Just How Important Is Your Domain When Setting Up A Niche Site?

by Colton
12 replies
I'm spending way to much time trying to find a domain name for my new site. I've got my niche but should the domain be broad to the niche for my site to have sub-niches inside of it? That's my plans as of right now to make a medium/large type of site. Any input?
#domain #important #niche #setting #site
  • Profile picture of the author innocent07
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Colton View Post

    I'm spending way to much time trying to find a domain name for my new site. I've got my niche but should the domain be broad to the niche for my site to have sub-niches inside of it? That's my plans as of right now to make a medium/large type of site. Any input?
    It would ideally contain what your main keywords that you want to rank for in it. However these are usually taken or bought by others.

    It plays some part on the weight of ranking for keywords to have the keywords in the domain, but dont beat yourself up over it too much if you cant find on, Just get a variation.

    You can have excellent content on an average sounding domain name,

    or poor content on a brilliant sounding domain name. Which do you think will sound better?
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    • Profile picture of the author schwennbloosky
      I agree with what was said earlier about keywords to gain a higher ranking on search engines. This is a great marketing tool for your website whether you choose to buy keywords or just do it naturally with site relevance. The domain name can be crucial when trying to bring traffic to your site.

      Unless you have a large marketing budget to bring traffic to your website through other sources, the content and domain name are imperative to get you a high ranking on search engines. In my experience, when someone searches a certain keyword they rarely will make it past page 3-5 so unless your content/ domain name is relevant it's going to work against you.
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      • Profile picture of the author scrofford
        Originally Posted by schwennbloosky View Post

        I agree with what was said earlier about keywords to gain a higher ranking on search engines. This is a great marketing tool for your website whether you choose to buy keywords or just do it naturally with site relevance. The domain name can be crucial when trying to bring traffic to your site.

        Unless you have a large marketing budget to bring traffic to your website through other sources, the content and domain name are imperative to get you a high ranking on search engines. In my experience, when someone searches a certain keyword they rarely will make it past page 3-5 so unless your content/ domain name is relevant it's going to work against you.
        Again as mentioned earlier...It is all in how you promote it. Your domain name DOES NOT have to be the keyword you are trying to target, although it would be nice if you could make it that way. It isn't "imperative" though.

        You can promote it with article marketing or video marketing. That doesn't take a huge budget. You can also create viral reports. There are a lot of ways to promote your site without any money at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Colton
    Thanks, with that said, how many keywords is an ideal number to try to rank for? Is it not smart to have a medium sized site to try to rank for many keywords or should I stick to around 5 good keywords?
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    • Profile picture of the author innocent07
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      Originally Posted by Colton View Post

      Thanks, with that said, how many keywords is an ideal number to try to rank for? Is it not smart to have a medium sized site to try to rank for many keywords or should I stick to around 5 good keywords?
      How many pages would be in this medium sized site? (how do you define medium)

      Ideally 1 page should be targeting 1 keyword.

      5 pages - 5 keywords (1 page per keyword) The content should be around the particular keyword for that page.
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  • Profile picture of the author VegasGreg
    Well, a keyword rich domain name is just a small portion of the equation. It is how you promote it after you have it that is more important.

    Example: When eBay bought eBay.com I am sure the searches for that keyword were about 7 if that. And they weren't planning on selling products called eBay. However with proper marketing, that keyword now is a goldmine.
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  • Profile picture of the author Colton
    Ok, when I say medium I mean like by not having the site based around one product but based around say 10 products and product reviews under a category and then doing another 10 or so under a different category but thanks for the advice. Is having a - in the domain not as bad as people make it seem or would you suggest not having a domain like domain-here.com
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    As has been mentioned, you can go for branding rather than keywords in your domain, particularly if it will be a medium/large site with sub-niches and you don't want to be roped into one set of keywords. So pick a catchy brandable name.
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  • Profile picture of the author dndoseller
    Having the keywords of your targeted niche in your domain is of utmost importance and will make your job of SEO 1000% easier.

    There is absolutely no doubt that Google counts keywords in the domain as a major ranking factor.

    BUT you want to brand it so you are memorable:

    Good: papersource.com

    Way better: Instipaper.com
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  • Profile picture of the author zoobie
    well if branding is not your concern then add a number in front of your domain or add a word with your main keyword. But never gets dashes on it since you may lose traffic when someone types in on their browser and forget the dashes.
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  • Profile picture of the author flipkid
    This is a discussion I've participated in a few times on some forums. No one knows the truth because it's different in every case and in every niche no matter what anyone will tell you.

    I have found that if I need to rank quickly in organic results with little competition that generic keyword domain names work better. They target your exact keyword. They also convert better.

    So if you Google the phrase 'romance forum' if [romance forum dot net] is first in the organic results it is due to the on-page SEO efforts and keyword rich domain name. Also [romance-forum dot net] would work equally as well. But this really only helps you out for your main keyword.

    If your building niche sites stick with the keyword rich domains, if your building a big site go ahead with the branded. Ideally you have both.

    Hope This Helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author Colton
    Thanks again for all the great advice. Flipkid, I'm kind of in the middle from a small niche site to a big site and I don't want to have just any domain to try to brand. I think I'll just go ahead and do it and see what happens from there.
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