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How Important is the Domain Name choice?

by katem
23 replies
  • SEO
    • |
If your keyword is not used in the URL domain name you have, for say, building out a campaign in the weight loss niche, but the domain name you have is 1 year old -- Is it better to get a new URL that includes the dominant KW's in it or ok to use one that is older/established, but doesn't include the main keywords for your niche?
Bottom line: is it hard to rank for a site without a KW rich domain name?

Thanks!
#choice #domain #important #url
  • Profile picture of the author TaiZejan
    It depends on the competition, if the competition is not stiff you can rank with some decent on page SEO.. if you have stiff competition then a domain name based on your KW's helps tremendously..
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    Here is your answer. It is extremely important, the domain name. Make it short and easy on our memory. For example, if your have a web design firm, MikeSpike.com is easy to remember, unlike eudominus-waldonian.com or some other long name. DO NOT USE HYPHEN ever!

    People will forget to put them in.
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    • Profile picture of the author Marketing Cheetah
      Originally Posted by seobro View Post

      Here is your answer. It is extremely important, the domain name. Make it short and easy on our memory. For example, if your have a web design firm, MikeSpike.com is easy to remember, unlike eudominus-waldonian.com or some other long name. DO NOT USE HYPHEN ever!

      People will forget to put them in.
      How many visitors you think are going to visit directly? For SEO purposes and to get visits from search engines I think using hyphens is completely fine. We are not establishing a brand here.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gail Ogden
        If Google is still putting a high value a domain name I think that it would be unrealistic of them to exclude hyphens in their search. They know there are only so many options out there. If they decide to accept only keyword relevant domains they would be excluding almost all new marketers in some niches.

        I would do a search on the keyword you plan to use and see if Google only servers up pages that have that keyword in the domain name. I think that you would find that a quality content-rich sites are more and more likely to beat out the domain name concern.

        Go to Alexa and search out the top 500 sites in the US and tell me how many of them have the keyword in their domain. Even Google doesn't have search engine in their domain name. Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, Bing, Craigs List, GoDaddy, Awebber and Flikr are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head.
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        • Profile picture of the author howinfo
          Keyword in the domain name can help your SEO but it is not that significant advantage. If your current domain is already established and is quite brandable I would keep it as it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McAleer
    KW domains are very important. It will make it much easier to rank for a term.
    If you don't have a KW domain, your seo efforts will need to be better.
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  • Profile picture of the author 60MinuteAffiliate
    I am always careful with the domains I choose, I generally always strive for keyword rich that are as close as possible to the keyword phrase I'm trying to rank for and it works for me.

    Regards

    Colleen
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    • Profile picture of the author MMVC
      Hello All,

      This is my very first question in the forum.

      My questions are in the same capacity as the question in this post so I figured I would just ask here. However, if this is frowned upon, please excuse my lack of forum etiquette and just let me know.

      My 1st question is:

      Would having an extra word in your domain name along with your target keyword phrase be as good as having a domain name with only your target keyword phrase?

      Example:

      Target Keyword Phrase: longest train set

      Ideal Domain Name: longesttrainset.com

      Available Domain Name: thelongesttrainset.com

      My follow up question is:

      Would the target keyword phrase used in my example above (longest train set), hypothetically, also benefit from searches with the keywords "train set"?

      I am trying to understand the impacts of keywords in domain names so I would appreciate any replies. Thank you in advance.
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      • Profile picture of the author tritrain
        Originally Posted by MMVC View Post


        Would having an extra word in your domain name along with your target keyword phrase be as good as having a domain name with only your target keyword phrase?

        Example:

        Target Keyword Phrase: longest train set

        Ideal Domain Name: longesttrainset.com

        Available Domain Name: thelongesttrainset.com

        My follow up question is:

        Would the target keyword phrase used in my example above (longest train set), hypothetically, also benefit from searches with the keywords "train set"?

        Yes, they would both work. It is still one of the biggest factors in influencing search ranking.

        As long as the word is in the domain it will impact the search. Further, alt-text backlinks, keywords in the first 150 words (give or take), the overall body, etc, etc.

        As mentioned above, in a highly competitive market, you must do whatever you can (within reason) to help your rank for your chosen keywords.

        **I would take an aged domain that has my chosen keywords already targeted over a newer domain. However, if the older domain is not optimized (meaning it is optimized for other keywords, unrelated to mine), then it would not influence my decision. With that, I would take a keyword rich, newer domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author davidfstyles
    I find it is a lot easier to rank with a domain with the keyword in it. I've also ranked domains that don't include relevant keyword but I've found it takes a lot more backlinks. What I've found is that the better your on-page SEO, the easier it is to lift your site for that keyword in the SERP's. By that I mean you don't need to get as many backlinks.

    Hope that helps.

    David.
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  • Profile picture of the author freedom71
    What about the TLD? Often it is said that com has the highest value.

    My question is, what should I choose if my site is on a information niche, or a charity? Personally, I do not like com domains.
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  • Profile picture of the author dadamson
    For SEO purposes I would much rather choose the 1yr old domain over the EMD.

    Cheers,
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    • Profile picture of the author Deric Yin
      Originally Posted by dadamson View Post

      For SEO purposes I would much rather choose the 1yr old domain over the EMD.

      Cheers,
      From personal experience: new EMD might be worth it for the long run - since it will "age" with time.
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      • Profile picture of the author dadamson
        Originally Posted by Deric Yin View Post

        From personal experience: new EMD might be worth it for the long run - since it will "age" with time.
        True, but by that time the original aged domain will be 2 yrs old, still more appealing to me!

        EMDs seem to be easier to outrank than aged domains in my experience.
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  • Profile picture of the author katem
    Thanks everyone for your great comments!!
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Agency
    I would say, yes, it is hard to rank a site were keyword is not present in the domain, your keyword looks competent if it is present in the domain and in the title as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author JRCarson
      I agree it's helpful to have an exact match keyword domain name for easy quick ranking...

      But like Gail was saying above, there's definitely a class of website builders online who don't think that way, and they seem to be the real money makers online.
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  • Profile picture of the author PeterFischer
    Well domain name is really very important. It should be short and also should include the main keyword if possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author gurusconcept
    domain name is the number 1 plan to consider before registering any domain.
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  • Profile picture of the author jack jastin
    This is very much beneficial for your search engine ranking and positioning on SERP.
    I would like to suggest you this link below that you can try for better understanding in this regard.

    Domain Suggestion Tool

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  • Profile picture of the author chooch
    Both sides to the question have been covered quite well.

    The only thing I have that may be different is this. You may have a hard time finding an exact match domain name, with the sheer amount of websites being built. You would need to check out what domain names are available.
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  • Profile picture of the author Inner Athlete
    I try to use exact match domain name wherever possible. it does help!
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  • Profile picture of the author patrickz
    It's all about the business you're in and how competitive those keyword phrases are. I spend all day every day telling people to stop leasing domain names...
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