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Keywords in domain name - not neccessary!

by AfteraDream
39 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I'm still new here and I see that people really like to put keywords into their domain names. Not only like but say it's almost a must since Google loves it. Well, guess what.. it doesn't matter if you them there or not. Check out 1st page for "internet marketing" and you will find that the first site there is Wikipedia, then one site which has keyword in it, then courtneytuttle.com, then later majon.com. So there are more domain with no keywords built in then there are with keywords built in.

I guess this post is for those new to this business. Don't try to kiss Goggle's as.s, make your content stand out and that's it. StevePavlina.com is a great example. I post it to myself too since I'm trying to come up with domain name for my own blog and still can't decide on it. I'm not saying you shouldn't use keywords in your domains but you shouldn't get discouraged if domains with them are already taken.
#domain #keywords #neccessary
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Adams
    Domains have nothing to do with ranking see: ebay, amazon, barnes and nobles etc
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  • Profile picture of the author ecdavis
    You are correct, having the keywords in the domain name is not absolutely necessary. In fact, it isn't truly necessary at all. However, depending on the sort of marketing you are doing, it could be an asset, even if a somewhat minor asset.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jasim
      I understood if at all possible to try having the keyword in the domain name, and that it was an advantage if someone typed the product or source word incorrectly it would help your site to be brought up giving you a leg up on the competition or the home website but that it was not necessary
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  • Profile picture of the author Laurencemillionaire
    Most of the time when Domain url technics are talked about is mostly applys to Adwords-MSN-Yahoo-Search and Testing your Url to get higher click thrus and conversion thats where the context of domain urls rest But its always TEST TEST TEST
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    • Profile picture of the author FG
      True, but only if you are an authority site with thousands of backlinks coming in to you. Otherwise, you may want to consider domain names that contain your keywords. Then you will still need to get some backlinks with anchor text that contain the keywords you need.

      Bottom line: Backlinks is the name of the game and having you keyword in the domain name will allow you to have fewer backlinks for the same results in your ranking postion.

      But you are right; Keywords in the domain name are not neccessry then again, depending on your business system it may be a smart procedure to add.

      Floyd
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      • Profile picture of the author anomaly
        Originally Posted by FG View Post

        True, but only if you are an authority site with thousands of backlinks coming in to you. Otherwise, you may want to consider domain names that contain your keywords. Then you will still need to get some backlinks with anchor text that contain the keywords you need.

        Bottom line: Backlinks is the name of the game and having you keyword in the domain name will allow you to have fewer backlinks for the same results in your ranking postion.

        But you are right; Keywords in the domain name are not neccessry then again, depending on your business system it may be a smart procedure to add.

        Floyd
        totally agree with the above comments ... the thing that is looked over in the start of the thread is that sites like wikipedia are such high authority and have been around for so long they have that superior advantage ...
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  • Profile picture of the author John Rowe
    If you want to do FAR LESS SEO work and backlinking, put your keywords in your domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author shmeeko69
      I was sort of aware that domain names(s),
      did'nt matter much to the Google spiders,
      however to have a sensible name that your
      future customers can make sense of is absolutely
      crucial.

      Mark
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    • Profile picture of the author kelvin yeo
      Originally Posted by John Rowe View Post

      If you want to do FAR LESS SEO work and backlinking, put your keywords in your domain.
      John said it all in his post.

      It's NOT necessary but it REALLY helps if you're targeting a long tail like "get rid of aliment X" to actually have the words "get rid of ailment X" in your domain name. And in case you never noticed, phrases like that can sometimes get up to 20,000 exact searches a month!

      Like HomeBizNizz said, be careful not to confuse the newbies with sweeping statements like "Keywords in domain name - not necessary!".
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  • Profile picture of the author Mushin
    Domains keywords matter in ranking but its just one of the many factors considered. In competitive keywords, backlinks and authority matter most for ranking... so of course you wouldn't see some generic keyword heavy domain there by virtue of that.

    In less competitive keywords I have had sites that rank with zero SEO and a few pages, by virtue of having the keyword/phrase as the domain name. So don't discount it entirely. OF COURSE the bottomline is we all need good links and content to become an authority site that ranks easily..
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    • Profile picture of the author bombdiggity
      Let's say that you're correct. If I'm targeting a certain niche, however, why wouldn't I want my keyword(s) in my domain name? What inconvenience has it presented me? If there's even a chance that I could rank higher by having the keywords in my domain, why shouldn't I include them? I guess I just don't see the relevance.

      Sure, your content needs to stand out, but that doesn't mean that you can't target a certain niche or demographic with your domain name.
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      • Profile picture of the author AfteraDream
        I never said you shouldn't do it. I said it's not neccessary. Good content is...

        And one more thing, when I'm in Googgle's search results page and I see domain like getrichquickandfast.com for example I quickly think that it just sells something and nothing else. Even domain is a sales pitch..

        I don't claim to be an expert! Just share what I think is useful...
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        • Profile picture of the author Charles Washington
          Originally Posted by AfteraDream View Post

          I never said you shouldn't do it. I said it's not neccessary. Good content is...

          I don't claim to be an expert! Just share what I think is useful...
          Good content over keyword domain? Why is this site colemaninflatablekayak.org #3 on the first page of google for it's keyword with amazon feeds and almost no original content?

          I dont think I will be taking your advice on this one.
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  • Profile picture of the author diverdown
    you are correct - it will not make or break you but it has helped significantly with our niche promotions using url specific domain names.

    It is just another piece of the puzzle.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    I am sorry but I disagree. Considering the same amount of SEO effort done (backlinks, proper tagging, etc), I have ALWAYS found better rankings for my domains when I squeeze my main keyword into the domain name. Every single time.
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  • Profile picture of the author crecemedia
    Having your keywords on your domain is the easiest way to let google know what your site is about.

    I have been ranked for highly competitive keywords (15,000-30,000 searches per month) on first page and it was simply my domain and optimizing my page based on those keywords.

    You can do good without a keyword rich domain, but you have to put a good amount of time and money investment on building links and do off-page SEO. In comparison, having keywords in your domain will be far easier to get ranked for.

    Do you know how many people link for Amazon, wikipedia, etc naturally every single day? Your are talking about a millions of backlinks, you simply cant compare these types of online presences with our marketing websites.

    Cheers,
    Fran
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  • Profile picture of the author mrozlat
    one of the reasons that having your keyword as your domain is that you are less likely to be penalized for crazy backlinks with the same anchor text... because if there are many anchor text that are the same pointing to your site, and that keyword is in your domain, it just makes sense that there is that 'saturation'... i'm not sure if that's making sense to anyone else but i know what i mean... let me draw you a picture
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  • Profile picture of the author JayXtreme
    I think it's cool to get a keyword rich domain, not only for SEO.. but for niche recognition.

    But, if I can't get a keyword rich domain, then I don't worry bout it... it really doesn't matter that much for SEO anyways.

    Peace

    Jay
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  • Profile picture of the author DogScout
    It helps for PPC as the clicker sees the URL and it can cause them to click it faster than a non keyword URL in a different ad.

    But as far as I know, that is the extent of it's major advantages.
    (Though do attempt to have a main keyword in the URL if possible out of... just wanting to. Lol)
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  • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
    Yeah, don't confuse the newbies. Please.
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  • Profile picture of the author troy23
    Yes put them in your domain name and add dashes between the words. Also put it in image tags, in page title and description tags also. It all helps to make your site perform better in the search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author SurviveUnemployment
    Subdomains work just as well. makemoney.blah.net is almost as good as makemoney.net.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Type custom niche blog in Google. I have done no backlinking, have basically ignored the site. It is #1 in Google. Url: customnicheblog.com

    Works for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author simpleonline1234
    I have to agree with most on here. For the purposes of SEO you should always want to have your keywords in your url.

    When it comes to competiting against other websites the SEO checklist is rather long and it is just a one leg up on the competition.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
    Here's another thought, if your domain name is SEOCompany.com and someone links to you using your direct domain name, what is the anchor text? It's "SEOCompany".com.

    Most sites linking to you don't know or don't care that you want the anchor text in the link to be "Best Link Building Service." They will usually just link to you using your domain name.
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    • Profile picture of the author -prodigy-
      Originally Posted by Ron Douglas View Post

      Here's another thought, if your domain name is SEOCompany.com and someone links to you using your direct domain name, what is the anchor text? It's "SEOCompany".com.

      Most sites linking to you don't know or don't care that you want the anchor text in the link to be "Best Link Building Service." They will usually just link to you using your domain name.
      Excellent point.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    I always try for keyword rich domains. To me it just makes sense, and the results Ive found so far prove this. I guess in addition to that, its also easier for visitors to remember.

    Im with the "keyword rich domain name" team
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    • Profile picture of the author pluto1
      Not just the domain name, but it takes many other factors for a website to achieve good rankings and hence become authority websites. When I bought my website domain, I dint think much and just bought it for the heck of it. Recently I started reading all these discussions about how domain name must have a keyword in it, and was a thinking of dropping it. But looking at many new sites gaining higher rankings in search engines eventually makes me believe that domain names with keywords is not a must-have.

      And yes, make something worthwhile.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Type custom niche blog in Google. I have done no backlinking, have basically ignored the site. It is #1 in Google. Url: customnicheblog.com
    considering google will only return 57 pages in the results for "custom niche blog", it's not exactly a competitive keyword.

    All this shows is that domain name may give a little bump but due to the lack of competition this isn't a very good example.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Keywords in a domain mean squat. Nothing. Anybody who preaches
      that has not much knowledge for SEO if google is what you are
      shooting for. Google could care less. Websites get ranked. Not
      domains. I have given a gazillion examples in a gazillion other threads
      on this myth. But I'll just repeat my favorite kick in the pants on
      this subject. What forum are you reading this in? What, praytell,
      does warrior have to do with internet marketing? I guess the genius
      that came up with this forum and picked the domain, just was not in
      on that SEO secret. Too bad. Maybe this forum could have amounted
      to something if they had just picked the right domain. shucks!

      But I guess I shall do even more after all.

      Do you know what the top 2 sites for internet marketing forum are?
      (no quotes) digitalpoint.com and wicked fire .com. Note how they
      both use the keywords in their domains? Oh wait. They don't.

      Do the same search with quotes, and the top 5 are:
      digitalpoint.com
      wicked fire .com
      im4newbies.com
      Hmmm....
      Then lo and behold, finally internetmarketingforum.com and
      warriorforum.com

      4 out of the top 5, and top 3 DO NOT have those keywords
      in their domain. I guess they did not get the memo. Too bad.
      Perhaps they would have really amounted to something.

      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Craig McPherson
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        I have given a gazillion examples in a gazillion other threads
        on this myth.
        I did a search Paul and couldn't find your answer on this question. Sorry.

        If you had a choice between an exact domain name or a totally unrelated name for a new website that got 1,000's of exacts a month, which one would you choose?

        Cheers,

        Craig
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Keywords in doman name still plays a role in your site. Try to search a term in google, you can see that some of the site in serp result have their keyword on domain name.
    I don't think many people think it doesn't help, the question is how much does it help.

    I happen to believe that a keyword domain does help but that benefit only goes so far and after you reach a certain point the benefits of having a keyword domain become irrelevant.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gehx
      I have been dumping all my non keyword domains unless they have site on them with value or potential,and page rank .I even dropped quite a few with page rank and 100s of links that had "meaning cloudy" or low search querry names or prefixes sufixes like best ,here ,the,1 ,-.My thinking is that at least the keyword domains have some intrinsic value as domains [ for parking ,redirect etc.] and so can earn there keep even if undeveloped.It gives you a baseline income to improve on if you develop the domain,and pays while you wait.Also Keyword domains are way easier to sell if there is no website associated with them...I didn't see that mentioned yet.Sure;You can make the next face*ook out of a obscure name but if it doesn't work you will have another domain that no one wants.
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      • Profile picture of the author J smith
        Neccessary? No, definitely not. Help? Yes without a doubt. How much do they help? Who knows. In the end to go for keywords in domain or not will depend on many factors 9as well as availability of domains obviously)

        Is it a one page site (or few pages site) or a large site/blog that will have a ton of content? Are you making a mini site or going for a large well known brand (well, future brand) ie. it would be silly if amazon or ebay were called "actionsonline.com" or something like that, as it doesn't really have the sort of brand power as ebay or other names can provide (if you build that brand)
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        • Profile picture of the author daniel3
          Having a keyword in your domain is huge. It gives the user condifence, and is easier to link bait.
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          • Profile picture of the author AfteraDream
            Originally Posted by daniel3 View Post

            Having a keyword in your domain is huge. It gives the user condifence, and is easier to link bait.
            I actually avoid sites that have only keywords in the domain. I see it's optimized for SEO which for me means that content lacks and the creator is in it for money. It might just be me though, I know IM stuff and most of people in the world doesn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author Isaac Bennett
    Keywords can help in your FUTURE endeavours (offline marketing etc) and consumer perception. But rankings. No. Find out more about Googles spiders. They read many things but all related to content.

    It does, however help, when your full URL is posted on places like articlebase. I hope yo know why :-)
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