMD (xxxGPT, xxxify) or Branded; avoid generic names that cause search confusion (e.g., multiple "Speak AI" products)
TLD Selection
TLD
Use Case
Notes
.com
Default choice; highest trust
Most preferred; often expensive
.ai
AI products
ccTLD (Anguilla); auto-hyperlinks in Excel/Sheets/Feishu → natural backlinks; signals AI
.io
Tech, SaaS
Popular; geopolitical risk (Chagos Islands)
.co, .app, .pro
Alternatives
If .com taken
.new
Instant-create tools
For bolt.new, claude.new style; see Alignify .new guide
AI products: Prefer .ai, .com, or .io. Avoid niche TLDs (.im, .xyz, .inc, .art, .dev)—higher risk of resolution issues (e.g., Notion .so outage).
Domain Best Practices
Rule
Purpose
Short & memorable
Easier to type, share, recall
Avoid hyphens
Looks unprofessional; can signal low quality
Check history
Use Archive.org; avoid previously penalized domains
Defensive registration
Register .net, .org, variants; redirect to main; do not deploy on multiple domains
Impersonation variants
For AI products: register brand+ai, brand+app, brand+official; see brand-protection for impersonation response
Accurate WHOIS; renew on time
Avoid loss or hijacking
.ai Domain Natural Backlinks
When brand name includes .ai (e.g., Character.ai, Leonardo.Ai), the full string auto-hyperlinks in Excel, Google Sheets, Feishu, and some IM apps. Each mention = potential backlink. Useful for AI products where the generic name alone (e.g., "Character") is a common noun.
Output Format
- Domain type recommendation (Brand / PMD / EMD) with rationale
- TLD recommendation
- Checklist (length, readability, history, defensive registration)
- Related next steps (website-structure, rebranding-strategy)
Related Skills
- branding: Brand strategy; domain selection implements brand positioning
- website-structure: Plan pages after domain choice; single-domain structure
- domain-architecture: Subfolder vs subdomain vs independent when multiple products
- rebranding-strategy: Domain change, 301 redirects; use when rebranding
- brand-protection: Defensive registration for impersonation prevention; fake site response
- link-building: Build authority after domain is chosen