Keyword in URL Vs. Unique URL name

42 replies
  • SEO
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Hey guys! What would you prefer, putting your keyword in your URL (ex. mykeyword.com), or using unique, branded name (ex. www.uniquename.com)? What is the best choice for you? And can you please explain it.

Thanks in Advance!
#keyword #unique #url
  • Profile picture of the author NickWatson
    For SEO purposes you will get an exact match domain to rank much easier than a unique name. But then again, it all depends on what your goals are...If you want to build a large authority site, it will be better to go with a unique name...
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    • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
      Originally Posted by NickWatson View Post

      For SEO purposes you will get an exact match domain to rank much easier than a unique name. But then again, it all depends on what your goals are...If you want to build a large authority site, it will be better to go with a unique name...

      Thanks Nick! But what about for blogs? or other small sites?
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    • Profile picture of the author Rough Outline
      Originally Posted by NickWatson View Post

      For SEO purposes you will get an exact match domain to rank much easier than a unique name. But then again, it all depends on what your goals are...If you want to build a large authority site, it will be better to go with a unique name...
      I think a combination of both can be successful as well. Using your niche's main keyword with a brand word as well, nearly all the article directories do it.
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      • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
        Originally Posted by Rough Outline View Post

        I think a combination of both can be successful as well. Using your niche's main keyword with a brand word as well, nearly all the article directories do it.

        Is there any proof of its effectiveness?
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
        I'll take a keyword in url every time for the reason that there are alot of places that you can get links that allow yo to use your domain name and not your keyword. If your domain has no relevance for your niche these links are wasted in terms of letting you rank for your keywords.
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        • Profile picture of the author NickWatson
          Originally Posted by eurekapsycrille View Post

          Thanks Nick! But what about for blogs? or other small sites?
          Same principle applies...if you are building a niche blog, with say 5 or 10 different pages of content...I would personally have a look at the keywords I have picked to target...then name my blog after the one that gets most traffic and that is most difficult to target...

          All the other pages can be targeted to the other keywords..

          But If you were creating a huge authority blog, which is going to end up having hundreds of different pages of good content, then I would give it a unique name...something that's catchy and easy to remember..this will help return visitors a lot too...

          Originally Posted by Rough Outline View Post

          I think a combination of both can be successful as well. Using your niche's main keyword with a brand word as well, nearly all the article directories do it.
          Many of the niche sites I build I do in a similar way...

          example... keywordZone.com or keywordS.com etc.. etc...

          This works just as well as for me...sometimes if the keyword phrase im targeting is only two words I would even use a hyphen in it like this:
          word1-word2.com

          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

          I'll take a keyword in url every time for the reason that there are alot of places that you can get links that allow yo to use your domain name and not your keyword. If your domain has no relevance for your niche these links are wasted in terms of letting you rank for your keywords.
          Interesting...I've never really thought about this. I would have thought that the anchor text "http://www.keyword.com" is not the same as the anchor text "keyword"

          Have you done any kind of testing on this idea?

          Interesting none the less, i think it's something I should test and see what kind of affect it has...
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          • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
            Originally Posted by NickWatson View Post

            Same principle applies...if you are building a niche blog, with say 5 or 10 different pages of content...I would personally have a look at the keywords I have picked to target...then name my blog after the one that gets most traffic and that is most difficult to target...

            All the other pages can be targeted to the other keywords..

            But If you were creating a huge authority blog, which is going to end up having hundreds of different pages of good content, then I would give it a unique name...something that's catchy and easy to remember..this will help return visitors a lot too...

            Correct me if I'm wrong, so what you really mean is that when it comes to small niches, it's good to use your keywords as your URL name?
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      • Profile picture of the author teqrecon
        I think a combination of both can be successful as well. Using your niche's main keyword with a brand word as well, nearly all the article directories do it.
        What you said seems reasonable! But would the url name be too long or hard to remember if I do so?
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  • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
    Any additional?
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  • Profile picture of the author kishornayak
    keyword in domain helps in seo, can rank higher on search engines with good on page SEO. Go for branded name if you have a higher budget for SEO. We need to work harder (build more links) if you use branded name.
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  • Profile picture of the author lalitbansal004
    For SEO point It is Better if your keyword are in Your URL. Because This Will Take Less Time To Rank Compare to Branded URL.

    So it is Dependent on your choice.

    For Blogs Go for Your Keywords.
    Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author android45
    putting keyword in the url but unfortunately I don't have chance now.
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  • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
    anything else guys?
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  • Profile picture of the author Wiggy0618
    NickWatson has given you literally everything you need to know.
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  • Profile picture of the author warner444
    I think a memorable url to visitors is of greater value over time than a keyword url
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    • Profile picture of the author NickWatson
      Originally Posted by eurekapsycrille View Post

      Correct me if I'm wrong, so what you really mean is that when it comes to small niches, it's good to use your keywords as your URL name?
      Yes. Because you would be building a small site or blog around a small set of related keywords. For example if you want to build a site on "baby room ideas" you will probably be targeting a few similar keywords, like "baby boy room ideas", "baby girl room ideas", "pink baby room ideas" and "blue baby room ideas"

      You will find that the more generic the keyword is, the more difficult it will be to target...but also the more traffic it will get (usually) - so in the example i would call my site babyroomideas.com and dedicate the main index page to that keyword..then every other keyword would get its own page, and target one keyword per page. So it would be something like babyroomideas.com/baby-boy-room-ideas.html and another page would be babyroomideas.com/baby-girl-room-ideas.html

      But if you are going to build a huge authority site, say for example all about babies. You might call your site something unique like - babyworld.com - (even though its not specifically a keyword you are targeting) and then you would have a section about baby room ideas, and another section about being pregnant, another about what to expect at birth...etc etc... This way your site could have hundreds of different pages all targeting different keywords. But because it has a more memorable name (babyworld.com) you will get more return visitors...and this way you build your site into a well-known authority in the baby niche...

      When building a small site or blog..you get absolutely no benefit by giving it a unique name...the niche is too small..
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      • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
        Originally Posted by NickWatson View Post

        Yes. Because you would be building a small site or blog around a small set of related keywords. For example if you want to build a site on "baby room ideas" you will probably be targeting a few similar keywords, like "baby boy room ideas", "baby girl room ideas", "pink baby room ideas" and "blue baby room ideas"

        You will find that the more generic the keyword is, the more difficult it will be to target...but also the more traffic it will get (usually) - so in the example i would call my site babyroomideas.com and dedicate the main index page to that keyword..then every other keyword would get its own page, and target one keyword per page. So it would be something like babyroomideas.com/baby-boy-room-ideas.html and another page would be babyroomideas.com/baby-girl-room-ideas.html

        But if you are going to build a huge authority site, say for example all about babies. You might call your site something unique like - babyworld.com - (even though its not specifically a keyword you are targeting) and then you would have a section about baby room ideas, and another section about being pregnant, another about what to expect at birth...etc etc... This way your site could have hundreds of different pages all targeting different keywords. But because it has a more memorable name (babyworld.com) you will get more return visitors...and this way you build your site into a well-known authority in the baby niche...

        When building a small site or blog..you get absolutely no benefit by giving it a unique name...the niche is too small..
        Very well said Nick! Thank you very much!
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        • Profile picture of the author NickWatson
          Originally Posted by eurekapsycrille View Post

          Very well said Nick! Thank you very much!
          No problem...hope it puts you on the right track..
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  • Profile picture of the author Homer Lasa Hood
    I prefer using a unique name for your domain, while using your main keyword and focusing it on your contents. That is what I think would be way better as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author kimseo
    Originally Posted by eurekapsycrille View Post

    Hey guys! What would you prefer, putting your keyword in your URL (ex. mykeyword.com), or using unique, branded name (ex. www.uniquename.com)? What is the best choice for you? And can you please explain it.

    Thanks in Advance!
    For SEO : Keyword in URL is good

    For branding: Unique URL is good

    Choice is entirely upto you
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  • Profile picture of the author Blogger Newbie
    For me...in 1 post entri.

    1. Domain name ( but is limited ).

    2. Data page type ( Title Post entry )

    3. Keyword .

    4. Anchor Text Backlink dofollow Off page...

    Item no.2 no.3. no.4 focus same keyword...

    Extra : Structured Keyword in content

    Correct me if i wrong
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  • Profile picture of the author nehadas87
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
      Originally Posted by nehadas87 View Post

      I think keywords in the url can help if there is enough ranking ability on that page. Then the url probably increases the click through in the search results which is something only the search engine will know for sure.

      What do you mean by ranking ability? Is that something natural in a URL or it's something about the weight of work done?
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  • Profile picture of the author LiftMyRank
    for affiliate sites go with EMDs for authority sites go with short unique easy to remember names.
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  • Profile picture of the author internetcrusaders
    If you want to make money quickly, go for Exact Match Keyword URL.

    If you have money and resources to rank with any URL, you may go for Unique, Easy to Remember URL.
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    • Profile picture of the author guzpra
      Originally Posted by internetcrusaders View Post

      If you want to make money quickly, go for Exact Match Keyword URL. .
      absolutely agree.. especially if no one of your competitor has the exact match URL
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  • Profile picture of the author pilatospoonfork
    I think Nickwatson have explained it very clear. For authority sites, it's advisable to use unique URL, and small niches you can include your keyword there.
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    • Profile picture of the author Blogger Newbie
      Target Relevan URL in keyword (anchor text link) more better for crawler google. But must like natural.:p
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  • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
    Thank you very much folks!
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  • Profile picture of the author xylement
    based on my experience, keyword url helps a bit on seo as the domain matches the keyword so it help to boost a bit on your serp
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  • Profile picture of the author gxfcrjdj
    I prefer keyword in URL. It's necessary for your SEO.
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  • Profile picture of the author Question
    I would get the exact match domain if you're trying to rank for the specific keyword. If you plan on putting A LOT of effort forward, and make a large authority site, then use the brand name domain name. The two can be the same though. Sometimes if you're lucky the keyword can work like a brand name.
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  • Profile picture of the author o2webtech
    Check if domain provides have Domain you are looking for or register under it your brand name to work further to earn expected income online.
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    • Profile picture of the author packerfan
      The advantage to a unique name is the branding aspect of it. If all you care about is SEO, you want the keyword in the URL. There's no debating if it helps, it does. It's well proven.

      But you lose out on any branding if you're trying to do more than SEO.

      For example, let's say you're domain is leftfootedsocksthatareblack.com You're going to have an advantage ranking for left footed socks that are black. But no one is going to say to their friends, hey I just bought socks from this killer site...

      That's why Amazon isn't called cheapestbooksandallkindsofothercrap.com

      All depends on what you're trying to do.
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      • Profile picture of the author guzpra
        Originally Posted by packerfan View Post

        The advantage to a unique name is the branding aspect of it. If all you care about is SEO, you want the keyword in the URL. There's no debating if it helps, it does. It's well proven.

        But you lose out on any branding if you're trying to do more than SEO.

        For example, let's say you're domain is leftfootedsocksthatareblack.com You're going to have an advantage ranking for left footed socks that are black. But no one is going to say to their friends, hey I just bought socks from this killer site...

        That's why Amazon isn't called cheapestbooksandallkindsofothercrap.com

        All depends on what you're trying to do.
        hahaha.. make sense!
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      • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
        Originally Posted by packerfan View Post

        The advantage to a unique name is the branding aspect of it. If all you care about is SEO, you want the keyword in the URL. There's no debating if it helps, it does. It's well proven.

        But you lose out on any branding if you're trying to do more than SEO.

        For example, let's say you're domain is leftfootedsocksthatareblack.com You're going to have an advantage ranking for left footed socks that are black. But no one is going to say to their friends, hey I just bought socks from this killer site...

        That's why Amazon isn't called cheapestbooksandallkindsofothercrap.com

        All depends on what you're trying to do.

        Thanks..
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  • Profile picture of the author Annysmith001
    Well I will prefer to put keywords in url as because of this chances of getting in top ranking increasing.
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  • Profile picture of the author dagaul101
    I would go with the keyword in the URL, as nothing shouts out to the search engines that your site is highly relevant other than the keyword in the URL
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  • Profile picture of the author outwest
    I think people are confusing kw in url
    and
    kw in the domain name

    kw in url thats easy to do just add a page to any domain name

    kw in domain name , I think THATS WHAT helps in SERPS and listings , especially EMD
    ..com .net or .org
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    specializing in SmartPhones , Internet security, high tech gadgets, search engines, tech shows, digital cameras.

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  • Profile picture of the author internetcrusaders
    I think (and heard from experts) that EMD domains will loose value soon...So it is better to create and have a branded domain for long term profit.

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author clenard77
    If you're building a blog and wanting to brand the blog - your best bet is to go with a brandable Domain, not an EMD. EMD's can look cheap and hold you back from digging into other major keywords down the road.

    Do yourself a favor and choose a domain you can brand.
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  • Profile picture of the author eurekapsycrille
    Thank you for all your advices. All options are considered
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  • Profile picture of the author dners
    Personally I see the value in both types of names and both can be made to rank. Keyword rich names can be easier to rank, but you if you can get a good quality brandable it might make a better impression on your visitors. Plus the right brandable can be more memorable.

    With good content you can make a site with just about any domain popular.

    For me it depends on the niche and what names available, but I would consider both types.

    I would however go for .com with these type of names with the exception of .net and .org for exact match names.

    I guess I would rather have a good short brandable domain or an exact matching name vs one that is keyword rich.

    I hope this helps!
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