How do I pick a search engine optimized domain name?

[Eric Land]

Hi All,

So I found a niche I would like to get started in and I know the first step is buying the domain name.

I have a question for the SEO experts out there.

Lets say my niche is baseball cards and ww.baseballcards.com is already taken.

SEO wise would it be better to then buy baseball-cards.com or something like baseballcards.net.

Basically if I can't make the exactly keyword im going after my domain name whats the second best option?

Thanks,

Eric

[netkid]

You're good to go if you have the keyword or keyword phrase within the domain name.

For example, bestbaseballcards.com, yourbaseballcards.com, baseballcardsshack.com or onlybaseballcards.com. You get the idea.

You can use dashes between words, but I would strongly recommend you leave them out. There is a debate whether adding dashes hurt your SEO or not.

Hope that helps.

Bruce

[Eric Land]

Ok so basically I want to have a .com domain name and if i can't get the exact domain name adding another word in with my keywords is fine is that correct?

Thanks

[tittbit]

its so simple

try to include the keywords in your domain on which your website is based

[netkid]

@Eric,

Yes, you are correct in that adding a word in front or in back of, will give you just as strong keyword attraction to the search engines.

Yes, on .com as the preferred domain extention.

Bruce

[yukon]

Keep in mind, your site will rank faster for the exact domain name.

It's a good idea to check the traffic for the prefix and/or suffix.

I would buy the EMD .net first, If that's an option.

[scoopy]

Originally Posted by yukon

Keep in mind, your site will rank faster for the exact domain name.

It's a good idea to check the traffic for the prefix and/or suffix.

I would buy the EMD .net first, If that's an option.

What do you mean?

-scoop

[kalta]

If the .com is not available try the .net or .org. Also try to have your main keyword(s) at the beginning of the domain. For example if its "baseballcards" you would rather have "baseballcardsonline" than "onlinebaseballcards". Hope that helps.

Tony

[yukon]

Originally Posted by scoopy

What do you mean?

-scoop

baseballcards.net will rank for "baseball cards" with less work than a domain like bestbaseballcards.net "best baseball cards" (prefix).

I'm not saying the prefix is bad, it depends how much traffic the extra keyword (best) gets.

I'm also not saying as a long term plan the prefix is bad, If you plan on building correct anchor-text backlinks for "baseball cards".

Based on my own experience with EMD (exact match domains), your mileage may vary.

[thecableguy]

com
net or org
use hyphens
add suffix
add prefix

Don't get to bent out of shape if you can't get an exact match it's helps, but it's not the magic it once was with Google. And sometimes it'll hinder you when trying to build the site out.

[yukon]

My 2nd choice after a .net domain would be to use a hyphen seperated domain name.

One of my competitions domain name is keyword1-keyword2.net, he is beating a lot of sites simply because of his keyword domain name url.

When he backlinks it's like this keyword1-keyword2.net as the anchor-text for about 90% of his backlinks.

This is for a very competitive keyword.

[Monica-Redshaw]

The second option is that your domain should contain your keywords in any combination.

[Cataclysm1987]

You know who knows? Google.

You know who's not on this thread? Google.

I could tell you my personal opinion from experience that the .com is better even with the dash, but there is no rigorous evidence based argument to support that.

[Strategy]

Google external keyword tool, type in your keyword and export the suggestion list to excel. Now go to godaddy's bulk registration and paste in the line of domains (upto 500). Repeat this until you find an open domain that has lots of monthly searches on google.

[AFI]

What I always do is: baseballcards4u.com

[forumsecs]

Easy, Affordable & Effective Online Website Marketing for Dentures!

[Shirlyn]

hi, If you have to want to stick to the same keyword then you have to make a research over a keyword which should be included in front or in back you your domain because research over the same keyword can help you to improve it more. I suggest 'Only' keyword in the front of your domain.