Comments on: Domain Name Keywords – Do They Matter?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:39:07 +0000

Thanks Ruri. If you’re focusing on niche marketing and want organic traffic then building a brand name isn’t important but free traffic would be so any efforts toward that, ie a keyword rich domain name, is important. If you’re building a brand, then yes I agree that the domain name needs to be arrived at with brand recognition in mind.

By: Ruri @ free online article directory

Ruri @ free online article directory — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:55:47 +0000

Hi Michelle,
Putting keywords on domain is stronger aspect in SEO but currently creating simple name that include our nich is hard. However putting keywords is not really a matter because we want to develop brand name, not keyword name. We cannot depend our business on Google.

Having one simple word and easy to remember is more important. That’s my opinion.

By: Donnie @ Chattanooga Web Design

Donnie @ Chattanooga Web Design — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:15:31 +0000

I’m finding it also helpful to have keywords in the site or company name. This might be cliche, but I thought it worth mentioning. AAA Storm Doors would perform better than just AAA.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:25:45 +0000

@ Forest Another example of a .info performing well, that’s interesting!

By: Forest

Forest — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:04:12 +0000

I pretty much always go for keyword rich and have a few sites that concentrate on one keyword…. Plus I have a .info in top 10 of Google for a very competitive phrase and it has hardly any content!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:24:01 +0000

@ Lillea Yes it can get confusing and one case study doesn’t prove things outright but what I’ve found got my attention. I’ll have the details up in a day or two.

@ Craig I haven’t experimented with a .info entirely but I have to say I’ve never heard a good thing about them! Perception is reality so I’d carefully consider when and when not to use a .info. Great to hear about your experience.

@ Mark I agree with you fully. At the end of the day the search engines can only place so much emphasis on the domain name given how rife domain squatting is. There is still some evidence in my results that Google are weighting the domain name a little heavier than we might assume.

@ Josh Yes I’ve seen a few examples of this lately too other than my own. It will be great to get feedback on my case study as there are always many ways to interpret results.

@ Rebe Yes, there are plenty of sites ranking number one for keywords that have nothing to do with their domain name. My case study is just one example of how using keywords in the domain helped me rank a site in the top ten for a niche phrase. There are so many variables to SEO and the domain name is just one of them.

By: Rebe

Rebe — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:05:37 +0000

My experience has been the same as Craig with re: to domain/keyword. A client of mine wanted to use her business name which does NOT include any keyword related to her niche. With 1.9 mil competing websites for this niche, the expectations for good SE positioning were low.

However..within two months the site got to page 2 of Google and today is #1…surpassing Martha (as in Stewart).

I believe (KW rich)content, regular additions to the site and inclusion of KWs in tags propelled the site to its position. Maybe not super quickly but the tortoise and the hare fable applies.

By: Josh Spaulding

Josh Spaulding — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:53:44 +0000

I’ve never been one to spend too much time looking for a domain. I just grab one and go, but I’ve seen a few instances lately where keyword rich domains made a big difference.

It could be that Google changed that in their algorithm, who knows.

Great idea with the case study, Michelle.

Keep up the good work!

By: Mark Sierra at MeAndMyDrum.com

Mark Sierra at MeAndMyDrum.com — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:23:01 +0000

Indeed, this is an age old question and it’s good to hear you’re gathering facts to finally clarify the matter.

Like you, I’ve heard that it doesn’t matter, but could help. Though I haven’t done formal research on the subject, I’d say that any TLD would fair just as well as the other and that it’s all about how well the site has been promoted and SEO.

Personally, and again I don’t have formal research on this, I can’t see why any search engine would favor any TLD if they’re truly interested in the content behind.

By: Craig McPherson

Craig McPherson — Sat, 09 May 2009 11:38:19 +0000

Interesting post Michelle. I have answered a similar theory many times where people say that you must have keywords in the domain name and that .info is no good for ranking high.

My main money making site is http://www.craigmcpherson.info and it ranks top 3 for the search term “free money making website”. There are over 70 million competing pages. Obviously, It is a .info with my name, no keywords at all.

I get over 200 uiques per day to this from this search term alone.

By: Lillea Woodlynds

Lillea Woodlynds — Sat, 09 May 2009 09:35:40 +0000

I’ve been wondering about this for a while, so I look forward to reading about your results! Logically it would seem like a good idea to have domain names that target keywords but the ‘experts’ all say different things so it’s confusing.

~ Lillea