How To Find Keyword Rich Domain Names

[Zeus66]

I made a short video here about how I take a long list of niche keywords and narrow it down to just those keywords that can be registered as .com, .net, or .org domain names. Having the exact keyword in your domain name seems to give your rankings a boost in Google, all other things being equal, so I often do this to find available domains. No sense spending time researching keywords if I want to get the exact keyword in the domain name until I know which ones are available to be registered. This is how you do that super fast.

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

[Heidi White]

Thanks for the video. I have a question about how important it is to have the exact keyword for the domain.

What about sub-domains?

Say I had a domain like:

great. com

and created a sub-domain called:
great.stainedglasswindows .com

It's cheaper than buying a new domain, especially if I'm buildling a ton of niche site, but it doesn't seem like anyone does that (accept maybe big guys like About.com)

Are sub-domains pointless for ranking, or are you risking all subs if one get's flagged?

[Joseph.]

I read somewhere that sub-domains are as good as separate domains for ranking.

I've never tested this myself but I've seen a few people rank successfully having their main keyword as their subdomain.

[Peter Adamson]

Wow... thanks Zeus66 for this great time saver!

[Zeus66]

Sub-domains can rank, sure, but TLD's are favored, I do believe. Just my opinion from what I've seen. Comes down to competition and how well you SEO the page, as always. The reason a very tightly focused TLD will usually outrank a broader site, including one using sub-domains, is that Google sees a domain name that matches the searcher's search term exactly as at least worthy of the most consideration initially. As long as you provide Google with no reasons to discount that advantage, it's a powerful ally. That means using smart, but not over-the-top SEO strategies. Don't link out to bad neighborhoods, use the keyword in the right places on the page, etc.

John

[Liam Hamer]

I usually just check domain availability individually with Micro Niche Finder or Namecheap, this is a fantastic technique and great time saver - thanks for sharing!

[Frank Donovan]

Hey, that's a neat tip, John. Thanks.

Like Liam, I use MNF - the latest version of which allows you to check domain availability on the fly, which is a great time-saver.

The only thing I'd add to the advice in the vid is to make sure that if you want any available domains that GoDaddy list, you snap them up there and then. If you return later, you might just find they've mysteriously been taken.


Frank

[dushhhhhh]

Hey, I used to do that manually. Thanks for the great tip!!

[Heidi White]

Don't link out to bad neighborhoods

Can anyone explain what this means?

The only thing I'd add to the advice in the vid is to make sure that if you want any available domains that GoDaddy list, you snap them up there and then. If you return later, you might just find they've mysteriously been taken.

I disagree, rather than buy them from Godaddy, then and there, just have another window open with NameCheap and buy the sites you find there. It's unlikely it will be mysteriously gone before you can complete your purchase on NameCheap - and with GoDaddy's difficult-to-wrap-up-a-quickly-bloody-annoying-checkout-system, 'cause they keep trying to sell you upgrades and you-have-to-be-careful-which-button-you-click, you'll have the NameCheap purchase completed before you finish scanning other finds on your bulk GoDaddy list.

Plus it's cheaper at NameCheap

[Sparhawke]

I do similar myself over the last couple of days of mooching around, it really is incredibly effective, thanks for helping me get more efficient

[Zeus66]

Originally Posted by MostlyHarmless

Can anyone explain what this means?

Re: "Don't link out to bad neighborhoods." This means don't put links on your own site that go to sites that are spammy or otherwise low quality. It won't penalize the site you link to, but it may very well hurt your own ranking. I want to be clear that I do not know this to be a fact, ok. It's conjecture, but it makes sense not to do it anyway. Better safe than sorry.

[Dennis Gaskill]

John, thanks for giving away my secret! Just kidding, I use a different domain registrar but the process is the same. I seldom have trouble finding a decent domain name.

By the way, you've got a good voice for video.

[ExpertWriter]

You have some really great information, John. Thanks for being so kind and sharing it with everyone!

-Cindy

[Zeus66]

You know what, guys and gals? This forum and many of its Warriors have made a huge difference for the better in my family's lives. I can never really repay what I feel like I owe. I sincerely mean that. So I vowed going into 2010 that I would devote some time every week to giving back in a truly meaningful way, to the best of my ability anyway. I know that there are real pros here who won't get a thing they can use from what I post, but there are some closer to the beginner level who will, and that's enough to motivate me. I know I'm getting all mushy here, but it needs to be said more often...

THIS PLACE ROCKS!!!

[Sparhawke]

I have just downloaded openoffice and guarantee this is a wonderful method

5 STARS

[Keywordology]

Originally Posted by Joseph.

I read somewhere that sub-domains are as good as separate domains for ranking.

I've never tested this myself but I've seen a few people rank successfully having their main keyword as their subdomain.

In my studies I have noticed that to be true for bing.

[summer07]

John, where DO you come up with these great tips?

You have a talent for tracking down nifty little twists that really do save time. Thanks for the share.

Audre

[sbucciarel]

Drat. I'm on dialup. Wish I could watch videos

[Andrew Wilson]

I don't know how much help this might be...

My favourite domain finding tool is Domain name finder: Mass Automation Tools I have been using it for ages.

Sadly, when I went to get the link I found that the script is now available as part of the Mass Account Manager from Mass-Automation: Mass Automation Tools - Mass Account Manager

I like DNF becasue I can list out my keywords, set the specs for the domain name and then let it rip. A few seconds later I get the list of available domains ready to purchase from wherever I choose.

BTW; I have not used MAM but the other tools from Mass-Automation seem pretty good and I'd not want to be without my domain and hosting control tool that covers most of the same ground as MAM.

[Calvin Tan]

Hi that was a good video! thx for sharing.. =) godaddy is my favorite domain registar too!

[Foresights]

Originally Posted by MostlyHarmless

Thanks for the video. I have a question about how important it is to have the exact keyword for the domain.
What about sub-domains?
Say I had a domain like:

great. com
and created a sub-domain called:
great.stainedglasswindows .com
It's cheaper than buying a new domain, especially if I'm buildling a ton of niche site, but it doesn't seem like anyone does that (accept maybe big guys like About.com)

Are sub-domains pointless for ranking, or are you risking all subs if one get's flagged?

You can't have that as a subdomain if you owned great.com, would have to be:
stainedglasswindows.great .com

In my experience, subdomains have a very similar effect on SEO as a separate domain. This is evident when you research websites that have a subdomain for their blog:
blog.mydomain .com
instead of a sub-directory:
mydomain .com/blog

If you want more proof, look at all the blogs hosted by Wordpress:
yourblog.wordpress .com

HOT Tip:
If you do use subdomains, another way to boost it's "independance" from your main domain is to buy a separate dedicated IP for it.
Most hosts only charge a couple of dollars a month for this.

- Vincent

[dzoaffiliate]

if the straight forward TLDs are taken you can also use hyphenated keywords and see if they are available. I use these types of domains many times and they rank just as well in google.

I also created a wso - PPC Domain Hound that will automate this for you, if you have 1000s or even 10,000s of keywords.

[Zeus66]

Originally Posted by Calvin Tan

Hi that was a good video! thx for sharing.. =) godaddy is my favorite domain registar too!

I don't actually use GoDaddy to register domains. I just like the neat bulk registration tool they have. From what I can tell, it really does make a ranking difference for a lot of less competitive phrases if you can register the exact search phrase as a .com, .net, or .org. I'm not a real SEO expert, but that's been my experience with many websites over the last few years.

John

[Raygun]

Thanks a lot for the quick tips like this. You can also go to Domain Name Search to see if something is registered or not. I think I am going to make some videos like this to help people out myself.

[Lloyd Buchinski]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Drat. I'm on dialup. Wish I could watch videos

I believe you should be able to watch this one. Just click the play button leave it for a few seconds, and then click the pause button. The video will keep on loading and then when it is finished you can play it, or start it right from the beginning.

It doesn't work with all types of online videos, and I'm not on dial up any more so can't test to make sure, but utube used to be good for doing this.

When downloads were large I used to set my computer not to go to sleep for a long time, then start the download when I turned in at night. Open Office took around 6 hours and I didn't get a single wrong number call all night (!)

[FriendlyRob]

John, I don't see you beginning many threads, (maybe you do but I just don't see them) but the ones that I do see are absolute gems.

[markd33]

Thanks for sharing...

I like using domainexposer to help find good domains it can give you good ideas and checks availability automatically.

[kyhell]

thanks so much for this

[wolverine1971]

Thank you for posting this - I will watch later tonight and this is exactly something I need as I am starting up a couple new niches and it's time to get my domains once again - always looking to learn as much as I can. Thank you!

[LivingCovers]

I have a copy of a similar video with me and the maker used one registrar few
people know about...Moniker. They also do batch processing of domain names.

Cool tips, though...would be helpful to many!

[angyclick]

I use PPC Domain Hound - Keyword Rich Domain Suggestion Tool - PPC Domain Hound

It's probably the best automated tool out there for finding available domains.

You can even prefix and post fix keywords. It supports a ton of TLDs. I have found some real gems using this tool.

I believe Nitin (creator) has a WSO - just look for PPC Domain Hound

[tommygadget]

Having an EMD (exact match domain) name does help give you a boost in the SERPs. Will that last forever? Who knows. It is a good tool in your arsenal, though, and should be part of a complete SEO strategy. Make sure your title reflects your keywords, make sure that you have H1, H2, and even H3 headers with your keywords, make sure you have a sitemap, proper ping list, etc., etc. Once all these are optimized for your keyword phrase(s), go an build keyword anchored backlinks.

Since I'm on a roll here, I might as well also add that if you are on a tight budget, you can do something like this (this is an EXAMPLE): register generic domain -> tipsforeveryone.com, then do this -> badcreditloans.tipsforeveryone.com OR my favorite -> redmicrowaveoven.tipsforeveryone.com, etc. This way, you can go ahead and try out any number of promising keyword phrases instead of killing yourself buying domains at $10 or so a pop. Oh, almost forgot! If you go the subdomain route, then go and research an aged domain with PR that's generic and use it instead of a totally new domain. That should give you a slight edge.

TomG.

[BudgetSEO]

Thankfully i am blessed with a creative mind so it isn't a big issue for me

[Zeus66]

Just want to point out that someone resurrected this thread. It's from over a year ago. I'm not entirely sure it's 100% as relevant today as it was then, but the idea is still solid and I know that GoDaddy does still offer the bulk domain checking tool. Rock on.

[jhams]

Great info. This can certainly speed up the exact match domain search.


Jhams

[dagaul101]

Nice tip, getting the keyword in an Eaxact Domain Match (ECD) is a big step wanting to be ranked well for a competitive term, as long ofcourse as they are available, although must of the good ones are taken, new niches popup all the time

[misterlmno]

great tip, thanks

[multiline]

Great Video. I have never used GoDaddy bulk tool. Very useful.

[Radely]

Hi John,

Thanks for the video. Many times domain registrar company like Godaddy offer a tool from where they offer similar domains which is available. For example, if i want to book a domain called seocompany.com and this domain is not available then Godaddy will offer domains like seo-company.com, theseocompany.com etc which is available.