I read an interesting story today on Yahoo! Tech that a online security firm did a test with the banks permission to create a "fake site" as if it were from a scammer and try to outrank the real site in search engines. The security firm stated they used SEO to do it, but they also made it clear that the domain name used was important! The test took place for 1.5 years with the "fake site" outranking the "official site" in search engines. #1 on Bing.com and a #2 ranking on Yahoo.com . The "fake site" didn’t get any higher than the 6th page on Google. The article did not state what search terms were used, but it is likely the banks name.

The real banks site uses the domain name Cusocal.org . Typical "Licenses Plate" domain name, with the company not understanding the importance of Keywords! This can not only make it hard for your customers to remember the domain name but hurt you in search engine rankings due to lack of keywords. The banks full name is: Credit Union of Southern California

The security firm used the domain name CreditUnionOfSC.org . Not the best domain name, but holds a couple more important keywords like Credit Union.

The article stated:

The experiment convinced Credit Union of Southern California that it should protect itself by being more aggressive about buying domain names similar to its own. Domains generally cost a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars each — a pittance compared with a financial institution‘s potential liability or loss of goodwill if its customers are ripped off by a fake site.

"The test was hugely successful," said Ray Rounds, the credit union’s senior vice president of information services.

This is a very important point that many companies miss and what domain name investors are trying to educate businesses online that are missing the all important domain name(s). One thing that was not pointed out in that statement, is the importance of Keywords or using the exact match term of the company name. Keep in mind, that is what people will most likely "search for" when looking for them. Search engines match keywords to return results and the domain name can play a pretty big role in that as well as proper SEO!

Not to mention, that it makes a lot of sense to own and use the exact match name of your company, service or product! Since the bank uses a .org, which is good, it is still wise to own the matching .com domain name, as many people are use to typing .com. Simply use a 301 redirection with the "extra(s)" domain name(s) and redirect the traffic to the main site.

The "fake site" was not harmful and simply redirected visitors to the banks real site but clearly proved a couple key points! SEO is important, domain names are important… and just because a site ranks #1 or #2 on search engines, doesn’t always mean it is safe or the site you were intending to visit!

The fake site is now removed from Bing.com and no comment was made by Yahoo according to the article.