Domain name also a keyword

[niceguytom10]

Using the google keyword tool I found a keyword that gets over 150k global searches a month, and the ".net" is available. If I were to purchase the .net, and make it into a decent site, would I show up in google quicker, and raise to the top faster, given the fact that I own a domain which is a keyword globally searched 150K a month?

Example:
Keyword = 3 seperate words - jimfallsdown
Website = jimfallsdown.net

Thanks in advance

[internetmarketer99]

Originally Posted by niceguytom10

Using the google keyword tool I found a keyword that gets over 150k global searches a month, and the ".net" is available. If I were to purchase the .net, and make it into a decent site, would I show up in google quicker, and raise to the top faster, given the fact that I own a domain which is a keyword globally searched 150K a month?

Example:
Keyword = 3 seperate words - jimfallsdown
Website = jimfallsdown.net

Thanks in advance

"would I show up in google quicker, and raise to the top faster" - quicker and faster than what?

I assume you're talking about ranking for that keyword phrase vs. another site with a non-keyword domain.

*IF* all other things were equal, then you would certainly do better than a site that didn't have the keyword as the domain.

Domain name is the highest-weighted factor for ranking. If you're trying to rank for that keyword, and it is also the domain, you have a key advantage.

*BUT*, if you're trying to rank against well-optimized sites with strong backlinks, and you aren't as strong a site and don't have as strong backlinks, the keyword domain by itself probably won't get you as far as you might hope.

Mark

[niceguytom10]

Thanks for the reply!

[Lucid]

> Domain name is the highest-weighted factor for ranking.

I've read you say the same thing in another thread. In my opinion, there's no way Google puts more weight on your domain than other factors. Just look at the evidence when doing searches of any kind.

[internetmarketer99]

Originally Posted by Lucid

> Domain name is the highest-weighted factor for ranking.

I've read you say the same thing in another thread. In my opinion, there's no way Google puts more weight on your domain than other factors. Just look at the evidence when doing searches of any kind.

Lucid, don't mis-understand what I'm trying to say. It doesn't mean that the domain name trumps everything else.

Google has a complex formula that is applied to every page in it's index. Every page gets a multi-variable value. When a search is done, the 'qualifying' pages for that query are grouped, then ordered by their values.

The factors that determine a page's value include it's Pagerank, various on-page factors, age, domain name, etc. Each of these factors gets a value, and each has a relative weight for how much they affect the 'overall ranking' value.

Once all the values are determined and 'added up', the results page is presented in order of value.

H1 tag carries more weight than the H2 tag. Page title carries more weight than those. If a page doesn't have an H1 tag, there just isn't a value for it added in, etc.

The domain name, to my understanding - which comes from my own experience, that of those whom I know to understand and monitor things like this, of bits and pieces gleaned from Google published information, talks by Matt Cutts, and the majority opinion on the 'serious' webmaster and SEO forums, groups, etc. that I've followed - has the highest weighting of the various factors.

Again, this doesn't mean that a keyword-domain will outrank a site with an unrelated domain name. It simply means that it's one of the factors considered, and it's relative weighting will be greater than that of the H1 tag, domain age, etc.

DISCLAIMER: Of course, no one outside of the search team at Google knows for sure the precise formula, all of it's 'pieces', etc. However, there is a great deal of pretty well-tested data, etc. What I'm writing is obviously my own opinion, and I certainly could be wrong. But as someone who's been at this for a long time, kept up with the industry, etc., that is my best understanding, and that of the majority of what I consider the 'serious' SEO community.

Mark

[Lucid]

Thanks for the clearer explanation. It did sound you were saying that domain name trumps every thing else.