SEO question, Domain name question, and FB Fan page question for a new Recovery Group Website.

Your question at first glance is about domain names, SEO, and branding, but there's more to the question really. You have something very valuable: an existing community that is active. You've built real relationships between people on a very important issue that, as you say, is difficult to talk about. I don't think SEO is really the thrust. You're looking to name your group, which started out with a mission to reach people in recovery using Suboxone, and your group is currently named that. You are worried about alienating these people, and that's a very important concern, since you are thinking of opening this group to other recovering people who might be on a different treatment plan. Another important consideration is the fact that you are actively getting referrals from doctors and drug counselors. If you change your name, will that hurt your referral network? Will you have a plan to reach out to these people to let them know about it? And in that case, a generic name like http://OpiateRecovery.org might not be specific enough to help them remember that it's your group. This also feeds into the idea of your Fan Page--you're right, you wouldn't want to scare away people who might support your group who worry that people will think that they are addicts in recovery themselves. Start with the name you have now, and think about what words you want to keep from it, and think of all the words that might convey the message of your group. I see the word "recovery" recurring in your summary, so that should be on the list--perhaps also "support" or "Community"? I agree with Jose that you should be seeking a brandable name, something distinct, over a generic. You might also look at other support/recovery groups to see what they call themselves. There are plenty of groups named after someone, so "Ken's Recovery Circle" or something similar might give you a neutral sounding name (avoiding opiate use) but convey the "recovery" and "group" elements while personalizing your effort; it's easy to identify with a single person, "Ken," who is facing the same issues. I'd also talk to your community and make sure that they are on board with the name. They may have their own ideas, and it's important to get their support for the venture before you unveil it to the wider public. Lastly, I would definitely endorse a .org ending, as it has a lot of visibility being a gTLD, but it is also associated with non-profit and goodwill endeavors. .Com might give the wrong impression to those you are working with. All that aside, it's great that you are building this network and doing good work!

I wouldn't worry very much about http://opiaterecovery.com, they didn't show up in a search I did for "opiate recovery." Looking "under the hood" at their site, they have done terrible SEO work on their site. So if you choose to continue to work with the http://opiaterecovery.org domain name, just doing some decent SEO Work will help you outperform them in a search. If you can get the doctors and drug counselors to promote your site with links online, that will add authority to your site as well. (To get some basic help on SEO, see my articles on the Web Editors blog: search my name on http://webeditorhome.wordpress.com. Lots of basic tips anyone with a website can benefit from.) The problem with exact match domains right now is that Google has started to demote sites that are too aggressive with domains and keyword use - so be careful. Use "White Hat SEO," not "Black Hat SEO" techniques and you should be OK. Use the exact match domain judiciously with a keyword or keywords that best match what your users or their supporters (family, friends, colleagues) will use to look up your site - not just what you intend to offer. If they'll know to use "opiate recovery" fine, but if they're more like to use words like "substance abuse recovery" or "drug abuse recovery" or something more generic, I'd go with that. Remember - think like the person doing the search, not like you. So called "long tail keywords" can be more valuable in higher ranked returns, too. You still need to keep the domain name reasonable, of course. As important as domain name is, how you build the site, how you name things on it, and how you build links within it, to it, and from it are also important. So are links from social media and comments pages - so keep people busy talking about you. As to whether you use a .org or a .com, if your group is a non-profit the .org could be a benefit. The .com is the easiest to remember to type, but .org makes sense for a group. You can also get by with a .net or a .us or others, which are even more obscure but can get you a domain name taken by a .com or a .org. You'll just need to promote them harder and have better SEO than the others. Good luck with it!

I tend to agree with Alan Eggleston. Go with the org. And I think you're correct that opiate recovery might be a better long term domain name but leave Suboxone in your title for the immediate future. It's a big exact keyword and you have a following. Don't overthink the fan site name. You have a winner already; use it. Lightning might not strike again. Thanks for asking.