Short or Long Domain for SEO?

[Fahad_H]

Hi,

I've searched this subject but couldn't get a definite answer. What is best for SEO, short domain with no meaning or long with keywords?


Thanks

[Andyhenry]

Depends on your niche/brand/business. You don't NEED keywords in your domain to have a successful business - so you need to ask yourself why you want to. It's usually less professional to have www.buycheapleatherstuddeddogcollars.com than to have CarolSharp.com So if the domain is just to add content to and link back to your main site to help with SERPs then go for long keyword domain - if it's your main business and brand then maybe reconsider that.

[dk1]

I don't think that the length of your domain name will have any affect on rankings. As for what is best for SEO... in terms of rankings, a domain name which contains the keywords you are trying to rank for is considered the best. It won't guarantee you high rankings, but it sure as hell helps.

[mathmo]

Very very rough rule of thumb:

1) going for offline business (i.e. you're getting a website for your plumping company) then go unique as then you can make that your brand for your customers, which they'll also be able to easily find you with

2) going for purely online, get keywords (unless point above is really important, and you really want to develop a brand such as twitter.com or youtube.com etc...)

[Fahad_H]

Thanks guys, I need to mention that this is for an online blog, not a main business.

I have already registered a short and long domain, was thinking to host the website on the long domain, and use the short domain for email and promotion.

My long form is three mid size words , let's say "MainInternetMarketing" for the sake of comparison.


Thank you

[MrWonton]

If you're relying on organic SEO for your traffic, then it can't hurt to have the KWs in your domain. Most of the time the search volume for long keyword phrases is quite small, so its worth investigating just how many times your KW phrase domain name gets searched. If not often, it may be worth going with something more brandable!

[vetsuk]

I think what is most important for a domain which is used as a main business domain is that it sounds professional and relevant to users when it appears in search engine results. I think it is good if the domain name sounds like a brand or has some meaning (for example I have just bought bestrepair.co.uk for my appliance repair site. When you say,

short domain with no meaning

do you mean with truly no meaning. If so I wouldn't use this. Having keywords in the domain used to stand for something in google, but I think it makes little difference now.

[orseay]

Originally Posted by mathmo

Very very rough rule of thumb:

1) going for offline business (i.e. you're getting a website for your plumping company) then go unique as then you can make that your brand for your customers, which they'll also be able to easily find you with

2) going for purely online, get keywords (unless point above is really important, and you really want to develop a brand such as twitter.com or youtube.com etc...)

Mathmo is right on here - totally depends on the application. As long as it doesn't have to be memorable, then you will have an SEO advantage by having keywords in the domain.

[yukon]

Short with at least one keyword.

Make the domain name easy to remember.

[McBrett]

@Fahad - Here are my thought's: Try to keep the domain shorter if you can. You don't need to keep it to only one keyword, but don't make it 7 keywords.

Think about the URL from a memorability standpoint. Will anyone be able to remember it? That can def be helpful in a domain name.

[deepender]

if you use your keyword in domain name then its really beneficial, whether its short url or long url.