Does Having The Keyword In Your Domain Name Help With SEO?
Written by Richard Bravo on Feb 28, 2009 9:21 pm
Read More: Marketing | SEO | Technology | Website DevelopmentDoes Having The Keyword In Your Domain Name Help With SEO?
A keyword rich domain, in addition to relevant frequently updated quality content, good backlinks and all the other foundational SEO practices can be a very important part of the overall picture. However, in and of itself as a stand alone piece of the pie holds very little value without the supporting elements to back it up.
With that in mind it is beneficial to go after your keyword in the domain name if you can get it. Don't be tempted to stray from the [.com] though. If you plan on attacking a competitive market and the [.com] is taken I would move on and keep thinking of new names.
The hyphenated version is also a tough sell. Simple branding 101, if someone hears your domain name "www.my-brand-of-stuff.com" do you think they will remember it when they get home? Unless they have something in front of them to remind them to hyphenate, my bet would be on them typing "www.mybrandofstuff.com" and if someone has that domain already, you just lost potential traffic.
I will caveat that last paragraph by saying this:
There are some advanced strategies that can be employed in which you can use hyphenated domain names to garner high search results in alternate search engines such as MSN. But that's a different conversation all together.
Domaining is a hard game to play and I pull my hair out weekly from frustration trying to find the domains I want. But ultimately you'll find something. Try approaching the whole thing from a different angle. Change your perspective on the product, brand or project. Ask your friends to help. What would they type in if they were looking for your stuff? If they wanted "X" result or were looking for "X" kind of product, what would they look for?
Don't forget the old standby keyword tool. Take a competitors URL and put in the Google keyword tool to see what keywords Google thinks the site is about. Do the same with your site and any major player in the top 10 results in your chosen industry's search results. If you do that with enough sites you'll start seeing things you may not have thought of before.
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About the Author: Richard Bravo
Member Since: 02/26/2009
I'm a Distributor For:: Magnetic Sponsoring
Other Company: You Inc Pro
Industry: Training and Development
Primary Web Site: http://www.RichardBravo.com
Great advice
Thanks Richard.
And I'm glad I registered both mlm-skills-for-success.com AND
mlmskillsforsuccess.com
Tony
PS thanks for your great input in my forum threads
Great info
Richard,
Awesome info here. Its very clear that you really have a great grasp of SEO and how to apply it for better rankings and traffic and leads with your business.
People would do well to listen to what you have to say both here and in the forum.
Kurt